Lighting Issue 99 Camaro
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Lighting Issue 99 Camaro Hello, I just got my son a 4th gen Camaro. This is the first time owning one, so I don’t have any F-Body knowledge. We’re currently experiencing an issue where the night ambient lighting is on all the time. As soon as we turn on the car all the gauges, radio and a/c controls all light up as well as the rear parking lights.
The light switch works just fine. When the car is off I can switch between the parking lights and the headlights and everything works as it should. Once the car is on the light switch does nothing to turn this off.
This is really driving me nuts. I was reading that it could be the ambient light sensor that may be faulty or covered. I have yet to find it’s location but This car did come a dash overlay that’s covering the original damaged one.
Any help or suggestions are welcomed. Thanks
The light switch works just fine. When the car is off I can switch between the parking lights and the headlights and everything works as it should. Once the car is on the light switch does nothing to turn this off.
This is really driving me nuts. I was reading that it could be the ambient light sensor that may be faulty or covered. I have yet to find it’s location but This car did come a dash overlay that’s covering the original damaged one.
Any help or suggestions are welcomed. Thanks
Last edited by JayD86; Jun 3, 2024 at 08:39 PM.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Your car (like all 4th generation Camaros and Canadian Firebirds) has automatic headlights. They turn on when the ignition is turned on, the parking brake is not engaged, and it's dark out. You can test this by engaging the parking brake (something you should always do anyway) before starting the car and confirm that the lights don't turn on.
The light sensor is in the middle of the dash near the defroster vent. I suspect that the dash cover is covering it making it “think“ it's dark all the time. The solution to keep the automatic headlights feature working is to cut a small hole in the cover so that light can get through. Alternatively, you can disable the automatic headlights by getting under the dash, unplugging the sensor, and using a small piece of wire to short together the two sensor wires... zero resistance across those wires is read as bright light so the headlights will never turn on automatically (they will still work via the switch as normal). Be very careful when lifting the dash pad to get at the sensor as it gets very brittle over the years and can break fairly easily leaving VERY sharp edges (he says as he types with only nine fingers
).
The light sensor is in the middle of the dash near the defroster vent. I suspect that the dash cover is covering it making it “think“ it's dark all the time. The solution to keep the automatic headlights feature working is to cut a small hole in the cover so that light can get through. Alternatively, you can disable the automatic headlights by getting under the dash, unplugging the sensor, and using a small piece of wire to short together the two sensor wires... zero resistance across those wires is read as bright light so the headlights will never turn on automatically (they will still work via the switch as normal). Be very careful when lifting the dash pad to get at the sensor as it gets very brittle over the years and can break fairly easily leaving VERY sharp edges (he says as he types with only nine fingers
). 
