AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHTS OVERRIDE FOR '03 SUBURBANS

[toboyca]

TO DISABLE THE AUTO HEADLIGHTS ON '03 SUBURBANS/YUKON

 

XL/TAHOE/YUKON/SILVERADO ONLY.

 

NEEDED TOOLS & PARTS:

 

5 WATT, 8.80 OHM RESISTOR

WIRE STRIPPERS

MALE & FEMALE WIRE CONNECTORS (ON VEHICLESW/ATC)

ELECTRICAL TAPE

PLASTIC ELECTRONIC COMPONENT BOX(OPTIONAL)

7 MM COCKET & DRIVER

PHILIPS SCREW DRIVER

FLAT HEAD SCREW DRIVER

 

 

WITHOUT AUTO CLIMATE,

 

1. TAKE OUT DASH (YOU MUST UNCLIP A-PILLAR TRIM, INSTUMENT PANEL BEZEL TRIM, & TAKE OFF THE OH-S*** HANDLE (ACCESS RELEASE LATCH OF OH-S*** HANDLE BY REMOVING PASSENGER VENT TRIMS, AS THEY ARE ALL INTERLINKED.) AND UNSCREW ALL DASH COVER SCREWS... PULL DASH COVER TOWARDS U.

 

 

2. TWIST PHOTOCELL OUT OF ITS PLACE

 

3. UNPLUG PHOTOCELL, PLACE PHOTOCELL BACK IN ITS PLACE ON THE DASH PANEL TO MAKE IT FACTORY LOOKING.

 

4. PLUG A 5 WATT,8.80 OHM RESISTOR INTO CONNECTOR & TAPE UP OR BUY A CASE FOR IT... USE YOUR IMAGINATION.

 

5. REINSTALL DASH.

 

 

ON VEHICLES WITH AUTO CLIMATE, LIKE MINE :

 

 

1. FOLLOW STEPS # 1 & 2. AS WITH VEHICLES WITHOUT AUTO CLIMATE CONTROL.

 

2. SNIP THE BLACK & WHITE WIRES (LEAVE SOME PIG TAIL ON CONNECTOR END, SO THAT IF YOU DECIDE TO CHANGE YOUR MIND & RECONNECT THE WIRES SOMETIME LATER, YOU CAN).

 

3. STRIP BLACK & WHITE WIRES (BCM END)& INSTALL CRIMP FEMALE CONNECTORS TO IT (IF DESIRED).

 

4. INSTALL MALE CRIMP CONNECTORS TO THE 5 WATT, 8.80 OHM RESISTOR RESISTOR LEADS (TRIM LEADS AS NEEDED)

 

5. PLUG RESISTOR TO WIRES & INSULATE RESISTOR WITH TAPE OR BUY A CASE FOR IT (I USE A CASE)

 

6. INSTALL SENSOR BACK IN ITS PLACE ON THE DASH

 

7. REINSTALL DASH.

 

 

NOTE: NOW YOUR PHOTOCELL IS JUST A "DASH ORNAMENT" BUT YOUR AUTO CLIMATE CONTROL (SUNLOAD SENSORS) ARE ACTIVE.

 

GOOD LUCK

 

I HOPE THIS IS ALL CLEAR (below is my little story of my aggrevation for anyone whose interested)

 

 

After months and months of aggrevation & patience, I finally was able to override my 03'Suburban Auto lights PERMANENTLY.

 

First of all, thanks for the help (those of you who replied to my post/questions on here.

 

As I said before, I got pissed off & ended up separating the sensor harness from the sensor connector.

 

Waited 1 month for the new pigtail harness because it was back order.

 

Asked if I could have my BCM reprogrammed by dealer for me to be able to override my auto lights mode & they say it's Canadian law to have it that way starting '03 models. Asked them why Ford & Dodge doesn't do it... they couldn't answer. THEY GAVE ME A B.S. ANSWER

 

Meanwhile, ordered the complete service manual from P&G Chev Olds in Slovan, P.A. Online...simply because Canadian Dealers told me that they do not sell service manuals to the public.

 

Anyways. got the manual, tried to figure it out, but was unsuccessful...

 

Harness finally arrived & I finally decided to rip the dash off...At frist I didn't wanna have to do that.

 

splice into harness & connect only the sunload temp sensor permanently using heatshrinkable crimp connectors (supplied in kit). then I twisted the other 2(Photocell) leads for a temporary connection so I could grab a resistance reading....

 

got the reading (8.80 OHM) bought the resistor, tested it ... & IT WORKED!!!!

 

 

LIGHTS NEVER WENT ON (I park in an underground garrage). I hooked everything up nicely & neatly... put dash & panels back ....& I'm all set to cruise in stealth mode

[lrymal]

I'm just curious, why not just flip the light knob to the left each time you want to go "stealth"? That kills the lights.

[asepgrad98]

^maybe that doesnt work in Canada eh

[Firetiger(MN)]

Good find.

 

I recently found a schematic of the light sensor and it's wiring. I also noticed it had four wires instead of two like the pre-03's did. Got me thinking that there might be a way to leave the auto climate control signal in place yet disable the auto lights.

 

Instead of removing the dash, I think it would be easier to do the modification to the wiring at the BCM. I'll look into this today to find which wires are the correct ones.

[Firetiger(MN)]

Well, from the schematic it looks like the white and black wires are for the auto headlights as mentioned above. The blu/lt blk and gry wires are for the auto climate control system.

 

It says that the white wire lands on J3-A4 at the BCM and the black wire lands on J4-B7. I'm not sure without looking at my truck's BCM which connector this is. I'm guessing the left connector is J2, middle is J3, and right is J4. I tapped into the J2 connector with diodes to turn my low beams and fogs on with my high beams.

 

[toboyca]

^maybe that doesnt work in Canada eh

Asepgrad98 is right .... flipping the headlight switch to the left doesn't disable the headlights (auto mode). Canadian trucks' BCMs are programed to disable the defeat feature.

 

Firetiger(MN), jumping the wires from the BCM is probably easier than opening the dash cover... just a word of caution, if you do acess it at the BCM, just make sure that it looks as if the factory did the job cause it might cause difficulties when u claim warranty work.

 

I decide to access it from the dash, by the sensor cause well, besides vents & the radio & my climate controls, & airbag there's nothing else there to check.. Besides, you cannot see the connections made by the photocell without really looking at it with a flash light.

 

My BCM looks untouched.

 

just my thoughts...