So, I am driving into work this morning and the backlights on my instrument cluster went off, then came back on a couple times. I'm not 100% positive, but i think i heard a faint click when they turned off and then back on...kind of like a relay clicking or something.
It acted as if the daytime running lights were switching on and off, because the other lights such as the climate control, and radio would illuminate brighter when the cluster lights went out and would dim when the cluster lights came back on, which is normal behavior for my car when it starts getting dark and the DRL decide to kick on or when the DRL kick off in the morning when it starts to get light out.
All the gauges on the instrument panel still worked and some other cluster lights were working as well. For instance, I was using cruise control and the green "cruise" indicator never went out. I did have the fog lamps on, though and when the back lights went out, the blue fog light indicator on the dash went out also. I was not able to tell whether or not the fog lamps themselves went out as I was driving. I was able to see my headlight glare on the vehicles in front of me, so i know the headlamps didn't go out. I also hit the dome light switch just to see what else may be affected and it still worked as well. I didn't think to check things like my brake lights, locks and windows as the traffic was pretty bad this morning and the roads were wet, so i needed to keep my eyes on the road. But the little indicator lights on the door lock buttons, the window buttons and on the shifter were all still illuminated when the cluster backlights went out.
I had the climate control running, the radio on, my XM was plugged in the cig lighter and turned on, and the rear defroster was on. All these devices were still working when the dash backlights went out. I was keeping an eye on the voltage gauge and saw no fluctuations during my commute this morning.
Sorry for such a long winded post, but i wanted to make sure to provide as much relevant information as possible.
I think you may just be a little paranoid on this one. Sounds like some standard issue GM lighting to me, all except the fog light indicator going off. These cars do suffer from fog light problems. They can and will malfuction but it will not take down your lights.
If it is an over cast day (sounds like it in your story) or if you are driving on a road with a lot of trees on the side of the road your lights can and will turn on/off. There is a 3-5 second delay from when your sensor senses the lack of light and when it reacts to it. When the lights come on the instrument cluster lights and the rest of the dash dims. The reason the lights dim is to reduce glare and eye strain in dark situations. With the lights off the instrument panel does not light and the rest is brightened. This is to help you see the read outs in bright situations.
Sounds like your system is working right to me. If you are feeling bored you can clean the sensor. It is located on the top of your dash in the middle of your defrostor vents. It looks like a big black nipple. The only way to properly clean it is with an eraser. These being dirty is not usually an issue unless it is mounted in the grille (on old school automatic high beam set-ups) and the Catera does not have one of them.
yeah, i know what you are saying. I have three GM vehicles, all with DRL and they all do the on/off thing at sunrise, dusk, overcast, etc. I was just worried about the fact that the fog light indicator was going out as well. I just recently bought this car and consequently am kind of new to all it's quirks and nuances. I have spent the past few days with my nose buried in this forum and there are a lot of posts related to electrical problems which led to my concern. Now that i think about it...i wonder if it was simply the fog lights disengaging when the sensor decided there was enough light to turn off the headlights. I suppose you should only be able to engage the foglamps if the headlights were on as well.
