Auto Headlights mod... without the dash sensor?

[cincyoldguy]

I'm puzzled, and need some help from some of you folks with more technical knowledge than I have. I've been reading about the auto headlights mod for cars that don't have it (pop the headlights switch, take the last tab off), and everyone seems to agree that if you don't have the dual zone climate control with the dash sensor, all it does is let you make your headlights come on and go off with the ignition. For that reason I haven't done it- besides being all thumbs, my car just has the regular air conditioning and a plastic cover tab on the dash where the sensor would go. But here's what puzzles me- I've got a 2006 Magnum RT and lately, when unlocking the car with the remote I've noticed that if it's dark out the headlights come on when I unlock it... and if it's light out, they don't. At first I thought maybe this is a function of whether the headlights were on or not when the car was last run (I know the electronics on this thing are pretty much straight Daimler-Benz, and the Germans are way capable of making it do complicated tricks like that). But then yesterday- bright sunny day- I shut the car down in a covered parking garage, headlights off. I came back a couple hours later, unlocked it, and the headlights came on! As my kid would say, "WTF?" I'm wondering... does this thing actually have a light sensor somewhere? Maybe it's worth trying the mod?

[concussion]

hmmmmm..... this doesn't sound right to me.
My lights come on whenever I lock or unlock my car.
Do you have the sensor in the top of the dash??
If you don't then there is no way, that I know of, to have auto headlights except for on and off w/ the ignition.

Perhaps Fnky or someone with more knowledge than me will chime in.

[fnkychkn]

headlamps on with RKE unlock is programmable with starscan. it's under "illuminated entry" and can be set for different durations.
there is no other light sensor than the one on top of instrument panel. if you don't have it, can't have true auto headlamps unless you go aftermarket.

[concussion]

^Bingo

[cincyoldguy]

Thanks, guys! That's pretty much what I thought- every car I've had with the auto headlights has had that little dome visible on the dash. I still don't understand why sometimes the lights come on when i unlock it with the the RKE and sometimes they don't... but I'll just chalk it up to some mysterious German intermittent deal fathomable only to the Norse Gods. it's no biggie- everything works well on this car, and except for the automatic climate control (which doesn't do anything for me), it's got more stuff on it than the 68 and 70 Cadillacs I used to have. Re going aftermarket... I don't think I really want to. The wife and I can live without the auto headlights- that and maybe the heated seats/trip computer are the only things this car doesn't have on it that we'd even consider wanting- but none of 'em anything I'd wanna trade the sunroof or the CD/Mp3 changer for. Thanks to both you guys for helping an old man out!