# Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function



## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

In Europe, all cars are equipped with the capability to leave the front and rear parking light turned on, on one side of the car only. This is accomplished by leaving the turn signal switch in the right or left turn position after the ignition has been switched off.

This capability is a safety standards requirement in Europe, and operation of this feature is standardized across all manufacturers, in much the same way that all North American cars have the automatic transmission set up in a PRNDL sequence, or defrost controls set up so that when every control is moved to the far right position, windshield defrost is activated.

Although the entire VW product line in Europe - from Lupo to Phaeton - has had the single side parking light capability for many years, it is only recently that VW has begun shipping Touaregs and Phaetons to North America without disabling this function. So, if you have just bought a Phaeton, and not previously owned a European car that offered this feature, it might be new to you.

You can identify a European car with single side parking light capability by looking for the symbol on the turn signal stalk. This symbol is standardized (by EC norms) for all vehicles. (photo below).

When the turn signal stalk is left in either the right or left turn position and the ignition is turned off, the rear running light and the front 'city light' (the W5W bulb in the bottom of the headlight assembly) for the selected side will remain on, forever. This is useful when you are parking on dimly lit streets. Volkswagen products normally annunciate this by sounding a chime when the driver door is open and the turn signal stalk is not in the neutral (off) position - my 2002 Golf in Switzerland does this. For some reason, my 2004 Phaeton - which is programmed with the European region of operation code - does not.

Michael

*Turn Signal Stalk in Phaeton - arrow indicates single side parking light capability*
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*Single Side Parking Light in operation - rear*
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*Single Side Parking Light in operation - front*


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## Iceberg Slim (Apr 2, 2002)

*Re: Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function (PanEuropean)*


_Quote, originally posted by *PanEuropean* »_When the turn signal stalk is left in either the right or left turn position and the ignition is turned off, the rear running light and the front 'city light' (the W5W bulb in the bottom of the headlight assembly) for the selected side will remain on, *forever*. 

Forever?


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function (BabyBlueA3)*

OK, let me correct that: _"...until the vehicle power supply battery goes dead". _ That particular lighting function is intended for use when you leave the car out overnight on a narrow, unlit street. I can appreciate that it's not likely you will find Phaeton owners doing that in your neighborhood.








Michael


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## Iceberg Slim (Apr 2, 2002)

*Re: Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function (PanEuropean)*

I just thought maybe it stayed on for a preset period of time almost like the dome lights in some cars.


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## Theresias (Feb 11, 2004)

*Re: Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function (PanEuropean)*


_Quote, originally posted by *PanEuropean* »_OK, let me correct that: _"...until the vehicle power supply battery goes dead". _ 

Nope.








The battery manager will shut this down before the battery is draining too much.


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

*Re: Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function (Theresias)*

I stand corrected. Thanks for catching that error, Sebastian.
Michael


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## BltVWF (Oct 19, 2009)

*Re: Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function (PanEuropean)*

Hi Michael,
Is there any change you could re-post the pictures even though it's archived thread?
Thanks,
Eugene


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## mike92 (Sep 25, 2009)

*Re: Understanding the 'Single Side Parking Light' function (PanEuropean)*

Thats a sick feature, which should be more widely used in the U.S.


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## CE (Jan 21, 2001)

I thought that's why the cars are required to have reflectors in and about? Besides adding to safety when teh car is in motion and a lamp burns out.


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

Photos re-hosted.

Michael


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## PowerDubs (Jul 22, 2001)

I turned this on by accident, and not knowing why one side of my car was lit up, I came inside to research.

After reading this thread, I was curious so I left the lights on..so far it has been 3+ days and they are still on. These LED lights really do use less power. (and it is below freezing here to boot)

I'll be driving the car today. I'll let you know if it starts.


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## PowerDubs (Jul 22, 2001)

Update-

After 3+ days, I went out to the car, stuck my hand behind the handle (keyless entry)- nothing.

Hit the button on the remote- nothing.

Manually unlocked the door with the key, no lights anywhere..key in IGN and turned to acc position..nada.

Tried to start the car once, dead, tried again (battery switching) and it fired right up.

So, apparently, the power management system does NOT manage the side parking light feature. She ran until she had no power left to give.


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## johnt26 (Dec 3, 2009)

PowerDubs said:


> Update-
> 
> After 3+ days, I went out to the car, stuck my hand behind the handle (keyless entry)- nothing.
> 
> ...


