Override Pontiac Montana lights?

How about if you just have the parking lights on? I know that on my '01 Grand Am, switching the heahdlight switch to the 1st position will turn off the daytime running lights and turn on just the parking lights.

Howard

LS wrote:

you are not alone

Because: A. GM feels their owners are too stupid to handle this function on their own. B. That switch will work like the old days when the auto functions break.

GW

If worse comes to worse, you may be able to pull the fuse for them (assuming it's on a seperate circuit). Check your owner's manual and look for the fuse box diagram.

Too bad GM doesn't offer the "cop" option on it's vehicles. On police cars, the driver can switch of DRL's, brake lights, tail lights etc. For stealth mode at the donut shop of course!

Lanny try this.............. turn the ignition to OFF & vehicle in park set the parking brake down one click restart the engine The headlights should stay off you should be able to turn the light switch for the parking lights without turning on the headlights. When back in traffic where you need the headlights, release the parking brake & you should be back in business. works on my 98 DonW

hmmmm, None of the Crown Vics / Interceptors in our fleet had those options. Sounds like urban myth to me. GW

I think that will work but as soon as you place the car in "drive" head lamp will goes "ON" but do check that out. Mine does not work like you said.

I would pull the high beam fuses out. Do your city tour with the family and kids with the "high beam ON" return to "low beam" when you are ready to go home. Plug the fuse back in when you at home.

Paul maybe the switch that senses if the e-brake is off is out of adjustment. I can say the lights do not come on using this procedure on my

It is not DRLs he is talking about. On my '95 TranSport I have DRLs. They stay off if the emergency brake is partway on - not a problem. The darn thing also has automatic headlights - and if the sensor on the dash (mounted in the left speaker grille) does not see a certain minimum amount of light, the full headlight system goes on.

Nothing you can do about it, short of shining a flashlight down the speaker hole.

I'm sure there is a simple way to disable it - but it is not in the manual and I have not been interested enough in finding out how to put any time into it.

I think may be just my car that has all lights sensor. It automatically turn on the car head lamp when I drive through the tunnel and shut off when day light. I will however test what you said again.

You could disable them completely by looking for a DRL fuse that you can pull. You could also install a toggle switch allowing you to turn them off as you please. The reason that there is a switch is so that you can manually tun all of your lights on...for example...it rains during the day and you want them on but it isnt dark enough for the automatic sensor to turn them on

That didn't work but pulling the DRL fuse makes it work likeit SHOULD. :)

Works like a charm now.

Thanks everyone!

replying to DonW, jean wrote: Tried this on my 2003 Montana. Works yeah. But still can't drive thru a light show

replying to LS, cory d wrote: First turn the van off, apply emergency brake, restart van. The lights should then be off and will turn back on when you depress the emergency brake pedal to release it.

Goodness that worked geesh Google anything these days love it.

I just tested what the 2000 Pontiac Montana's manual says and the automatic headlights can be disabled by turning off the ignition, engaging the parking brake, and then starting the ignition. The headlamps did indeed stay off with the engine running and the emergency brake engaged. However, the headlamps come back on as soon as I release the parking brake. I tried your hack and pushed the emergency brake down one out of the six possible clicks. I was then able to keep the lights off with the engine running and the transmission in gear. I could also turn the headlamps on and off and back on again with the engine in gear.

I don't know whether the emergency brake would drag with one click engaged, but there is another problem... when the emergency brake is engaged one or more clicks, it turns on a red "Brake" indicator light on the console and shuts off all the other console lights. This means that in the dark all you can see is the red indicator light and you cannot see your speedometer or any of the gauges. Obviously this is a safety measure to ensure people don't inadvertently drive with the brake on. So anyone who wants to drive with the emergency brake down one click to keep the headlamps off would have to do it with no console lights.

I suppose someone who was motivated enough could put a toggle switch in the wiring to the emergency brake sensor to fool it into sensing that the brake is engaged when it actually isn't.