Don't know if this helps or not, but my 1999 Saturn has the automatic
'daytime running lamps'. If this is what you mean, I noticed that when the
car is running, but the hand brake is on I didn't get the lights. When I
release the hand brake, they go on. If your car is similar, read on....

Turns out there is a small lever switch on the parking brake assembly that
contacts (or not) to turn off the light relay when the car is 'parked'. I
just cut into that circiut (a simple single wire) and put in a switch ($1.99
radio shack) so I fool the car into thinking the parking brake is on when
its really not. Voila, no more daytime lamps to bother astronomers when I
pull in to the star party late...

The 'brake' light on the dashboard goes on when I do this, but it is a good
reminder for me to turn the things back on when I leave. Because the
parking brake is a mechanical system, there is no danger to the anti-lock
brakes or anything like that, even if I forget to turn the switch back, and
because I am not tampering with the standard light wiring or fuses, all of
my other lights work normally and there is no irreversible damage done by
the modification. When I sell the car I can just take the switch out and
connect the cut wire back together.

Anthony J. Kroes
Green Bay, WI


> -----Original Message-----
> Chris Frye
> Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 4:17 PM
> To: LX200 User's Group
> Subject: [M]: OT: Auto headlights.
>
>
> I just bought a new car and I can't shut off the headlights (running
> lights).
> It is common practice to shut off ones headlights and use parking lights
>
> while approaching a star party. I can get there before sundown, but I
> usually can't stay all night. How do I leave without wiping out
> everyone's
> night vision? More and more cars are being made like this, what is to
> be done?
> Parking backwards doesn't help because the observing site completely
> surrounds
> the parking lot.
>
>

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