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Radio Display

9K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  ophidia31 
#1 ·
Hi:

I have the stock radio/CD player in my 08 GXP. The last couple of weeks when I start the car in the morning the radio display remains blank for between 5 and 10 minutes. So far it has always come back. The radio works OK, you just can't see anything on the display. It looks just like the ignition is off, except you can hear everything.

Puzzled, Don
 
#2 ·
I had a similiar problem with mine. I had to take it to the dealer when it wasn't working then they replaced it. Sound worked but display did not.
 
#3 ·
I am going to assume that the DIC display does the same thing. If so, your automatic headlights are on, switching the display to night mode, which is usually dark enough to appear to be off.

Try increasing the instrument lights to full bright. Maximum nighttime brightness for the radio and DIC is only about half of the daytime brightness, however.

Rotate the headlight control backwards to turn the Auto Headlights off. The displays should switch to full daytime brightness.

My car does this more in the late fall, winter, and early spring, probably due to the lower angle of the sun.
 
#4 ·
I have a 2008 Sky, in Canada, and as a result, not only do I have the DRLs and autoheadlights, I cannot simply hold my stalk to "off" and turning everything off. I pulled the fuse to disable the DRLs which would run my headlights in series instead of parallel, dropping voltage down to 6Vish. But I still had autoheadlight in that if I went under an overpass or some other significant shade, my lights would come on. Not that big of a deal except that I run 55W HIDs, and I'd rather not have them fire up unnecessarily like that.

So to overcome the problem I had to wire in a parallel circuit I could go to, to bypass the light sensor in the dash. I can now control whether my light sensor reads day or night, and from there, the remaining controls on the stalk.

If you look at this pic, in front of the shifter, there's a switch with a red LED furthest to the left, then a blue one, then one with hash marks? It's a SPDT switch with a center off position. I leave it in position I, which makes the light sensor read day/bright. If I want to turn on the headlights, I can either twist the stalk like normal function, or I can flip the switch and make the sensor read night/dark. I pretty much leave it in position I.

 
#5 ·
radio display

Thank you very much for the help. Yes the DIC display is off at the same time as the radio. Turning the auto headlights off, I didn't know you could do this, returns both displays to normal. Or By turning the instrument panel brightness knob to the right also makes the displays appear. I guess I should read the manual a bit more, rather than thinking that just because I have owned numerous vehicles over the years I know it all.

Thanks again, Don from Nanaimo
 
#7 ·
radio display

Thanks for the DRL tip. I am having trouble turning the auto headlights off. When I first tried it, turning the switch to click them off I got the message in the DIC that auto headlights are off. Now when I try the same thing, nothing happens. Turning the brightness knob to the right still returns the radio and DIC displays when I am in the darkened car port. Then when I leave the car port and get a block from home in the sunshine the displays click back on.

Don
 
#8 ·
I can't say that I understand why it would work initially and not work now. Carbon Sky mentions that Canadian-market cars cannot turn the DRL/Auto Headlight function off. That might explain why it doesn't work now, but not why it did work previously.

Carbon Sky: What is the wiring for your bypass switch ? I have considered doing the same thing but haven't done enough checking to know what the switch has to do.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I finally read the manual. On a manual transmission car the parking brake must be applied or in park for an automatic in order to turn the auto headlights off. My car is a Canadian vehicle and I can turn the auto headlights off, but I haven't yet checked out whether or not the DRL go off when the auto headlights are switched off.

Don
 
#10 ·
If your Canadian model is like mine, it's not that simple. I can turn the autoheadlights off at the turn stalk when at a stop and parking brake up. But as soon as I drop the hand brake, and start moving, if the light sensor detects "dark" it will turn the lights back on. This is unlike the US models where when you turn it off, it stays off till you control the stalk or start up the car again. In my Canadian model, I can turn my DRLs off this way. But if it's dark, and my hand brake is down, and I'm moving, my headlights will come on.

This is why I had to wire in a parallel circuit to the light sensor when a resistor on it. This parallel circuit with a resistor on it simulates the light sensor detecting light. So when I'm on that circuit, the light sensor and its circuit is not connected. If I want to turn the lights on, I can operate the stalk, or switch back to the light sensor circuit if it's dark out.

I wish my Canadian model could disable autoheadlights as easily as just holding the stalk to off.:banghead:
 
#11 ·
Dumb question, but have you tried pressing the two DIC buttons on the left side of the steering wheel while in park? The menu has a DRL option as well as an auto headlamp option? I realize that this is a Canuck car... but my Canuck E500 still has folding mirrors despite the operations manual saying that Canuck cars do not come equipped with folding mirrors...
 
#13 ·
As a result of federal mandate that all cars sold must have DRLs. However, there is no legal requirement to have them to pass inspection.

As a result, I believe the Canadian model I have (bought in Toronto) is wired differently than the American setup.

I do not have this DRL option in my menu, that is an American only DIC option.

I could pull the fuse to defeat DRL, but I cannot override the autoheadlight setup on my car. The only way I can drive with the headlights off in the dark is to have my parking brake pulled up a notch. But that would leave the parking brake light on the dash and accompanying "bung bung bung" chime noise.
 
