Here'* what'* up. I have a 97 SSE, and I disabled my DRL'* a few months ago to save the aftermarket bulbs I installed. Everything has been working perfectly so far... no lights during the day, and they still come on automatically at night. Well, things got a little funky the last few days. Before, the lights would only come on automatically at night when i took the car out of park. Now, the lights are coming on in the middle of the day, and it makes it really hard to see the HUD and my interior DIC, Compass, and AC. It will be noon, really bright and sunny out, and when I start the car, everything is fine. Then, when I take the car out of Park, the lights come on like its night, and everything gets dimmer. What is going on here? Is there a way to disable the automatic turn on when car is not in park? maybe a fuse somewhere? Thanks for any help.

The headlights should come on when you start the car at night, not after you take it out of Park. That'* a problem right there. How did you disable the DRL'*? Something is amiss with how the DRL'* are disabled.

i disabled the DRL'* the same way as in tech info. that is not the problem. the problem is with the night sensor turning on the lights during the day. as far as i know, there is three configurations for the 97 lights. number 1...DRL'*, number 2, at night, even with the DRL'* disabled, they come on automatically... number 3, manual turn on. What I was asking is if there is a way to disable the automatic night lights, if that makes any sense. i'm really kinda drunk right now, so i will re-visit this topic tomorrow when i'm not drunk.

Well then maybe the ambient light sensor has failed. But the headlights & exterior lights are not linked to the gear selector and should only come on automaticly at night when ign. is on.

I also have a 97 with the DRL'* discabled. The disabling should not be part of the equation if you unplugged your resistor.

The sensor on the left of dash is the light photocell. Could it be a sticker on the window or something on the dash blocking the light causing it to believe darkness is approaching? Mine does turn on the lights occasionally when I pass under a long bridge etc and it seems bright enough outside. I can link it to a lower light condition though.

If you recently got a new sticker of sorts on the driverside window, that would be my first suspect. No idea on how to disable the auto lights entirely.

wow, i think that might be the problem. i always thought the sensor was the little round **** in the center of the dash, but if it'* on the drivers side, i just put a temporary parking pass there for school, and it may be covering it. jeez, what an easy fix. thanks for your help billboost, i'll go check that right away.

I think you might be right mark, i guess i was thinking it was linked to the gear selector because it would take a second or two for the lights to come on after i turned on the ignition, and i usually already had it in gear by that time. i still can't believe such frustration was caused by a stupid sticker. now here'* my next question, if the photo cell is on the drivers side, what is the little **** in the center of the dash?

that is for the ECC

Glad it could be so simple. The delay is because it has a programmed time to wait. This keeps your lights from flashing at each shadow you pass under.

And I wasn't 100% about which sensor, except...yesterday I was chatting with 1993 SLE to ask what the center sensor was for.

This is true. The ambient light sensor ckt is designed to be discrete about when the exterior lights turn on. It will compensate for hysteresis (rapid light condition changes) so that the lights will not be turning on & off when you drive under a short overpass for a few seconds or something like that. Like Bill said, there is a time delay.