Parking Lights

[patomlin76]

Hello

Can anyone help with the following query?

I have just found out that I can put parking lights on to the left or right depending on the indicator stalk. I know these are useful for when parking on bends or in unlit areas, but will they drain the battery as quick as standard lights? I'd like to use them more but would prefer not to return to a dead battery!

thanks:confused:

[craigstephens]

My 1983 Mk1 Golf (RIP) had these, i used to use them all the time, sometimes overnight and never had a problem. Don't often use them on my 08 Passat though, but I would have thought the battery on our cars now are just a teeny bit beefier than I had on my golf so I wouldnt think leaving them on will kill your battery. Give it a try, if your battery dies, PM me and I'll give you a jump start:p

[damo140]

The current drawn is very small, little or no chance of it draining the battery, maybe if you leave it on solid for a month or so though!

[Spudrig]

The current drawn is very small, little or no chance of it draining the battery, maybe if you leave it on solid for a month or so though!

I wonder what happens if you leave the sidelights on all night? Would this drain the battery? It happened a few weeks ago on my girlfriend's Kia Picanto when she left the sidelights on for a few hours when she was in school, so I had to give her a jump start. I'm confused :confused:

[martin1810]

Parking lights left on over night would have a significant effect on a battery. They are ok for a few hours in an evening but 8 to 10 hours is likely to lead to a hard to start car, especially on a diesel.

[batteryman]

Sidelights are normally 5 watts, so parking lights are twice this, 10 watts. At 12 volts, 12 watts would be 1 amp so parking lights are a bit less. There are other items live on a parked car so I'll assume a car with parking lights on draws approx. 1 amp from the battery. Typical petrol car battery is 45 amp-hours (Ah) capacity so in theory should run for 45 hours until dead flat but in practice car batteries do not like to be flattened so don't run down your battery to this level. Typical long overnight park in winter say 6pm to 9am is 15 hours so a 45Ah battery would drain by 15Ah, should have 2/3 charge capacity left and should easily start the car. This assumes it was fully charged and had full capacity. Batteries on diesels are normally 75-85Ah and should also be OK even though it may take more from the battery to start the engine.

Life isn't perfect so you can see a battery that's not quite up to scratch on a car used for short runs in winter where it doesn't fully recharge might go flat overnight with just parking lights on. If it does, there's something wrong somewhere. Check acid level and add water if needed then charge overnight, stand 2 hours and check again. That should sort the battery if it can be recovered. Check alternator drive belt for tension and condition to make sure it's not slipping. If all fails it's new battery time but check acid level and charge overnight on a new one because they're not always fully charged and it'll prolong the life of the new one.

[yarre]

There is an built-in protection in every passat, and if a discharge level has reached certain level, this protection will cut the lights, so the next mornning you will start the car without any problem.

[batteryman]

Do you have any figures on at what voltage the protection operates?

[yarre]

No i do not have figures, I only noticed that when my father was getting the car from the delaer ( the car stayed for about 3-4 months on the parking waiting for the buyer ), maybe they switch it on once in a while for a specific customer, but there was no chance for higher revs ( so the battery to be charged ) there was a sign LOW BATTERY and you could not do anything but only to start the car.
After drive arround everything went normal. It is a 1.4 TSI passat with 122 hp. Nice ride, perfect economy.