#12 ·
The Shadow : I finally read the manual. On a manual transmission car the parking brake must be applied or in park for an automatic in order to turn the auto headlights off. My car is a Canadian vehicle and I can turn the auto headlights off, but I haven't yet checked out whether or not the DRL go off when the auto headlights are switched off.
Must be another Canadian feature. I am pretty sure that I can turn mine off whenever I want.
Carbon Sky : This is why I had to wire in a parallel circuit to the light sensor when a resistor on it. This parallel circuit with a resistor on it simulates the light sensor detecting light. So when I'm on that circuit, the light sensor and its circuit is not connected.
So, you switch the BCM input from the sensor to the resistor ?
Does the other side of the resistor go to ground or to hot ?
What value is the resistor ?
 
#14 ·
Must be another Canadian feature. I am pretty sure that I can turn mine off whenever I want.

So, you switch the BCM input from the sensor to the resistor ?
Does the other side of the resistor go to ground or to hot ?
What value is the resistor ?
I take the positive line going to the sensor and split it. One line goes to the sensor, like normal, then to position II on the SPDT switch, and the common ground on the SPDT goes to the negative line to the sensor. The other side of the split goes to a resistor that mimics a reduced voltage. High voltage is dark, lower voltage is bright, no voltage, and the BCM assumes sensor is unplugged and defaults to dark. So the line not running to the sensor runs to a resistor, then position I on the switch, then to the ground of the sensor.

I must admit, this was not my original idea to defeat the autoheadlights. Another poster on the kappa forums did his automatically. However, his American model was slightly different from mine. He used a 1K ohm resistor to simulate dark, and that was way too much in my application. My high voltage was lower to begin with, his was around 5V, mine was around 3V. I can't remember exactly how much resistance I used because I used some old resistors, that i knew were in the 100 or 200ohm range, but didn't bother decoding the values of the colored bands. I believe I used 2 maybe 3, but I think 2, resistors in series. I basically started off with one, and kept adding until it worked.
 
#16 ·
Carbon Sky : I take the positive line going to the sensor and split it. One line goes to the sensor, like normal, then to position II on the SPDT switch, and the common ground on the SPDT goes to the negative line to the sensor. The other side of the split goes to a resistor that mimics a reduced voltage. High voltage is dark, lower voltage is bright, no voltage, and the BCM assumes sensor is unplugged and defaults to dark. So the line not running to the sensor runs to a resistor, then position I on the switch, then to the ground of the sensor.

I must admit, this was not my original idea to defeat the autoheadlights. Another poster on the kappa forums did his automatically. However, his American model was slightly different from mine. He used a 1K ohm resistor to simulate dark, and that was way too much in my application. My high voltage was lower to begin with, his was around 5V, mine was around 3V. I can't remember exactly how much resistance I used because I used some old resistors, that i knew were in the 100 or 200ohm range, but didn't bother decoding the values of the colored bands. I believe I used 2 maybe 3, but I think 2, resistors in series. I basically started off with one, and kept adding until it worked.
Close enough, and thank you ! You have saved me enough testing that I will finally do this. My goal is to override the sensor without disabling the DRLs.
 
#17 ·
If you want it automated, so that you will have DRLs, but no auto-headlights, and when you turn the headlights on, and don't want the DIC to be on day-level brightness instead of night-level brightness, you'll need to add a diode and a relay. Go over to the kappa performance forum. It's all there with all the info to defeat auto-headlights automatically . . . that just seems weird, auto-defeat of auto-headlights:crazy:.

The way I did it requires a switch. And works best if you want to totally override auto-headlights and DRLs. If you just want to defeat autoheadlight and retain DRL, I'd suggest his route as it seems you care not to have the capability to override DRLs, and is still automated.
 
#18 ·
Carbon Sky : If you want it automated, so that you will have DRLs, but no auto-headlights, and when you turn the headlights on, and don't want the DIC to be on day-level brightness instead of night-level brightness, you'll need to add a diode and a relay. Go over to the kappa performance forum. It's all there with all the info to defeat auto-headlights automatically . . . that just seems weird, auto-defeat of auto-headlights.

The way I did it requires a switch. And works best if you want to totally override auto-headlights and DRLs. If you just want to defeat autoheadlight and retain DRL, I'd suggest his route as it seems you care not to have the capability to override DRLs, and is still automated.
I don't want it automated, I just want to be able to see my radio and DIC displays in the morning and evening, when the ambient light sensor thinks its darker than it really is. Now I can turn the auto lights off in those circumstances, but that disables the DRLs too, and I am one of those oddities that recognizes the value of DRLs so I don't like that solution.

My ultimate goal is to calibrate the sensor to automatically switch when I want it to, but manual control is a good start.
 
#19 ·
What do you mean calibrate the sensor to automatically switch when you want? As in change the threshold? My guess would be, if all you want to do is to change the threshold to require less light to still think it's bright out, you would need to add a little resistance to the circuit to the light sensor. That would essentially make the sensor think it's brighter out than it really is. I think you have enough range so that you can do that without creating so much resistance that the BCM thinks it is disconnected when it is really bright out.
 
#20 ·
That was me who did the bypass for the auto lights. It basically disables the sensor on the dash and sets it up like an older car where you have to turn the headlights on manually. The relay integrates at the bcm with the sensor wire going to the bcm to always think its daylight outside, regardless of external light, until you switch on the headlights manually. With the headlights on, it reconnects the sensor on the dash so that it dims the dashlights accordingly. Where if i want the headlights on during the day, it wont dim the dashlights but would still dim them if it is overcast or raining just like the factory setup would do. Im not sure if this effects the drls as Ive had those disabled before doing the mod. I really dont think it would since those are a seperate circuit from the autolights.
 
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