What does the light sensor on the dashboard do? It doesn't turn my headlights on at night or turn on my interior lighting so why is it there? Any thoughts?

 

Light sensor???

I don't have one of those.

 

It's in the middle of the dash board all the way in the front. where the bottom of the windshield meets the dashboard. It also says it in the manual there is a sensor, but don't know what it's there for.

 

air temp.

 

^^^ thats rite, its a temperature sensor. That measures ur outside temperature and knows how high/low to turn on ur fan/AC depending on the temperature u set inside

 

Yup, its there to monitor sunlight and adjust tempature inside the car

 

question about the AUTO function of our heater/AC units.

Does it turn on the compressor when the temp is set to AUTO? If so, wouldn't that mean we are getting worse MPG if that is the only setting we use?

 

Are you sure about this? I think that's a bit misleading. It's a temperature sensor. Period. Right? Saying it monitors sunlight is like saying it's a light sensor which is totally different. In that case, any thermometer is a sun sensor as well.

 

There are two sensors on the dash, both of which provide inputs to the climate control system. The sunlight sensor is on top of the dash, and measures sunlight intensity through the windshield. The in-car temperature sensor is behind the little grill to the right of the steering column.

 

Pretty sure, like what Polter just said. I think if you read the manual it says something about it being a sunlight sensor.

 

Wow, that's really interesting. Learn something new everyday

 

Yes it does you have to hit the AC button to turn it off. The system is not that smart.

 

actually isn't the air temp inside the little mesh thing on the right of the key ignition
where the silver/wood trim is.

 

oh, but in AUTO mode, the system is blowing from the front windshield area (defroster) and the floor. In some cars if the air is coming through the defroster vents, that means the compressor is running.

dunno

 

I don't have a Nav, but it was my guess that the mesh thing is the microphone for the Navi?

 

Nope, that's another temperature sensor.

 

the microphone is up by your lights.... the map lights near the garage openers.... its like the perfereated plastic.

is there a sensor outside the car? im thinking of recalibrating the temperature.... but i cant find an accurate thermomoter yet... but i like to know where the sensor is, cuz its probably right.

any one else hafta do this? illl possibly not bother

 

i don't have navi either xior


yeah tha'ts wut i thought dan.. when ur temp is on AUTO.. it's the sensor governing
it.

 

Someone said that if your car is running in the garage with the auto on, it get's colder when you pull outside of the driveway and hit sunlight. I was just wondering if you could use that sensor to make it turn on your lights at night too. I used to drive a chevy malibu with auto lights and it was nice to not look like a jack ass with his light not on at night. The tsx guage lighting makes me think my lights are on but the contrast of the hid bright lights makes me remember, especially when i pull out of a gas station. Sooner or later, i'm gonna drive without my lights on. Dumbass!

 

Your all wrong..

Light sensor on the dash is for the auto mode on the navi screen. when it is dark it turns on night mode for the navi display.. Honestly i works like shit though..

 

.. that's for rear view mirror. what the heck no one knew?

 

Wrong... the navi screen goes into night mode when your external lights are on, unless you change the brightness settings to max on the dash.

 

geeze guys the sensor on the dash is a heat / sun detector. when sun is comming through the W/S it heats up the car. this sensor detects that it needs to step up the A/C to keep the cabin cool.
the new TL has a 3D version of the same sensor. if the sun is comming from the passenger side of the car the A?C system steps up the A?C on that side of the car.

next time your driving into the sun or with a good sun directly overhead try placing a peice of paper over the sensor. you will find that within about 5 minutes the interior will be getting pretty warm. when you remove it the A/C will kick into high gear.

 

do I detect a controversy?

the mesh thing by your stearing wheel is the air temp sensor. I guess that other light you are talking about (which i have not noticed) could be for the sun

 

 

Jeez people, wasn't this said in the first couple posts?

 

You are correct. The sensor on the dash is refered to as a "Solar Sensor". It detects the amount of heat build up there is between the dash and windshield (called solar trapping). That heat build up can make the car hotter as it is reflected off of the dash.

The little grill by the steering wheel is the in-cabin temp sensor.

The ONLY Acuras with Auto lights are the RL and MDX (for what reason I don't know when at least the TL should have it).

All Acuras (minus the NSX and RSX) have a lamp indicator that lets the driver know when their lights are on. If I have any question, I just glance down and see if the green universal parking lamp indicator is lit, then I know if my lights are on.

All Acura (minus the NSX) have Auto off lights. Now, the TL and RL allow drivers to program how long the lights stay on after turning off the ignition and shutting the driver's door.

Someone mentioned the auto dimming mirror sensor. One sensor is located behind the rearview mirror to measure ambiant light and the other sensor is located on the front of the mirror to measure light from behind the car.

To my knowledge, Honda is the only company where the A/C is one all the time when AUTO is selected. Other companies turn off the A/C compressor when the temp is set w/i the heating zone.

 

Since on auto the A/C is always on, does the system have different setting for A/C as well? Does the A/C run at a slower speed when we want a warm cabin set in auto or does it run at the same rate as if we set the auto to a cold setting?

 

Oh reallY? well then why is it, i went outside.. put my navi on auto, and turned on my lights and nothing happened?

 

That's a good question. I think the speed is lower as the only reason to have the A/C is to help keep the windows from fogging up in cold weather.

Try this, set the temp to anything above 72 degrees F, turn AUTO, turn A/C off, then see how long it takes for your windows to get foggy. Push AUTO or A/C and see how long is takes for your windows to clear.

Having the A/C on all the time with AUTO also helps keep the air from becoming too dry due to having the heat blowing.

 

I have an '04 TL with Navi, so I'm guessing the set up is the same. My Navi screen is set to Max brightness as I sometimes drive with my lights on. When I turn off my lights, the screen gets brighter after a couple of seconds.

If your screen doesn't adjust at all with or w/o your lights being on/off, then I'd take it back to the dealer.

 

Did you possibly forget that the TSX has 2 distinct dash light settings (lights on/ lights off)? With your lights on, turn the "dash light brightness" down. If your navi is set to auto, the map should now be dark background/ light roads.


Come on people..you really need to read the owners manual..that is what it is for......

 

You need to turn your dash lights down a notch, as sabby said above.

 

 

I actually caught that light sensor in action today. My cabin temp was set to 65 and on auto on my drive this afternoon. It was pretty cloudy halfway through my trip when the sun came out and a couple of minutes later, I noticed the cabin air get colder and the fan speed increase. I never new that light sensor was important for input for the auto control. Well I've never owned a luxury car either though.

 

No matter what settings i have it set to, it does not perform to spec. In the daylight its too dim.. at night its too light..

 

you hafta sit there and toy with it... i always change my dark setting whenever i turn my lights on. but during the day i always leave it on max.

 

In set up menu for navi there is a setting for brightness (page 1) adjust it to you liking.

Remember with the moonroof and all the windows, the display does get washed out in bright sunlight because of the location and angle of the navi screen (more reason to tint the windows!)

 

Wrong. The sensor for the rear view mirror is in front of the mirror.

 

Don't you feel spoiled?