Abrasion

Alright guys I need a little help. I did a lot of searching and could not find anyone else with the same problem. I'll be driving along and the headlights just decide to pop up, a few moments later they close back. This happens randomly at any time. Sometimes several times in a row. I have notice my switch does not work all the time. Which I blamed on a low battery. However everything looks good when this happens. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? Thanks guys.

martysauto

Unplug the switch and drive it. If they stay down replace the switch. You stated it was not working all the time anyway.

dadaroo

Good recommendation. To the OP: Just understand you will not have brake lights except for the 3rd one if you disconnect the MF switch.

65GGvert

The first thing I'd check is to see if Twilight Sentinel is enabled, if so, turn it off and see if you still have the problem. Could be a bad sensor, or you could be driving in varying light conditions, I can't say where you were at the time.

dadaroo

I thought about TS also but I did not think that once TS is activated it would not turn off the lights and close the doors until the car was shut off. Still a good thing to take out of the equation. My car is not at home to test whether it will turn off the lights. Since my TS has always been OFF I have no history to recall.

65GGvert

When the sensor "sees the light" the headlights go off and the doors go down. (For example coming out of a tunnel). The car doesn't have to be shut off. If the headlights are coming on and the doors go up, that makes TS a possibility. If the doors go up, but the headlights don't come on (?), then it probably has nothing to do with the problem.

65GGvert

Looks like there's a one minute delay in shutting off when light hits the sensor. Here's what the manual says:

Twilight Sentinel@ can turn your lamps on and off for
you. A light sensor on top of the instrument panel makes
the Twilight Sentinel@w ork, so be sure it isn’t covered.
You can customize your vehicle to turn Twilight
Sentinel@ on or off (except for vehicles first sold in
Canada). See Driver Information Center (DIC) on
page 3-44 to turn this feature on or off.
When Twilight Sentinel@ is turned on, you will see the
following happen:
When it’s dark enough outside, the front turn signal
lamps (DRL) will go off, and the headlamps and
parking lamps will come on. The other lamps
that come on with headlamps will also come on.
When it’s bright enough outside, the headlamps will
go off, and the front turn signal lamps (DRL) will
come on, as long as the exterior lamp switch is in
the OFF position.
If you start your vehicle in a dark garage, the automatic
headlamp system will come on immediately. Once you
leave the garage, it will take approximately one minute for
the automatic headlamp system to change to DRL if it is
light outside. During that delay, your instrument panel
cluster may not be as bright as usual.
3-1

dadaroo

Thanks for the TS info. Silly me, I expected the FSM to say this and it does not. Just went to my owners manual and it does. I'll factor that into my future efforts. Merry Christmas.