bld
Aurora Groupie
Posts: 128
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Post by bld on Oct 20, 2005 12:08:08 GMT -6
The headlights do not come on automatically.
Guess a bad light sensor could be one cause. Others? Any good ways to diagnose?
Thanks
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scottydl
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There's nothin' like an American V-8...
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Post by scottydl on Oct 22, 2005 9:24:32 GMT -6
What year is your Aurora? Are you talking about the Daytime Running Lamps (headlights that come on as soon as you put the car in gear) or the Twilight Sentinel (full lighting on at when it's dark outside)? Did the feature used to work and stop, or has it never worked since you've owned the car? DRLs and Twilight Sentinel are two different features that are controlled by different sensors and fuses. DRLs can be specifically disabled on a classic (95-99) Aurora by pulling a resistor under the hood, which many of us have done 'cause we don't like 'em. Maybe that's what someone did that owned the car before you...
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Post by Snoman002 on Oct 23, 2005 9:31:39 GMT -6
If it is the twilight sentinel then you should be able to disconnect the sensor on the dash and the light should come on as if it were dark out, that might take some time to get the sensor out though.
I beleve that the system is designed so that either a short or an open on that sensor makes the vehicle think it is dark out (not 100% sure on shorting the wires though). I do know that to disable the twilight sentinel you need to put a resistor in place of the light sensor on the dash, just disconnecting the sensor causes the lights to come on all the time.
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bld
Aurora Groupie
Posts: 128
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Post by bld on Oct 23, 2005 17:24:31 GMT -6
'99.
If I read the manual properly, the full headlights (as opposed to the daytime running lights) should come on automatically when it is dark. This does not happen. I have to manually turn the headlights on.
The daytime running lamps come on all the time unless the headlights are on. These do work.
It's not a big deal, but I like to have everything working on my cars.
Thanks for responding.
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scottydl
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There's nothin' like an American V-8...
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Post by scottydl on Oct 23, 2005 19:18:47 GMT -6
It sounds you read (and understand) everything correctly. That is a strange problem to have... if you have your Twilight setting turned up and it still doesn't work, maybe the previous owner disabled it by using a resistor as mentioned above? Hmm...
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bld
Aurora Groupie
Posts: 128
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Post by bld on Oct 23, 2005 19:35:02 GMT -6
Anything is possible, but that is not likely. The lady from whom I bought the car was the original owner. She didn't do any work on the car herself. And I would be surprised if the dealer would do something like that.
I've ordered the GM maintenance manuals. They should arrive in a week or so. Maybe that will help.
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luvolds
Aurora Newbie
97 olds aurora. the 1 owner carguy youtube 68k model
Posts: 14
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Post by luvolds on Aug 27, 2017 15:20:21 GMT -6
i noticed the same problem on mine. drl work. no problem. but automatic lights dont. i saw no switch to turn on automatic lights. i just bought car a couple months back. have you solved your problem?
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Post by sall on Aug 27, 2017 19:38:42 GMT -6
i noticed the same problem on mine. drl work. no problem. but automatic lights dont. i saw no switch to turn on automatic lights. i just bought car a couple months back. have you solved your problem? This thread is a over a decade old, but I'd suggest cleaning off the light sensor in the middle of the dash on the defrost grill. Are you sure the DRL works and it;s not just headlamps on at all times?
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luvolds
Aurora Newbie
97 olds aurora. the 1 owner carguy youtube 68k model
Posts: 14
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Post by luvolds on Aug 30, 2017 20:54:18 GMT -6
I turned headlights on as manual says. But lights come on in daytime. If I leave them on and park. Chime goes off. Thanks for a reply.
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Post by wfooshee on Sept 4, 2017 7:51:36 GMT -6
No one has mentioned that the Twilight Sentinel can be turned off. The wheel that adjusts its duration, to the left of the steering column, clicks off at the bottom of its range, disabling the feature. I would humbly suggest that as the first troubleshooting step... make sure the damn thing is enabled!
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RCA1186
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Rob
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Post by RCA1186 on Sept 5, 2017 7:37:27 GMT -6
12 year old thread. But twilight sentinel is separate from automatic lights. It only controls the duration the lights will stay on after shutting the car off.
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Post by sall on Sept 5, 2017 10:26:25 GMT -6
I turned headlights on as manual says. But lights come on in daytime. If I leave them on and park. Chime goes off. Thanks for a reply. Sounds normal to me. The DRL(about half power low beam) is on in the daytime until the sensor deems the light is low enough. At that point the low beams will be full brightness. If the low beam switch is manually turned on the low beams will be full intensity and the chime will ring to inform you to turn the switch off to not kill your battery by leaving on the lamps.
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Post by wfooshee on Sept 25, 2017 19:19:40 GMT -6
But twilight sentinel is separate from automatic lights. It only controls the duration the lights will stay on after shutting the car off. I stand corrected. On another car I have, the same control that disables lights on delay after shutting off the car also disables automatic headlights at dusk. I sorta kinda made an assumption, and we all know where that goes..... Had to go outside and verify, of course, and indeed, the automatic lights work even if the twilight sentinel is disabled. To my mind, that makes the sentinel mis-named, but i s'pose it's too late to get that corrected by GM...
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RCA1186
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Rob
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Post by RCA1186 on Sept 26, 2017 6:47:47 GMT -6
You can still use the twilight sentinel to shut the lights off while you're in park. Just have to turn the switch down till it clicks when you are in park (or if it's already off then you need to click it up and then back down again) Of course, as soon as you put it in gear then the lights will pop back on again. I think the only way to have full manual control is to wire the light sensor wires together, effectively disabling any auto function.
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Post by wfooshee on Sept 28, 2017 20:21:44 GMT -6
Which implies the possibility of a short in his sensor wires....
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Post by sall on Sept 29, 2017 17:10:48 GMT -6
Which implies the possibility of a short in his sensor wires.... The sensors do go bad but his description sounds normal. I just don't think he realizes the intensity difference.
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