headlights and parking lights

[nick brown]

i dont know if this is happening to every ppv but my 9C1 doesnt want to turn off the headlights when i put the switch to parking lights only when driving. its getting old when someone at the military post entrance tells me i have to turn my parking lights on at night when approaching the gate, and i have to explain to them why. im getting ready with the "because police car" response.

[Navy Lifer]

Nick,

Headlamp/exterior lighting ops is covered in the Owner's Manual - pg 6-1 to 6-3

The headlamp control switch has 4 positions--default is "Auto", with the selector straight/vertical.

The spring-loaded "off" (turn selector to left and release) will keep the exterior lights off until the next start-up sequence or the switch is moved again. This can be used to extinguish/override DRL's (Daytime Running Lights) for that run period (between start/run cycles), and will leave all exterior lights off until key is turned off or the headlamp switch is cycled either direction back to Auto or to one of the detented positions (turning selector to the right).

The 2 detented selector positions should take the lights from the Auto position (headlamps on or off controlled by dash sensor based on available daylight and/or DRL function--DRL leaves tail lamps off), with the first detent providing parking lamps on only, and the second detent providing full lights on, front & rear.

I'm not sure your car has a problem--it may be a familiarity issue. By chance, is there anything that may be covering the dash light sensor?

Does the gate MP/guard want or require you to approach only with parking lights on, or can you approach with NO lights on?

If you're convinced there's a problem, it's covered under warranty...much as you may not want to deal with it in that manner....

[storm9c1]

Just confirmed that my 2011 9C3 PPV will shut off the headlights (at night) if I turn the switch one click clockwise. The parking lights will remain on. If day, then it will turn on the parking lights alone. Not sure what happens to the DRL since I couldn't test this mode.

At night, if I turn the switch counter-clockwise, it will turn off all exterior lights. The switch springs back to the "auto" position. But the lights remain off for that session until the key is cycled as explained above. If I immediately go to the first click clockwise after turning them off, the parking lights will also come on by themselves.

Are you saying that your 9C1 isn't behaving this way?

I have played around with trying to "trick" the system by shining a bright light into the sensor on top of the dash (at night). Eventually I got a "service vehicle soon" error on the display. LOL. It went away after I stopped trying to confuse the car of whether it was night or day. Are you perhaps getting any "service vehicle soon" errors when you start the car?

The FSM also talks about faults that would cause the headlights to stay on (in any mode of the switch). For example, page 4-79, DTC B257A, "Action taken when the DTC sets" -- "The BCM disregards the headlamp switch input and defaults to automatic headlamp function." At night, this would mean the headlights would be on with no way to override.

Another thing the FSM talks about is the Surveillance Mode switch (page 4-168). It states that when this switch is on, "Parkers and Headlamps work when the switch is in the Auto position." This also alludes to the possibility that in Auto, and at night, the headlights and parking lights will be commanded on and no other mode is allowed. But it doesn't state what happens when the headlamp switch is moved to any other position. So I would also play with the Surveillance switch (overhead console) and see if it affects headlight operation.

[Tom Slick]

My tech was able to turn off the automatic daytime driving lights /automatic headlights... so now I have complete control of them... if I leave them on when I shut the car off, they will automatically go off after a little while, battery saver feature.

Later,
Tom Slick

[elc32955]

Now that I have my car back again (put the wife into something she was more comfortable in for a daily driver!), I plan on 86'ing the DRL's as soon as I can get someone with a Tech 2 to program them off. I'm fine with the auto headlights as I can always take it to manual mode by moving the switch to the left momentarily. That may be an activity for next week when my car goes back to the dealership.

Nick, you might need to get your dealership to check the programming and if necessary modify. What you're describing is not how my car behaves, when I go to parking light mode on the switch the headlights shut off. Doesn't seem typical unless there's a difference on the 9C1 programming I'm not aware of. With as many variations in programming as we've seen thought between cars however, no telling.

Eric

[nick brown]

thanks for the feedback guys i just wish the dealerships here would help me they turn me away with this issue in washington state.

[Navy Lifer]

i just wish the dealerships here would help me they turn me away with this issue in washington state.

Nick, how many dealerships have you visited? What do you mean "they turn me away"....at the service writer level? You need to have a chat with the Service Manager, and if you get push-back there, you go to his boss. Somewhere in the chain a light will finally come on. The car is under warranty, and unless this is an operator error issue (have you studied the owner's manual and determined whether the lights do or do not work as described?), and IF the lights are NOT working correctly, a dealer should resolve the issue.

If the car wasn't purchased at a local dealer, the obligation remains for any dealer to address a problem. Are you being questioned by any of these dealer(s) about how you got the car? It's really not for them to judge that....period.

If you continue to have no dealer cooperation, ask yourself whether it may be you--if you're going in with any attitude, a dealer is less inclined to be helpful--you might even have a box of donuts handy, it can never hurt. In the end, you contact GM consumer relations--the info to do that is in your owner's manual.

Please keep us posted on the outcome.

[Tom Slick]

Speaking of headlights and taillights...

Here's the list for the bulbs used in our cars:

Low beam headlamp H11-55W

High beam headlamp H7-55W

Parking light 12961

Front turn signal 12356LL

Rear turn signal 7443LL

Tail light 7443LL

Stop light 7443LL

High mount stop light LED

License plate 12961

Back up light 921

Front sidemarker 194

Map light 12961

Dome light 12961

Trunk/Cargo area 6411


Later,
Tom Slick

[nick brown]

i just wish the dealerships here would help me they turn me away with this issue in washington state.

Nick, how many dealerships have you visited? What do you mean "they turn me away"....at the service writer level? You need to have a chat with the Service Manager, and if you get push-back there, you go to his boss. Somewhere in the chain a light will finally come on. The car is under warranty, and unless this is an operator error issue (have you studied the owner's manual and determined whether the lights do or do not work as described?), and IF the lights are NOT working correctly, a dealer should resolve the issue.

If the car wasn't purchased at a local dealer, the obligation remains for any dealer to address a problem. Are you being questioned by any of these dealer(s) about how you got the car? It's really not for them to judge that....period.

If you continue to have no dealer cooperation, ask yourself whether it may be you--if you're going in with any attitude, a dealer is less inclined to be helpful--you might even have a box of donuts handy, it can never hurt. In the end, you contact GM consumer relations--the info to do that is in your owner's manual.

Please keep us posted on the outcome.

i got it at a dealership so far i visited 3 dealership in the fort lewis area, one of them told me a lie saying gm never came out with a fix for it, even though the manual states to take it to a dealership to reset the DTL