2nd Gen really dim dash lights

[theRhinelander]

I've looked around in the electrical section and I only found one article about it. My problem is that all of my lights that are controlled by the brightness knob are at best hard to see. This is only during the day and I don't know if the bulbs are going out or it's some other electrical gremlin causing this. my voltage hovers around 14.8 to 15.2 volts.

The suggestion was to rigorously use the knob, it worked a little bit but there are still times where the screen is completely dark

Another electrical problem I'm having is the headlights flicker every once and a while, it's not a problem now but who knows if it could get worse. I don't think the voltage drops enough to be picked up by the DIC though?

Also I'm kind of wondering how cold is too cold to be running my aurora, I use 87 octane and recently the mornings have been below zero. Today it was -6 and everything from the steering to shifting was noticeably stiffer and it was making a really whiny noise and I had higher RPMs than I normally would, like 1,500-2,000 range in park which cant be good.

Winter sucks, same with my towns ability to plow the roads. I just hope it warms up enough to melt the ice on the road before i'm involved in an accident. Any advice is greatly appreciated, Thanks!

[Paulaurora]

In NJ same weather now. when its that cold the car might have high rpms in park for maybe 3 5 min then it will go down if its always high even when car warms up then there might be an issue.. the dim lights and head lights flicker can be issue with Alternator or your Secondary AIr injection pump going bad that can cause whining noise on start up ..

[theRhinelander]

Feb 28, 2015 20:44:05 GMT -6 Paulaurora said:

In NJ same weather now. when its that cold the car might have high rpms in park for maybe 3 5 min then it will go down if its always high even when car warms up then there might be an issue.. the dim lights and head lights flicker can be issue with Alternator or your Secondary AIr injection pump going bad that can cause whining noise on start up ..

On a really cold start, the rpm's are usually at around the 1,200 area and usually I will wait a few minutes for it to warm up and since then I haven't had any issues

my dad has also come up with the alternator conclusion, I'm not completely sold on that idea because the lights work completely fine at night

I wonder if any one has done any LED upgrades? I would be interested 

The air injection pump still needs to be replaced, something i'm going to do when the weather gets warmer, along with a thorough buffing and maybe and an audio upgrade.

I wish I had an AUX jack, songs on the radio are growing stale on me. 

If only I had a couple thousand dollars I could play around with, then this car would truly shine

[sall]

Alternator seems in working order. Good charge for your location this time of year. Not sure about dash lights though.

LED upgrades? Sure. My entire vehicles is custom LED interior and exterior. Not a filament bulb one anymore. You should check awehlage threads for some LED stuff on a 2nd gen.

Aux jack is very easy if you are handy with a soldering iron or just upgrade from the factory stereo.


One mod at a time, but her get the maintenance done first and she won't let ya down. Then you can customize to your taste.

[tigger]

Mar 1, 2015 17:51:09 GMT -6 theRhinelander said:

...the lights work completely fine at night

Try cleaning the light sensor on the dash.

[Paulaurora]

TECHNICAL
Subject:
Headlamps/Interior Lights Dim Intermittently in Cold Weather


From GM TBS ..On 2001-2002 vehicles built , the voltage drop may be due to the electric AIR (Air Injector Reactor) pump cycling. This electric pump causes a large current draw when it starts.
Important: At no time during the above conditions will the headlamps go out.

[theRhinelander]

Mar 1, 2015 19:20:27 GMT -6 sall said:

LED upgrades? Sure. My entire vehicles is custom LED interior and exterior. Not a filament bulb one anymore. You should check awehlage threads for some LED stuff on a 2nd gen.

Aux jack is very easy if you are handy with a soldering iron or just upgrade from the factory stereo.

Nice lol, I'm keeping the stock stereo though, if I do an aux jack ill have it run down into where the hole for the ash tray would be but thats another project for the summer. My dads an electrician so i've learned a thing or two so soldering shouldn't be a huge deal

[theRhinelander]

Mar 1, 2015 20:54:19 GMT -6 Paulaurora said:

TECHNICAL
Subject:
Headlamps/Interior Lights Dim Intermittently in Cold Weather


From GM TBS ..On 2001-2002 vehicles built , the voltage drop may be due to the electric AIR (Air Injector Reactor) pump cycling. This electric pump causes a large current draw when it starts.
Important: At no time during the above conditions will the headlamps go out.

good to know its not the alternator! 

[awehlage]

Mar 1, 2015 19:20:27 GMT -6 sall said:

You should check awehlage threads for some LED stuff on a 2nd gen.

Yup I've converted entire interior/exterior to LEDs except for the ignition switch ring.

If you want to go LEDs on the speedo/DIC/HVAC/center console you need to solder each new LED. No drop in 194 bulbs.

PM me if interested.

[theRhinelander]

Reviving an old post... But summer is almost here and first on the list of things I need to do is clean the engine bay, simple enough. But it's what comes afterwards, I'm still thinking about that LED upgrade. What I want to know is how much it would cost, how difficult it would be, and how long will it take. Don't get me wrong, I definitely want to do this, but what is determining is if I can actually do this given I'm going to college soon

[millironspear]

I'm having an issue with the dash lights not coming on for a few minutes when starting the car, strange situation. The dash light illumination knob doesn't seem to make a difference (and it was replaced recently so is new). Any ideas? Everything else seems to be working fine.