Twilight Sentinel Automatic Headlight System - delay question
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 32
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From: Bellevue Geneva
Twilight Sentinel Automatic Headlight System - delay question
I am a proud owner of my first Corvette, a silver 2007 C6 (I've posted an intro in the relevant forum).
In this neck of the woods (around Geneva, Switzerland) there are quite a few tunnels and I have noticed that it takes about 15 seconds for the Twilight Sentinel to turn on the headlights, which I think is way too long in case of driving in and out of tunnels every few minutes.
Other than manually turning the headlights on and off, is there a way to shorten the delay?
My dealer says "no, its been a problem ever since the system was introduced" but I'm not sure I believe that.
Anyone?
TIA
In this neck of the woods (around Geneva, Switzerland) there are quite a few tunnels and I have noticed that it takes about 15 seconds for the Twilight Sentinel to turn on the headlights, which I think is way too long in case of driving in and out of tunnels every few minutes.
Other than manually turning the headlights on and off, is there a way to shorten the delay?
My dealer says "no, its been a problem ever since the system was introduced" but I'm not sure I believe that.
Anyone?
TIA
Team Owner
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 82,175
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From: McKinney TX
St. Jude Donor '21-'22-'23-'24
I think the dealer is right (gasp) in this case. I've not seen anything in the owner's manual or in the discussions here that indicated you could shorten that time.
There is another aspect of the "Twilight Sentinel" that you can modify. That is how long your parking lamps and front fog lamps remain on after you exit the vehicle when it is off or in RAP. That delay can be set to OFF, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 90 seconds.
There is another aspect of the "Twilight Sentinel" that you can modify. That is how long your parking lamps and front fog lamps remain on after you exit the vehicle when it is off or in RAP. That delay can be set to OFF, 15 seconds, 30 seconds, or 90 seconds.
Last edited by Vette_DD; Jun 11, 2007 at 12:32 PM.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 32
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From: Bellevue Geneva
Thanks for replying though!
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
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From: La Center WA
I've driven in your area and know what you mean with the tunnels. Since there's no way to have the auto headlights come on sooner after you enter a dark area, your best bet is probably to just turn the headlights on manually and leave them on.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 32
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From: Bellevue Geneva
I agree, but still find 15 seconds too long and the fact the owner and/or dealer can't modify this delay is also too bad. I guess it will be "manual" on/off for me then...
Last edited by SwissDude; Jun 11, 2007 at 02:01 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: Henderson Nevada
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 27,420
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From: San Clemente CA
Try putting a piece of black tape on the sensor, maybe cover 1/2 of it. This might make it think it's darker than it really is and come on sooner. I did that years ago on another car and it worked. The lights came on earlier in the evening which I wanted, I don't know about faster off and on but it's worth a try.
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St. Jude Donor '06-'08-'10-'11-'12-'13 '14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19
I think there is another aspect of this to consider. Every time the HID low beams "ignite" there is a surge of current. From what I have read about HID's, the more often they are turned on, especially in a short time frame, the more likely they are to burn out sooner. I have no idea what time frame this is but my guess is GM tried to minimize the rapid ignition, then shutting off, ie short cycling of the on/off sequence of these headlamps by building in the delay. Your scenario is one in which turning them on and leaving them on is the best way to go.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 32
Likes: 0
From: Bellevue Geneva
I think there is another aspect of this to consider. Every time the HID low beams "ignite" there is a surge of current. From what I have read about HID's, the more often they are turned on, especially in a short time frame, the more likely they are to burn out sooner. I have no idea what time frame this is but my guess is GM tried to minimize the rapid ignition, then shutting off, ie short cycling of the on/off sequence of these headlamps by building in the delay. Your scenario is one in which turning them on and leaving them on is the best way to go.
Hope this helps.
Hope this helps.
Thanks!
Last edited by SwissDude; Jun 11, 2007 at 02:54 PM.
