Intermittently Unable to Read Radio Display During Daylight Hours - keywords appearance backlight BCM display fade module operation performance program radio station wiper

The following diagnosis might be helpful if the vehicle exhibits the symptom(s) described in this PI.

Customers may comment that they are intermittently unable to read the display on the radio during the daylight hours.

This may be due to the headlamps coming on when the wipers are turned on or the headlamps are manually turned on during the day. This causes the dash lamps to come on and radio display to dim (both of these features are on the park lamp circuit).

On affected vehicles, perform body control module (BCM) reprogramming to enable the "parade mode" feature. The parade mode will allow the interior dash lights to stay off along with keeping the radio display at full intensity when the "ambient light sensor" informs the BCM that it is still light outside, even though the headlights have been turned on manually or been commanded on when the wipers are engaged. It is important to also reconfigure the radio using the Saturn Service Stall System after the BCM has been reprogrammed.

Service Procedure

1. Reprogram BCM to enable the "parade mode" feature. To reprogram the BCM, refer to Body Control Module (BCM) Programming/RPO Configuration (SI Document ID 1474376) in SI or the Vehicle Control Systems section of the 2006 Saturn ION Service Manual.
2. Reconfigure the radio. To reconfigure the radio, refer to Radio Setup (SI Document ID 1273445) in SI or the Accessories section of the 2006 Saturn ION Service Manual.
3. Verify that the radio display does not dim in daylight conditions when the wipers are activated

Please follow this diagnostic or repair process thoroughly and complete each step. If the condition exhibited is resolved without completing every step, the remaining steps do not need to be performed.