dimmimg dash lights

[556393]

When starts to get dark enough for the head lights to come on and its not very dark outside the green lettering in the radio and the heating section goes very dim. I`m sure we all know what i`m talking about. I don`t run the dash lights on the highest or brightest level possible so, when the head lights come on the lettering disappears until I turn up the brightness. I heard cadillac did something about this problem on the newer cars in the last few years. Does anyone know if there is a way to access the computer to change the dash lites dimming whe the headlights come on? Thanks

[Ranger]

Why not just use the dimmer switch. I don't believe there is any other way.

[Cadillac Jim]

There is a slider switch under the headlight switch knob that sets the light level at which the headlights come on. If it is all the way to the right, the headlights will come on too soon. A good setting is about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way to the right. If that is at too high a light level for you for any reason, slide the switch farther to the left.

It sounds simple, but when my car was about a year old I had the opposite problem -- my headlights weren't coming on until it was too dark. I went to my dealer service department and the service manager stuck his head in the window and saw that my slider switch was all the way to the left. He set it at about 1/4 of the way to the right, plopped his clipboard over the sensors in the front center of the dash, and the headlights came on. Someone had moved the slider to work on the car indoors and forgotten to put it back, and I thought that the sensor was broken. Someone may have wanted to look at your lights or check the sensor while the car was outside. It can happen to anybody.

[Ranger]

I believe that slider switch is for the delay (how long the lights stay on after shut down). There is no way to adjust the sensitivity that I am aware of.

[GreenMachine]

I believe that slider switch is for the delay (how long the lights stay on after shut down). There is no way to adjust the sensitivity that I am aware of.

That is correct.

[556393]

THE PROBLEM I HAVE IS THE LACK OF CONTAST UNLESS YOU PUT FULL VOLTAGE TO THE DASH LIGHTS SO, YOU CAN SEE TIME, RADIO, ETC. I KINDA DON`T WANT TO DO THIS. IT`S A CADILLAC... I SHOULDN`T HAVE TO DO THAT. THATS WHY I`M ASKING ABOUT MAYBE ACCESSING THE COMPUTER SOME HOW TO CHANGE THIS ISSUE OF THE LETTERING DISAPPEARING WHEN THE HEAD LIGHTS COME ON. ANYBODY?

[Cadillac Jim]

If there is a real problem, your car's computers will have a device trouble code (DTC) stored. Click here to find out how to read the codes, and post them here. This will give us someting to base our advice on.

There are a few obvious things that seem apprpriate even without a DTC available. If the dash lights are full bright or full dim, then the first thing I would look at is the wiring on the headlight switch. The simple thing to do is to push it in and out a few times and see if there is any change in the brighness of the dash lights. The next thing I would do is remove the cover on the bottom of the dashboard to the left of the steering wheel and reach up and push the connector firmly onto the headlight switch and try it again.