Have a 2001 Pontiac Aztek Base I just bought and it has an interesting problem. It is equipped with DRLs and Auto Lamp so the full headlights come on when it gets dark.

The problem is the lights do not turn off when I turn the car off. IE: If it is light out the DRLs stay on until the battery dies or if it is dark the headlights/running/tail lights all stay on until the battery dies.

The interior switch only has AUTO/RUNNING/HEADLIGHTS as an option there is no OFF. I usually leave it in the AUTO position.

I can get the lights to turn off by turning the car off, then moving the switch to either RUNNING or HEADLIGHTS then back to AUTO and the lights turn off. It is just a pain to remember to do this otherwise I come out to a dead battery.

Looking for a cheap way to fix this or any ideas of what could be causing it. My idea for a fix is to bypass the twilight sensor on the dash so it always thinks it is light out then pull the DRL fuse. My hope is then when the switch is in the AUTO position the lights will always be off.

I am definitely open to any other ideas that won't cost much because this is car is not worth much anymore I just don't want any more dead batteries.

You could do the sensor mod by removing the photo cell and inserting a resistor to fool it into thinking its always daytime. I'm not sure on what value of resistor you need, but considering its GM and the *-10'* are GM, on the S10 forum, they use 2 different resistors depending on the year. 99+ its a 2.2K ohm 1/2 watt resistor. This can be found at Radio Shack.

Otherwise, I think you may have a Body Control Module problem.

I agree that it is likely a BCM problem, but I don't want to fork out a couple hundred dollars just to fix the automatic headlights.

I will look into what resistor I need once I get the sensor out. Thanks for the info on the S10

You welcome.

I was able to do it by putting in a 620ohm 1/2 watt resistor in place of the twilight sensor