diagnosing/replacing ambient light sensor?

hello- i think my ambient light sensor (also known as a photocell or twilight sensor) located near the defroster grill is bad because while the drl is on during the daytime, it remains so even if dark out, with the result that i have to manually turn on the headlights. so i want to replace it.

i just tried removing the the photocell, i pried up the portion of the dash board that covers the defroster grill.

the photocell appears as a translucent bulb with a black bayonet mount, that mount in turn is connected to a wire plug.

i twisted the photocell bayonet mount clockwise and pushed it down and out of the hole that is in a flange integral with the defroster pipe.

the PROBLEM: the wiring to the photocell is so short that i cannot bring it into a position to unplug the photocell without, it appears, removing the entire dashboard. furthermore, if i were able to get a pair of pliers on the photocell to yank it off the plug, there is no way i could replace it without removing the dash.

am i missing something?

i priced the photo cell at 20$. the complexity of removing the dash is outside my comfort zone, so a repair shop would probably charge me hundreds just to make the swap. :-(

It would help to post the year, make and model GM car.

it is a 1999 oldmobile alero gl, which is sister car to the pontiac grand am

it is a 1999 oldmobile alero gl, which is sister car to the pontiac grand am

Thanks. Yes I am aware of that since I have one. Your post has been moved to the Alero forum.