What is that ball looking sensor thing on my dash on the passenger side? I know its not for the headlights. My car has manual lights and there is no Daytime running lights.

 

Noticed it today as it reflected against the windshield.. I Have a square one on the driver side.. I believe it's the light sensor but no idea what the round one on the passenger side is for..

 

ya its not even listed in the owners book. I think the temperature sensor is located somewhere else. I'd have to look at my book again to make sure but I think its not the temp sensor either. So it's weird. They shoulda put some little square mirrors all over it so we could use it as a dance ball.

 

It might be a sensor that senses where the sunlight enters the car.

 

*BUZZZ* strike 1. (3 strikes and the johnsons will get a chance to steal the money)

 

That's what I'm thinking. It has something to do with the climate control system.

 

I was right...

 

Nice.. thanks for the info..

 

well sunlight sensor, ok. But not the "dirrreccctttion" of the sunlight. good golly ms. molly.

 

HEy THANX for the info though! Its greatly appreciated #)

 

Actually, if you have Navi, the Owner's Manual states (page 115 in my '04 manual): "In the AUTO mode, the vehicle's interior temperature is independently regulated for the driver and passenger. If the driver's side of the vehicle is getting too much sun, the system will adjust to a lower temperature." I would guess, since I'm not finding any other sensors that would do this, that the sunlight sensor is also used to calculate this, noting which direction the sun is shining and adjusting the temperature of that particular side accordingly. Make sense?

 

hmm.. interesting.. strong possibility. I think I might cover that thing up. I want cold on all vents. All vents are created equal in my world. =)

 

the way the car knows the direction of the sunlight is with the use of the navigation system.

if you enter the diagnostic menu of the Navi, you will see a screen where it "knows" where the sun is relative to your position.

 

Well... there we go! Thanks for the info...

 

just a slight correction/update:

 

That's a trip. I really don't see how the system can be that accurate especially when the entire cooling system is based on the amount of "cooling ability" of the compressor. What would you do if you want both side to cool equally at full cooling ability? What would happen if you put a black piece of tape on it? =)

 

If you want the same amount of cold to come out of all of the vents, set both sides to the same temperature and turn the fan on a set speed using the arrows. There's no need to cover up that sensor!

 

well, I like technology... if it works! but thats the problem with so many things these days. Troubleshooting requires an engineering degree. haha

 

I just noticed that sensor a few days ago. I thought it was the temperature sensor for the MID. Anyone know where that is?

 

^^+1...that's what I thought...but if the ac is on wouldn't it still cool the sensor down w/ or w/out sun since its inside the car?

 

I believe it works when you set the climate control to auto. the system then uses data from the navigation system and the angle of the sun relative to the car - in a sense determining which side is facing the sun, and sets the climate control to make that "side" cooler relative to the temperature set to the other side.

i think it works this way : for example, if the entire car (both sides) was set on AUTO at 62 degrees and the sun was on the passenger side. the sensor (along with help from the navi to determine the car's orientation to the sun) will detect the increased brightness (refered to in the manual as irradiate) on that side and decrease the temperature and speed up the blower to sustain the 62 degrees, if not cool it down a bit. because if that side gets more sun, eventually it will heat up like in any car with a single climate control system.

now if the sun shifts to the driver side, i reckon the system will lower the fan speed and retain the temperature settings to sustain 62 degrees on the passenger side, and speed up the fan and maybe lower the temp a bit to cool down the driver side.

 

My TL doesnt have a navi so why do I still have the ball?

 

i think its the keyless remote sensor

 

look up again at the picture above. The ball is for sunlight position and the square is for navi. So Navi doesnt have anything to do with the ball.

 

amazing what info is in the owner manual~

available free if your car didnt come with one
https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/...01_OMANUAL.asp
click year then model- pdf file download or read online

 

Always got to be somebody out there to crash the party.

You know that. I know that. They may even know that. Who knows? All for the sake of discussion, right?

Thanks for the link tho.

 

I would think the sunlight sensor would be used for turning on/off the headlights when in Auto mode.

 

It would, if the UA6 had that option. I would use it, anyway...

 

and you wonder why I say read the owner book
This thread is guessing on the part of those who have not read it,,it should do this or it might do that...when the book has already been quoted and shown!

 

doesnt your auto headlight mode just turn them off 15 seconds or whatever- after you get out and close the door with engine off?

 

Yes, they go off and on when you enter/leave the car, but I was talking about going on/off based on the available sunlight.

I have an '08, non-navi. If I keep the headlights in Auto mode, they will come on when it gets dark, and go off when it's bright.

It's kinda fun anticipating when it'll kick in at dusk. I'm usually thinking the headlights should be on now, then within a few minutes, they'll go on.

In my manual (p.87), it has a picture of the Sunlight Sensor and the text says:

 

I'm not sure what year owner's manual you are referring to, but my '04 guide only represents what I posted towards the top of this thread. That doesn't explain a whole lot. The second graphic is more detailed.

We appreciate the link, tho... Some people end up getting a car without a manual, and this pdf version is nice to have.

 

also if you download and open the 05TL manual, its only 1 page.

 

Speaking of sensors... Has anyone looked at the back of the rearview mirror (the side facing the windshield)... mine has some sort of sensor on it. No clue what it does. I'll try to take a pic later if I remember.

 

It's for the auto-dimming feature of the mirror.

 

Wouldn't the eye (sensor) for the rear view mirror face the rear window to detect the lights of cars behind you? Why would the sensor be on the back of the mirror facing the windshield?

 

the forward-looking sensor detects low ambient light from headlights behind the car and directs the rear-view sensor to look for glare. The mirrors darken automatically in proportion to how bright the glare is, then clear once the glare is no longer detected.

 

I assumed a sensor was there to switch dimming based on less ambient light through the windshield (nighttime) rather than for light coming through the back window (headlights of cars astern).
However, my assumption may be incorrect-- the owner's manual shows a sensor on the mirror facing the driver, so have no idea why or if there is a sensor on the mirror facing the windshield.
I'll probably check the TL's mirror this p.m.

Edit: so I may only be half-wrong, or half right, per sixsixfour's post.

 

...

k...

04 - 06 TLs should have ONE sensor in the dash for Climate Control
07 - 08s should have TWO, climate control and auto head lights

04 - 08 TLs will turn the head lights off if they are in the ON position and you set the auto-off timer in the MID. If it's set to auto then it will turn them on/off as needed (07 - 08).

ALL of the TLs use solar-sensing climate control, however only navigation equipped TLs use satellite linked climate control. The sensor is designed to provide 'solar heat' input to the climate control so the vehicle can maintain your requested temperature. When you are in full blown insane sun and its 90 degrees outside the system knows it needs to provide extra airflow and cooling to maintain the cabin temperature you requested. When you stop and you're in the shade, the system does not need to work as hard nor use as much cold air, so it will throttle the fan back and possiblye add a little bit of heat to the mixture depending on conditions.

With the navigation models they know the suns position relative to the vehicle; that's why - for me anyways - i'll turn down my street and the sun will be behind me - within a second or two the climate control changes.

When the vehicle is in auto mode you're controlling the temperature of the cabin, not the air coming out of the vent. In auto mode you say "I want my car to be this temperature" and the vehicle will gather input from the nav [if equipped], the solar sensor, and the temp sensor next to the driver. Based on those items it will determine the best method for obtaining the desired temperature - fan speed, vent selection, hot air, cold air, recirc, etc.

I believe taking the CC out of auto mode will disable all of the sensing features and simply function as requested - ie 70 degrees = air from vent should be 70 degrees until manually changed or put into auto mode.


If the above is wrong please correct me

 

*possibly......!