HOW TO: Cover up ambient light sensor

[cavingman]

EDIT: This is a 01+ feature ONLY (thanks peeps)

If you dont want to do the DRL kit, this is a good alternative. (im not tryin to cheat anyone out of money or anything, besides, you still have parking lights anyways) Please be carefull when using a knife or whatever you use to pry the vent up. And dont think you can hold me or this website responsible when you start cutting random body parts off.

Covering up the ambient light sensor allows you to drive with only your parking lights on during the day. Normally during the day your headlights would turn on, until it got dark out. At which point you could have only your parking lights. This allows you to have only parking lights all the time.

I used a butter knife. push it under the grill thats behind your windshield. there are 6 clips under it that hold it down. Push the knife in there and pry each clip up until it pops off.

Once the grate is off, you will see the air vents, and something that looks like the attached image.

Thats the ambient light sensor. I choose to cover it with duct tape. If you can think of something getter to do let me know :thumbs:

Once you cover it, replace the grill and you should be good to go.

I'm putting this here because I got sick of throwing a t-shirt over the vent when I was driving :)

[Doug]

If I did that on my 2000 it would make you have full headlights all the time. I just totally removed the sensor and put a jump wire in each hole of the socket where the sensor was. It's a PITA but work it. YOu still have DRLs but now have full control.

[IslandBoySE00]

Hey Doug, what do you mean by DRL controls? Does it mean that you can turn on your DRL's whenever you want to. If so, can you show me how to do it?

[Doug]

you don't have auto headlight. At night you have to turn on the headlights yourself but ant night you can turn them off where as now it won't let you turn them off unless you shut off the car

[cavingman]

yea, I just tested it on TJX96's 99GA and it wouldnt work. I guess they changed something sometime. So as of right now this is a 03 only thing, until someone else tries it. (throw a towel over the vent, wait a bit, and see if you can get only parking lights)

[peeps]

IIRC, this is an '01+ feature.....

[claymore]

My 99 looks the same as the pic above. what changed between 99 and 01 that this dosent work? and by putting a piece of tape over it would make the lights come on all the time right? I dont know/ I do think its a PITA to have your lights kick on automatically. and if they were doing this why put the manual switch in???

[Jeremy]

Claymore. on the 01'+ Ga's the headlight switch is different. We have the option of going parking lights only. Ever GA has the light sensor, but the 01+'s have the option of turning off the headlights and leaving parking/fogs on if the sensor thinks its dark enough.

I made a small cover that goes over the defroster vent to cover the light sensor. That way I can easily remove it if I wanted to. I have noticed that if I leave it on there for an extended period of time, the car "learns" that it is not dark and turns on the DRL's. So I either have to uncover the sensor for a while or turn off the car and restart. It's not totally fooling the system, but 90% of the time it works.

I believe they changed the auto headlight switch feature due to military bases requiring that you turn off your head lights when pulling upto the gate or something like that. Not sure exactly what the rule is, just going from what I kinda remember.

[RAMAIRGT1]

just spend a few bucks :rolleyes: for the drl kit...it works wonders :)

[SikMindz]

Originally posted by cavingman
EDIT: This is a 01+ feature ONLY (thanks peeps)

If you dont want to do the DRL kit, this is a good alternative. (im not tryin to cheat anyone out of money or anything, besides, you still have parking lights anyways) Please be carefull when using a knife or whatever you use to pry the vent up. And dont think you can hold me or this website responsible when you start cutting random body parts off.



Man...someone should have told Iceman that the other nite when he was doing...well, when he was doing whatever he was doing! :p

[cavingman]

what did he end up slicing off?

[SikMindz]

Almost sliced off his pinkie I think.:thumbs:

[cavingman]

ouch!
I cut the top of my thumb off once. not fun.

[claymore]

Thanks Guru, for that info, its amazing how something so small can change within a year.
any who, i did the little trick some one did above. I removed the light sensor and put a wire in both plug holes and electrical taped it up nice and tight. so far no SES or SVS lights and I like how i can now turn the lights on and off with the switch at night. im like a kid at christmas. I had a B*#$h of a time getting the little bugger out of the hole it was in. and I said a few colorful words when it fell down behind the dash and i had to get a straightend coat hanger to fish it back up. but I am happy.

[AFdefender]

I believe they changed the auto headlight switch feature due to military bases requiring that you turn off your head lights when pulling upto the gate or something like that. Not sure exactly what the rule is, just going from what I kinda remember.

I dont think that the military things got anything to do with it but who knows... so many cars now wont let you turn off your lights at night that it isn't realy that big of a deal. I was a cop in the Air Force and people came to the gate all the time with their lights on. Turning the lights off is more of a curtesy than a requirement at least at my base some places might be strict on that. It's not realy important but I thought maybe you would be interested to know. :) :thumbs:



:wave:

[Doug]

Originally posted by claymore
Thanks Guru, for that info, its amazing how something so small can change within a year.
any who, i did the little trick some one did above. I removed the light sensor and put a wire in both plug holes and electrical taped it up nice and tight. so far no SES or SVS lights and I like how i can now turn the lights on and off with the switch at night. im like a kid at christmas. I had a B*#$h of a time getting the little bugger out of the hole it was in. and I said a few colorful words when it fell down behind the dash and i had to get a straightend coat hanger to fish it back up. but I am happy.

I told you it was a PITA but thats how I did it too :)