Interesting. I wonder if it's possible to get a list of what systems power management will "load-shed", just for grins.
I know normal lead acid batteries don't like it if you run them down, what about AGMs?
It would have been interesting to throw a DVM on the comfort battery and see what you had voltage wise before you started back up.
What's the age of your comfort battery?
Thanks!


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## WillemBal (Nov 20, 2010)

PowerDubs said:


> So, apparently, the power management system does NOT manage the side parking light feature. She ran until she had no power left to give.


Perhaps the onboard power supply controller had shut itself down to save energy? 
In SSP273 there is an explicit text saying: _An additional circuit in the onboard power supply control unit ensures that the side lights and dipped beams can be switched on and off even if the μC fails!_
This may imply that the controller has no authority to switch off the parking lights.
Anyway, the power consumption is fairly heavy. With a 2 Amp (24 Watts total) drain current, the total drain is 48 Ah for one full day. I guess that the German engineers must have thought that no one would leave the parking lights on for more than one full day.

Willem


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## WillemBal (Nov 20, 2010)

johnt26 said:


> Interesting. I wonder if it's possible to get a list of what systems power management will "load-shed", just for grins.


Hi John,
I think that you can find a lot of answers to this and other questions you might have in two interesting documents, called "Self Study Programs".
One is SSP_273 - Phaeton Convenience and Safety Electronics and the other is 
SSP_272 - Phaeton Onboard Power Supply

The "Electrical equipment switch-off" scheme is given on page 29 and the parking lights are not listed there.
Regards,
Willem


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

PowerDubs said:


> ...apparently, the power management system does NOT manage the side parking light feature. She ran until she had no power left to give.


If you think about the purpose of this function (the single-side parking light), it is not something you would want the car to turn off automatically.

In order to activate the single-side parking light, you have to leave the turn signal in the up (or down) position PRIOR TO shutting off the ignition. If you have done this, when you open the driver door, you will hear a high pitched alert tone, and see a message in the instrument cluster indicating that the parking light is turned on (this assumes you have the XX21 software upgrade done on your instrument cluster). That is sufficient notice that you have left the light on.

If you leave it on for longer than the average length of a single night, the left battery will drain. But, as you point out, if you invoke the emergency start function by rotating the ignition key fully clockwise, then fully counter-clockwise, then fully clockwise again, the car will start because the battery paralleling relay will close and thus make right battery power available to the T30 bus during the period that the starter is engaged.

Michael


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## Itzmann (Jan 16, 2006)

PanEuropean said:


> In order to activate the single-side parking light, you have to leave the turn signal in the up (or down) position PRIOR TO shutting off the ignition.



Michael, I am a most frequent user of this function, both on the Phaeton and Touareg, both with keyless start.

*I have never noticed that the ignition must be on*... I just arrive somewhere, kill engine by hitting the Start/Stop button. Push down the stalk, get out of the car. 

Lock it from outside by hitting the little black button. Is the car technically "on" until I lock it from outside? I know the radio keeps playing until I open the driver's door.

By the way _PowerDubs_, huge props on researching that the lights stayed on for several days!  :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:


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## PanEuropean (Nov 3, 2001)

Keep in mind that there might be minor variations in functionality due to software differences in the instrument cluster or the access and start control. There may also be minor differences in functionality as a result of how the car is coded (i.e. country coding, how the various controllers have been set up by the end user).

A corollary to this is that you need to depress the brake pedal to start some cars, but not others - this is a result of software differences in the access and start controller (between loads 6400 and 67xx).

Michael


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## Itzmann (Jan 16, 2006)

PanEuropean said:


> Keep in mind that there might be minor variations in functionality due to software differences in the instrument cluster or the access and start control. There may also be minor differences in functionality as a result of how the car is coded (i.e. country coding, how the various controllers have been set up by the end user).


 
Agreed. This morning, arriving to my parked Phaeton, first thing in the morning: 

1. Opened door keylessly 
2. Pushed stalk down 
3. Locked door keylessly 
4. Waited for convenience arrival/departure illumination to turn off 

Voilá! - car remained with left hand side Single Side Parking Light "on"


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## JockMacMad (May 18, 2011)

*I was just trawling the FAQ*

and I thought why do the parking lights not turn off using the ambient light sensor. 

As it can determine low light condition it could turn it off when its light and turn them back on in bad weather/dark conditions. 

Now the light sensor would not need as much power as the lights but maybe the computer checking the sensor to see if it needs to turn them back on would mean it did not actually gain anything  

Maybe then they would last 6 days ... (unless its the far North in winter)


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