When I leave my lights on auto when the xenons turn on in darker light situations, the dash board stays illuminated nicely. When I turn the xenons on manually (last setting on the light stalk) the dashboard dims itself - very dim. This is with the dashboard illumination (left of the wheel on dash) on max.

Can I manually turn on my xenons, while having the "brighter" dash illumination from the drl/running lights setting? I'm assuming it's a night/day dash setting, but it never goes as dark on auto light settings as it does when I do it manually.

 

Ya know, this irritates me too. Hopefully someone has a solution.

The worst is when it rains lightly in the day time and you flick your lights on and you can’t see your gauges well.

 

Maybe if we put tape over the light sensors? I think they are in the defroster vents 🤔

 

I am not 100% sure I am following what the issue is, but being that the OP has a Canadian car I am sure it has something to do with the DRL system.

At night (completely dark), with the switch on AUTO, PARKING LAMPS, or HEADLAMPS, all of your exterior lights should be ON, your interior illuminations turn ON, and the cluster dims.

Is this not the case?

Silly guy 😁. Covering the light sensor will have the car thinking it is always​ dark outside - the lights would be ON anytime the car is running.

 

The issue is when your lights are on and it dims the gauges during the day. We want full illumination when it’s day time even when lights are on.

And yea, my idea of blocking seems like the opposite of what we want to accomplish, lol.

 

Gotcha.
Well, the bad news is that, as far as I can tell, the cluster switching between daytime and "nighttime" modes is handled through the CANBUS and COM lines (via BCM, IPDM, and AC amp) . There is no way to disable that "toggle" that I know of.

But, like that damn TPMS idiot light, I love a challenge... I'll keep searching.

 

We can’t be alone tho right? Anyone ever flicked on your lights when it rains during the day, but it’s still sunny (sun shower) and you can’t see your cluster?

I am surprised this hasn’t been discussed before as it really is a legit issue.

Another indirect effect (which I think is why OP posted) is your cluster will be dim if you do some retrofit lights and want them on during the day.

 

No, I agree totally. I just don't know how to override the toggle. I am sure there is way...

Maybe someone who knows the CANBUS / AVCOM systems better can investigate... (?)...

 

I may have stumbled on something indirectly. What bulb is behind the scenes of the gauges? If it’s like a regular 168/194 type bulb, what if we replaced it with an led which can’t dim? Heard people complaining about using LEDs for some applications and losing ability to dim. I dunno. Worth mentioning but I rarely have good ideas so this is likely no different, lol.

 

All of the "bulbs" in the gauge cluster are LED's. The problem is two-fold:

1st- we would have to locate the CAN signal from the BCM (via AC amp (AVCOM/Meter-Amp) and find a way to disable that trigger, and at the same time
2nd- while disabling that dimming trigger, find a way to turn on the interior illuminations when the lights are turned on.

I do not think this idea is possible. Then again, when it comes to CANBUS stuff, well, that's all Greek to me...

Believe me, if the cluster lights were regular bulbs, that frigging TPMS bulb would've been trashed long ago...lol.