Dome Light Delay

[taikuchin]

Originally posted by Carl
BTW, it's called Theater lighting.

Around here it's called a pain in the a$$!!

[MX-5]

Originally posted by Carl


If yours is still on when you are backing up, there's something wrong with it. It should go out instantly when the car is started, both my wifes auto and my 5 speed do the same thing.

Not so.
I work on a lot of PTs and I've owned 2.

With the engine running, open the door, get in, shut the door, shift into reverse, turn to look behind you,...... the lights will be in your eyes as they dim.

You should never jump in and take off without warming up the motor. I start it and load it while it warms up. When I'm ready to leave, the dome lights will be in my eyes.

[Carl]

Originally posted by MX-5


Not so.
I work on a lot of PTs and I've owned 2.

With the engine running, open the door, get in, shut the door, shift into reverse, turn to look behind you,...... the lights will be in your eyes as they dim.

You should never jump in and take off without warming up the motor. I start it and load it while it warms up. When I'm ready to leave, the dome lights will be in my eyes.

Never say Never....

As far as warming up a car, the prevailing thought is that you start the car and start driving as soon as the car will run without stalling. Not only is a lengthy warm up period not required, it is not recommended.

When the ignition key is turned to on, the lights do go out.

[MX-5]

Well, we should agree to disagree.

I've made a living out of rebuilding Chrysler transmissions that snap the low/reverse band due to cold reverse shifts.
That fluid is about 250psi in reverse on a warm motor. When cold, it can go above 500psi!!! The reverse band breaks off at the actuator piston pushrod.

1-2 minutes of warm-up will elliminate a hefty repair bill.

I won't even go into the cold oil pressure going above 100psi on a cold motor. It should run about 30psi when warm.

[DTs_PTGT]

Not to mention, on the GT models, warm up time is recommended so you aren't running with a cold turbo.

My wife thinks I'm odd waiting a minute after start to drive and two minutes before I shutdown. Guess I should show her in the manual for her car where it says you're supposed to wait for 60 seconds before driving!

[taikuchin]

Don't care what they say, I BELIEVE in warming the thing up! I let her idle for a couple minutes, then drive slowly in the lower gears until temp gauge gets at least half way to normal before getting up to normal speeds. Do not get on it until temp gauge shows full warm up for several minutes. A machine is a machine! Driving it hard when cold is just stupid!

[manfred]

The theatre lighting dimming delay was driving me nuts, because it seemed to be working differently at different times.

Sometimes it would dim the lights when I turned the car off, stepped out, and closed the door. Other times, it would wait thirty seconds before it would dim the dome light.

After much experimentation, I discovered the following:

If I was driving the car, and had my headlights on before turning the car off, the thirty second delay would invoke. I assume the computer thinks it is nighttime and it is doing you a favor by keeping the light on until you are well away from the car.

However, if I did not have the headlights on, shut the car off, and closed the door, the dome light would dim at once. I guess it assumes it is daytime and you don't need the light.

FInally, if the ignition has been off, for a long enough time, when you open and closed the doors, it will always wait thirty seconds before dimming the dome light. Obviously, the computer resets and doesn't know it is daytime or nighttime.

WOW! I hate it when the owner's manual doesn't document things like this. The algorithm made sense, once I figured it out, but in the mean time I was worried that my car computer was screwing up and behaving funny.

BTW, I have a 2002 PT buit on 8/24/01 with every factory option that was available at that time. Your car may work differently, since there has been numerous computer code changes since then. (And the computer code was updated around this time also)

[KatsKruizin]

My interior (whatever it's called~LOL) lights go out as soon as I turn the car on, always has. Inconsistency in a DC product you say?

[BraytonAK]

I prefer the theatre dimming, myself. I find it quite logical and not as abrupt as a simple on / off switch. I figured out the algorithm the computer uses early on with my last Chrysler car. :-)

[taikuchin]

Manfred; Thanks for the good info...never could figure out why the difference in times...now at least I can get the light to go off quickly every time..