2003 Chevy Impala (Off Topic)

Dadillac · #1 (**permalink**) 02-23-06, 11:30 AM

Anyone who can help would be appreciated. My mom owns a 2003 Impala. I know nothing about Impala's. On Sunday, she had a problem with her lights. She started the car, and the auto headlights wouldn't work. I did a quick check (it was dark and cold), and couldn't figure it out. My Seville has a switch (twilight sentinel), my wifes I35 has a position on the headlight stalk (for auto lights), but the Impala doesn't have anything like this. I asked her the dumb question, if she was sure that the car had auto lights. She said they always worked before. When I put the headlights on manually, they worked fine. Does anyone know how this system works? Obviously I need to check her fuses (I will do this on Saturday), but if anyone knows, please chime in. Also, does the Impala have a way of pulling codes like our Caddy's do? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Don

elwesso · #2 (**permalink**) 02-23-06, 08:14 PM

Pretty sure they run off the sunload sensor thats in the middle of the dash...

easiest to take it to autozone and have them read codes for free, to see if anything like that is bad.

c5 rv · #3 (**permalink**) 02-23-06, 08:59 PM

You probably know this, but some GM cars have both a headlight auto position and a headlight off position. I've looked at my dash before and wondered why it said something like "Turn on headlamps". Doh!

Dadillac · #4 (**permalink**) 02-23-06, 09:33 PM

I tried playing with the switch to figure out if it had an auto position. It is an old style pull switch. Pull out one click, parking lights and dash lights come on. Pull out fully, headlights come on. I tried turning it, to see if maybe there is an auto position that way. Nope. It just seems strange that the car would have auto lights, but no way to turn them off manually. I saw one sensor sticking up in the dash, that was about 1/4 inch high, by about 3/16 inch wide. I am assuming that this is the sensor I need to deal with. Hopefully it is an easy fix, like a fuse or something. I am going to call mom, and see how the car is doing.

Don

DaveSmed · #5 (**permalink**) 02-24-06, 10:57 AM

Turn the car on and see if the DRLs work. Usually thats integrated into the same module. There is no button really to turn the auto lights off, not sure which kind the Impala is, but a few there just is no way to turn it off at all, and some others there's a magic combination of buttons that turns it off. Normally the magic combination is a one time use thing (an ignition cycle resets it to normal Auto operation) But the Imp again, might be different. There is a way to get into the cars settings through the radio. I know theres settings for stuff like auto lock in there, maybe theres one for the Auto lights.

Dadillac · #6 (**permalink**) 02-24-06, 06:19 PM

I called mom, and the lights are working as normal. She said that on Monday, she started the car, and everything was working fine. I guess that it was just a hiccup. I told her to keep me posted, and if it happens again, I will look into it. Thanks to all who posted.

Don