Dash lights come on and off at random times

[momscar]

Hello, My mothers car is an '04 and she has been having this problem for a few months. The dash lights will turn off for no apparent reason. sometimes they seem to dim on their own and then come back.She hears a clicking noise when this happens.Any ideas or help will be appreciated.ThanksMitch

[NibCrom]

That happens to my Vibe too sometimes. It's an 05. I have no idea what causes it.

[joatmon]

Sounds like the car is switching between auto headlights and daytime running lights (DRL). The car has two headlight modes:Full - headlights on full, tail lights on, and the dash lights are controlled by the dimmer switch, and there is a little green indicator in the cluster that lights up to let you know you are in full headlight modeDRL - headlights on half bright, no tail lights, dash lights full bright, and the cluster "headlight" indicator is not lit upThe light sensor in the front left corner of the dash (Left when you are sitting in the drivers seat) monitors ambient light, when it thinks it's dark enough, it will switch to full headlights, if it thinks its bright enough, it goes back to DRLs Could be something as normal as the light hitting the sensor changing, so it switches back and forth between headlight modes, and if the dimmer switch is set to dim, then the dash lights switch between dim and bright every time the car switches between full headlights and DRLsWhen the car switches between full and DRL, a relay opens or closes, that may be the clicking sound heard when the car switchesTry setting the dimmer switch to full bright and see if it stops. Or try turning the headlights full on with the manual headlight switch. Or put something opaque over the light sensor in dash so the car will think it is always dark enough for full headlights.

[momscar]

Thanks Joatmon,I'll try those things and see what happens.Mitch

[northvibe]

yeah on my dimmer, i leave it on the solid mark, 1 click above the manual adjust. otherwise that happens to me in the tunnels in duluth (the on/off clicking of drl and headlights)

[kunkstyle]

Yeah, I'll get that every time I pull into the parkade. Does she keep sunglasses or anything else on the dash? That could trigger it too.

[lovemyraffe]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Sounds like the car is switching between auto headlights and daytime running lights (DRL). The car has two headlight modes:Full - headlights, tail lights, and the dash lights are controlled by the dimmer switch, and there is a little green indicator in the cluster that lights up to let you know you are in full headlight modeDRL - headlights on half bright, no tail lights, dash lights full bright, and the cluster "headlight" indicator is not lit up +1When I first got my car I was a little confused as to why my instruments would randomly dim in the middle of the day. It probably is the auto lights turning on.

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »Full - headlights, tail lights, and the dash lights are controlled by the dimmer switch, and there is a little green indicator in the cluster that lights up to let you know you are in full headlight modeI edited that above, the way I had it made it sound like the brightness of the headlights and tail lights was controlled with the dimmer switch, should be Full - headlights on full, tail lights on, and the dash lights are controlled by the dimmer switch, and there is a little green indicator in the cluster that lights up to let you know you are in full headlight mode @ me