Interior light delay times
 

These observations are the result of curiosity stemming from discussions of parasitic battery drain, questions as to effects (if any) of leaving the key inside the vehicle and generally wondering how long interior lights remain illuminated and what action triggers the countdown to turn the power off. After posting threads with no response, scouring the manual and calling the dealer, both to no avail, I decided to investigate myself.

For relevant background, my vehicle is a '01 986 and I am the second owner and have been for the past 10+ years. As far as I know, the car is "bone stock" with no relevant modifications and no work has been done on the electronics with the exception of a replacement climate control module, 2 interior bulbs and a battery. I am offering this background because I am assuming that the observations listed below are the same as what would have been when the car left assembly. Additionally, all observations were made leaving car unlocked, locking greatly shortens delay times.

The stats below where obtained by placing a stopwatch inside the vehicle and recording until final action was completed then testing various scenarios and finally averaging the results. This may have been overkill, but it provided some interesting (or at least to me) results. Anyway, on to what I discovered...

--The door and dome light:
ON at door open, OFF at 30sec from door CLOSE.
--The dash information screen:
ON at door open, OFF at 3m58s from door OPEN.
--The orientation LEDs (door handles and by dome light):
ON at door open, OFF at 1h59m59s from door OPEN.
***note that leaving the key inside the vehicle (not in ignition) doesn't effect result.

Obviously the amount of time the orientation lights stay on shocked me (aprox. 2 hours). Can this be adjusted by PIWIS (dealer) or Durametric?

http://986forum.com/forums/uploads02...1524379291.jpg

2 hours? I'm going to guess that's abnormal. It simply doesn't meet the common sense acid test.

Yes, that's all normal.

Yeah, my door lights stay on forever. Totally normal.

Not clear what you mean here - "door handle" lamps ??

The LEDs located in the cavities housing the door handles...there is also one in the upper area that houses the dome light and convertible latch release. These LEDs are called "orientation lights", I suppose due to the fact that they allow you to find items (ie door handles) at night.

Only in later models...I think 2001 and up.

So...if these times are normal, is there a way to decrease the length of time the orientation LEDs stay on? 2 hours is just way too long...or at least in my opinion.

No, cannot change the timer. It won't hurt anything.

Thanks much for the input, greatly appreciated. It's rather funny that after a decade of ownership that I finally looked into this...I always knew these lights stayed on a long time, but didn't know the default time was THAT long. I suppose that being LEDs that the power draw is minuscule and that the lights should last a long time (I've only had to replace one thus far). Why Porsche decided on that length of time is beyond me...both my Audi's orientation lights only remain on a brief time.

In any event, I'm looking forward to the next goofy little quirk I'm sure I'll find in the next 10 years. :)

No one is asking the obvious. Why, and who?

My question is why? And who? Who had the asinine idea of leaving anything on for~2 hours. That's idiotic.

Why? Who?

Thank you.

My front trunk light stays on what I feel.is an absurd length of time, for example when I am.bleeding the brakes. I am like, turn off already!

The why is because of peripherals like power mirrors and seats. You want them operable with ignition off, but not all the time (a problem could cause battery drain). They are on the "consumer switched off" power circuit of the immobilizer. I believe the gauge displays timer is controlled by the instrument cluster.

Why the "consumer switched off" circuit stays on for this long, I don't know. I'd think 30 minutes would suffice (note: opening either door reactivates this circuit...locking the car deactivates it immediately).

If you lock and set the alarm, they go right out pretty much.