Hey guys.

I have an 06' HHR 2LT. Problem I'm having is that my headlights don't turn on at night. When I turn them on manually, the instrument panel doesn't light up. It seems as though the headlights and instrument panel backlights are working automatically in the daylight, but at night, I'm driving blind.

Anybody else have this issue? Thoughts?

Thanks!

Sorry if someone already posted about this. I did a search but didn't see much relevant.

 

I think you're the first to report that one.

 

I'd try turning the rotary dimmer wheel all the way up, FIRST. I noticed the dash lights are very sensitive to the dimmer control.

The headlights not turning on at night could be the control switch as well. Is it postioned correctly??

Simple things first

 

Anything covering the light sensor on the dashboard?

 

That would turn them on all the time

 

Or is the auto light feature turned off by the steering wheel control?

 

I've tried all of those things mentioned. The brightness control is all the way up, there is nothing covering the sensor, and I've tried turning the auto lights off and on. Nothing works. On rare occasions, the lights will turn on by themselves after a few minutes of driving.

 

was this ever resolved?

THIS is the exact issue I'm having with my 06 HHR 1LT 2.2L.

The strange thing I discovered yesterday is that when I shut the car off, but leave the headlight switch on manually, the dash lights will begin WORKING. The auto lights don't work, I've checked all the fuses, dimmer, and relays and all are fine, but can't seem to get them back. I've had to resort to laying my phone up by the cluster so I can see that dash at night. LOL!

Dimmer works....but no dash lights to adjust
when car is off and light switch is on.....dash lights come on and can be adjusted
I went and tried to get the "dash bubble" to cut the headlights on completely covering it, but no luck.

also noticed that when I switch the "auto lights" to either on or off...there's no "ding" like I used to get. Could THAT be the issue?

she's old and has a TON of miles on her, but I absolutely love my car.

EDIT: I checked fuse #69 to make sure all of the lights worked fine while the car was on or off.

 

Since it is the ambient light sensor that controls the dash lights, my first guess is the sensor wore out. Did anything happen just before this behavior?

 

Nope, just stopped working.

Does the sensor control the chime also?