'96 Headlight weirdness

[tdf27]

Hi All,

In the last 4 months, I've had two occasions where the headlights on my 96 Aurora refused to come on. Both times it was at dusk & the first time, after starting & stopping the car a couple of times, everything was fine. I chalked it up to the full moon (which explains a lot of my wife's behavior). Second time, no joy, even after trying everything I could think of, including disconnecting & reconnecting the battery. The next day, lights worked & have since.

Any experience - suggestions with this?

[Indy8]

Will they come on using the multi-function switch? Is this problem only with the twilight sentinel(automatic on/off)?

[tdf27]

Nope. Wouldn't work with the switch either no matter how many times I cycled the lights on & off. All that did function was the high-beam flash which acted as expected when lights are turned off.

[Indy8]

So now they won't come on at all?

[tdf27]

Lights are fine now but if it happend 2x in the last 4 months, I figure its gonna happen again, exactly when its the least convenient... The fact that it went away by itself makes me think a senser or circuit. Is there a way to reset these things?

[Indy8]

Some owners have experienced problems when using auto mode for extended periods of time. Excercising the main switch seemed to help clean the contacts and restore normal operation. With electrical, intermittent problems can be a bad ground. If it happens again, replacement of the whole switch is about $350 at the dealer.

[tdf27]

Sounds like my situation - used auto mode exclusively for the past 2 years. I'll try with the switch for awhile & see what happens.

Thanks for the advice!