Disable Auto Head lights

Does anyone know how to disable the auto headlights and daytime running lights on the new trucks without modifying something?

I think on my 02 I had, all I had to do was press the dome overide button in and out about 3 times and it would ding and then they would be disabled but that doesnt work on my 06.

I think on the 06 Your suppose to turn the light switch counterclockwise and then back to off again, press the dome override 18 times, bark like a dog, and stand on your head.

Just kidding....

I do think it has something to do with turning the light switch one way and then the other. Either that or just put a bypass switch off the BCM that goes to the light Sensor. Once I knew which wires to tap on my 99' it took all of 15 minutes and less than $2 in hardware.
Now I can leave it in Automatic mode or switch it to manual mode.

Does anyone know how to disable the auto headlights and daytime running lights on the new trucks without modifying something?

I think on my 02 I had, all I had to do was press the dome overide button in and out about 3 times and it would ding and then they would be disabled but that doesnt work on my 06.

As Chuck16 stated - all you have to do is turn the switch to the right as far as it goes - and it turns the lights off until the next time you start the truck.

Right or, Left? I thought it was Left.

I know you can do it that way, but then you have to do it everytime you start the truck. I thought there should be a way like on the 02's with the dome overide button.

I know you can do it that way, but then you have to do it everytime you start the truck. I thought there should be a way like on the 02's with the dome overide button.

I think with the dome override button you still have to do it everytime you start your truck. I think the best way to do is to just wire a resistor over the light sensor with a switch on the BCM then your ready to go. :grinyes:

Ok, Ive been doing a lot of research all over the place and everything I find agrees with you Chuck. You can press the dome overide 3-6 times and hear a ding and that disables them until you restart the truck on I think 99-02 trucks. On 03-up there is the spring loaded switch that you can turn to the left to the O in which it also get reset after you restart the truck. For some reason I thought it was permanant. But its been a long time since I had the 02.

Definitely not permanent. Did mine by accident the first time and didn't hear the ding. Freaked out when the lights didn't come on. Thought something was broken. Everything was normal next drive. Didn't find out for at least a couple weeks (by browsing this forum!) what I had actually done. :rolleyes:

I think with the dome override button you still have to do it everytime you start your truck. I think the best way to do is to just wire a resistor over the light sensor with a switch on the BCM then your ready to go. :grinyes:

I agree with this. I disabled mine completely. I liked being able to control my lights. I also disabled my DRL's b/c I hated them as well.


Directions to disable auto-headlights

FOR '99-'02 TRUCKS ONLY w/o AUTO CLIMATE CONTROLS

Basically you will need a pair of wire cutters and a 1.5K ohm 1/2 watt resistor that you can get at Radio Shack. Electrical tape and possibly some wire nuts will work to wire in the resistor. You can solder the wires if you wish.

You may want to remove the neg. battery cable to assure you don't do any unwanted damage to the electrical system. This is not necessary, but a good precaution to take.

First locate the Body Control Module (BCM) which is under the dash, below the steering column. Laying on the floor, this should be visible without removing any dash panels. You should find a purple connector (C3). Unplug it.

Locate the white and gray wires (A4 and A6). I don't remember if white is A4 and gray is A6 or vice versa. It doesn't matter anyway.

Clip these two wires that are coming off this plug (C3). Leave a few inches to work with. Tape up or place wire nuts over the other end of these wires that go up under the dash(they go to the light sensor). You have now removed the light sensor from the electrical system and is now just a dash ornament.

Connect the gray wire from the plug (C3) to one end of the resistor and the white wire to the other end. Make sure you tape up all wires to prevent a short. You should now have a gray wire coming from C3, going to one lead of the resistor and the white wire from C3 to the other resistor lead. Plug in C3 to the BCM and replace the neg. battery cable if you removed it. Start the truck and make sure the lights are off. Throw a dark towel or something over the light sensor on the dash and verify the lights stay off. Try your light switch that has probably never been used and that's it!

Visual to go Jay's Description....

http://www.gm-trucks.com/gallery/albums/userpics/26892/aheadwiring.jpg

Did you have the drawing of how to wire the switch in also?

Did you have the drawing of how to wire the switch in also?


See the break in the line that goes to the resistor in the Diagram? That's representative of a switch... if that helps...

Would it work that way? With the switch closed, you'd have the new resistor in parallel to the light sensor. Wouldn't you need a DPDT switch so that one or the other is what the BCM sees?

This is how mine works.

When the switch is closed the Resistor is in parallel to the light sensor and assumes that the there is enough light and leaves the light off. Because it's in parallel the BCM sees the resistance and says ok leave lights off.

When The switch is open, it just assumes regular operation and the resistor is taken out of the loop.

The switch is just a little micro switch like they use on Valets for alarms. Open or closed. I mounted it next to the OBD2 reader so it's out of site.

I never measured the actual resistance the Light sensor has when lit or not lit but, I thought I'd just try the switch and see what happened. Luckily I was happily surprised to see that it works. I can also switch the switch at anytime regardless of Key position.

See the break in the line that goes to the resistor in the Diagram? That's representative of a switch... if that helps...


yes yes, Stupid me. Sorry.