Do lights/lighter drain battery to death?

[cpalm1]

the lights turn themselves off if you leave a door open. However, if you turn a light on manually, it will stay on. that is surprising to me. my 96 dodge caravan turns off the interior lights after 10 minutes even if you have manually turned them on. if the PCM detects current flow to the lights, it will turn them off after 10 minutes. opening a door or turning the light of and then back on resets the timer. the van also turns off the headlights after 5 minutes if you leave them on. don't know why the PT doesn't have these features. If you are concerned about the battery going dead, buy one of those jump start packs. the cheap ($39-49) one is all you need. i have that and have used it to start everything from motorcycles to 5.0 V8s and diesel construction equiptment. it is worth it's weight in gold. havent had to use it o the PT yet. knock on wood.

[MX-5]

quote:Originally posted by cpalm1

don't know why the PT doesn't have these features.

Because the wiring diagrams in the service manual show the manually switched lighting power goes directly to B+ battery, instead of through the BCM.

I prefer it. If I need interior lighting for a night time event, I don't want the lights turned off by the body control module.