Twilight sentinel problems & dashlights out

First.....I really enjoy your forum and the way everyone tries to help each other. Second, please be patient with me as I am of the female persuasion.....lol!

1. When it gets dark outside.....all my interior display lights go out!!! Radio lights, heat/ac. etc. During the day they stay on.....anyone have any idea what can be wrong there?

2. My dash lights are out ( already checked and made sure knob was turned on!!!) Checked the fuses and can't find anything wrong with them

3. If you brainiacs ( and I mean it sincerely,,,, not sarcastically!) can't help can anyone refer me to a good mechanic in Indianapolis area. I have been ripped off royal from an Olds dealer in NW Indiana.

Thanks for any help you can give me!

check for broken/frayed/loose wires in the brack rubber boot in between the divers door and the car. The only other thing that comes to mind is the mutifunction switch (for that you can do a search on here and find the fix posted by thumpin455 or look here
http://home.achilles.net/~howardm/aurora/aurora.php

)(I believe its the 3rd link on the "under the hood" page)

i think a member by the name of anusemoon (sp?) had the same problem, so you might double check with him on it.

Just a quick one.

Ref:- your item 2 .."already checked and made sure knob was turned on"
The switch is a dimmer, did you run it through it's full range.
Other than that. Wot treeboy38 said.

runninouttanames i have the same problem... i just checked the fuses and thats it...otherwise i dont have time to do anything and im too lazy to take it to a dealer..... at night do your brake lights turn on??? can you turn on the outside lights manually??? if so... its not the multifunction switch,,, could be the sensor not knowing when its daylight... or a pinched or broken wire... does it make a chirm sound when you open the door ( no key in the ignition)??? mine does all that plus i have no brake lights so i just ran a couple or wires to the battery attached to some bolbs in the back and thats my brake lights,, lol...or it could be your light control module,,, thats the problem that i think that i have...

Is it possible the sentinel is wired backwards?

if its a harness i highly doubt it,,,, but if some one rewired it then maybe,,, but all the wires are color coded...

Hi Folks -

Well, my car was down and out for quite some time. I am still having the same problems with the dash lights and twilight sentinel. I have had the multiswitch replaced and the wiring harness (dealer said the problem was a remote starter that screwed everything up so he took it out). the problems started after this work was done, I think the twilight sentinel may be miswired since all the lights go off only when it is dark, One thing I noticed....when the twilight sentinel switch is pushed in at night (I know it rotates) the lights on DIC -- radio - a/c buttons come on. If I turn the sentinel switch the headlights come on but all the display lights go off. Someone said the wires are color coded so this should not have happened. Do you think the swtch itself is bad or miswired? As far as headlights, I checked the fuses (rear park lamp also) - can't see any problems. I am wondering if a wire is disconnected here.

I have pulled out the interior light switch and the twilight sentinel switch -- am wondering if this is what needs replacement. Haven't tried cleaning it.....should I give this a shot?

I am sooooooo frustrated with this "money trap" --- it is a beautiful car - 97 Pearl white -- chrome wheels -- only 63K. I am ready to get rid of it. BTW....just replaced the battery for $120 yesterday!!!!

I am thinking the wiring is screwed up from the replacement of the wiring harness--- any other ideas???? I no longer live where the work was done so taking back is not an option.

Anyone know of a reputable place for work to be done in Indianapolis????

Hi,
Sorry to hear about your probs, especially considering that they are electrical. I have had my share with my 95. From what I have experienced, the Aurora is an incredibly engineered and easy to work on car. The problem is that there are very different ways to do all of the work on the car. Once some one knows how to do something its usually easy, but likely time consuming. Dealers and most mechanics take advantage of these facts and upcharge you on everything.

Back to the point of the post. The problem should be the dealer. Like I said, no one really knows these cars except the people who own them. They are very different from any GM, even its close cousin the N* Caddy. I have the HUGE service manuals that the dealer has (I used to work sales at a Caddy dealership) and although they make it easier to reference some stuff, The wiring section is INCREDIBLEY complex. Not many profesional mechanics are used to dealling with sooo many wires in an older passenger car.

Do not let this slide, it is the dealers responsibility. I am at work right now so I cannot check, but it is likely that the wires that the dealer was playing with were part of a harness housing several systems. That is typical with the car. If they CUT into one, they may have had to play with other ones. Call the dealer and have them explain the exact work done. They should have a Work Order and could look it up from your name. They should pay to hae the work done.

DO try to clean the switch with ELECRICAL cleaner first and then replace with a junk yard one if that doesnt work. This might save a lot of hastle. You already know how to take it out.

On another note, do not get rid of the car unless the transmission shifts funny or you blow white smoke. Most common and even uncommon probs can be fixed by you and the help of this awesome forum for low price.

Your battery repair sounds very expensive. My car was doin some crazy problems with starting and these guys helped me figure out that it was the battery. I did the replacement last week The original battery is BIG. It doesn't look like you can fit a normal battery in there without playin with it, but a regular battery will fit in there without any playin around. It is very easy and took about 10 minutes. The battery cost $65 (walmart) and the job nothing. If you can, bring back the $120 battery and have someone throw a normal HIGH crankin battery in it. Might save like $60. Just my 2 cents.

I hope we can help you with all of your probs. Keep on truckin. I lost my Tranny on a cross country trip and got ripped off $3000 for a rebuild. I had bought the car for $2000. So i'm in it for the long haul. Later.

Baron -

Thanks for your reply.....Unfortunately the work was done at the dealer more than one year ago and I have moved approximately 180 miles away. I'm sure too much time has passed. The lights on the dash went out a few months after the work so it was not an immediate problem but may be wire disconnected. You guys are probably gonna find this hard to believe but I rarely drove the car at night so I was not aware of twilight sentinel problem immediately.

I wish I would have checked in the forum before buying the battery....bout it yesterday at Advanced Auto Parts so I am not sure about return policy. Also wish I would have known about the forum before I replaced the multifunction for the infamous blinking light problem!!

I tried cleaning the twilight sentinel switch -- no luck there. I can only think the wiring is wrong on that. I don't know whether I would even attempt looking for loose wires under the dash. Hate to cop a plea but I am female and not as adept at these things. I will attempt to check fuses and minor stuff like that.

I guess I will be at the mercy of the dealer here in Indianapolis. Hopefully, I can eliminate some things by telling them of the problem and when it started. Seems like each time I drive into the dealer I drive out $500 poorer. Not having any dash lights is an inconvenience but like I said I rarely drive at night due to my eyesight.

Are you aware of a way to disconnect the twilight sentinel and manually turn on the lights? ... I don't really care about doing this but it seems like too easy of a fix so it probably can't be done...I would just like to be able to see my displays at night.

Thanks again for your post!!!!!

Crazy thought here. The dimmer and the Twilight Sentinel are two different switches. The one that turns on the interior lights is the dimmer and controls the inst. cluster.