auto lamp sensor
 

I have the sensor out of a 2005 F150. There are five wires I would like to know what they are for please and thank you.

http://i393.photobucket.com/albums/p...3/3874ebfb.jpg

I have scoured my factory wiring manual and I am unable to identify the sensor you picture.
The manual does not show a component with the wires shown in a '04-'08.
I may have missed it.

Are you sure that the object came from a '05?

yep I stole it from my old truck. It on the dash of all xlts and above it blinks red at night when you get out of it. But most importantly it senses the light if it gets dark the lights turn on.

That is not what turns the lights on when it gets dark out that is the sensor for the key fob. The sensor that picks up when it gets dark out is up behind the rear view mirror. I have that sensor you are holding on my 2006 on the dash and it blinks red but only when I lock the doors from the key fob.

The sensor you are needing would of had a photocell on it and what you are holding does not. If you still have your old truck then raid it again as that one in your hand should be in your new truck already.

I'm not sure if I agree 100% with that. Reasons why is 1) I use to put my license plate in the front left window and, I wondered why my lights where always on when I got out. 2) There is a post on another forum where people tape it with dark tape to get daytime running light.

If you have one turn your auto lamps on and cover it with your hand and in a few seconds your lights should turn on.

15 seconds or more in fact. Sorry Drew but ItsMREMT is right on this one.

Thanks Davis! Us Davis folk have to stick together. lol

OK so I was wrong they used to be behind the mirrors hadn't checked so figured it was still there.

On a side note next time don't send someone a PM that is just piss poor I check back here and always admit when I am wrong about something. If you are right it doesn't require a PM to prove it.

lol the reason for the pm was cause it was a link that this forum doesn't approve. I tried to post something for there before and it was frowned on so yea.

Drew are you serious?
ItsMREMT, if this is true, that's just poor stewardship on your part man. Those kinds of actions won't gain you too many friends around here.

Yeah its true

*sigh* if someone can tell me what these wires go to it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Edit: Sorry, my brain sticks on F-250. I didn't realize this was the F-150 forum.

Give me a bit and I'll see what I can find in the way of diagrams.

Thank you sir! You are correct, I took this from my 05 F150 Lariat. I would love to figure out how to make this work on my 05 PSD.

I'm not sure that sun load sensor will work. I've attached two diagrams. The first one is the diagram for a 2004 F-250. The F-250 sun load sensor is 3 wires, one ground, one to the VSM for the auto lamps and one to the EATC if you have it. They are simple photoelectric diodes that either pass current or make current (I'm not sure which) depending on the amount of light they receive.

The second diagram shows 2 of the wires going to the sensor you have. Other wires are power, ground and a wire for the security indicator light. That diagram indicates logic circuitry in the sensor itself that may not make it compatible.

I would hook a DVOM to the two wires shown (white with a violent stripe and black with a light blue stripe). See if their is current on those two wires when the sensor is in the sun vs when it is not in the sun, and see if their is resistance on those wires in the sun vs not in the sun.

This should make it all better. :-X22

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-the-week.html

Yeah that is nice I need to get an updated pic of my truck because there have been some changes to it since I first posted.

you are simply amazing! send me your paypal info I'll send you some lunch money :)

Thanks again for your help this should point me in the right direction.

From my factory manual
It would appear that only two of the wires are used.
The black/Lt. Blue wire goes to ground.
The White/ Violet wire is from pin 10 on the Vehicle Security Module.


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This is the connector diagram for that F-150 sensor. Pin 2 and 5 are the ones shown in the electrical diagram. Pin 3 is power, presumably for whatever the on-board circuitry is, and pin 4 is for the anti-theft light.

I'm curious about pin 1 though. Sunload sensor signal. I would wonder what the outputs (or resistance) would be on that pin and ground when in and out of the sun.

@dchamberlain what setting should I use on the DVOM for the two wires you mentioned? it has like 17 different ones :( sorry for the stupid question.

I don't exactly know how that thing works. So I would check resistance (ohms) and DC voltage, just to see what happens.

Okay now I'm totally confused. When I park my truck with the sunshades deployed in the windshield, unless I uncover the light sensor behind the rearview mirror, the headlights always come on when I unlock the doors with the keyless. In either case the dash mounted beacon is covered.

What am I missing...besides "the point".

By point if you mean why are we going into such detail over this well, cause I want to put it in my F350. One feature I miss is auto lamps.

There is something I am curious about and maybe its just my truck being an 06 but when I want autolamps I had to have the sensor and turn the dial to the left one click from top center to put it on auto. So that the lights will turn on when it gets dark are you also changing out the switch or is that already on your 350 dial?

I am going to alter my switch. I believe the sensor regulates the on and off function, so if I run the hot wires from my harness to the sensor and, from sensor back to the switch when I have the switch in the on position during the day the lights will be off but at night they should turn on when the sensor get the signal. Does that make sense?

The issue I am having is understanding how the sensor works. I got the stupid red light to work but, I couldn't get any ohm readings from it being in sun or not in sun.

edit: actually you got me thinking I'm going to connect #1 and #3 together ground #5 and connect #2 to a light bulb when I get home....

That's not how auto lamps work. The Vehicle Security Module (VSM) on the F250, or the Body Security Module (BSM) on the F-150 interpret the signals from the sun load sensor and activate a relay that turns on the headlights.

After looking at the differences between the two sensors, I do not think they are interchangeable. Also, I do not know if a truck without autolamps would have the headlight circuits in place, and if they did, the VSM would still have to be programmed to make it function.

I have the power locks and windows on my '07 F150 XL with keyless entry from the factory and see this little sensor with LEDs in it. Any idea if I just need the correct switch to make this work?

Thanks for any help,

Lee

I don't think it will work. I tried many different ways to get autolamps in my 2001 F250, and never could get any ford harnesses to inner change. It was a long time ago, but if I'm not mistaken I tried that little sensor you have in your pic and could only get the red led inside of it to light.

I do know that you will need a switch from either an 04 or newer superduty to make it work. Everyone I talked to about it when I was trying to do it said that I would need a new switch.

Needless to say, I eventually gave up.

Now like I said, this was 4+ years ago so my memory maybe a little foggy but I do remember some points of my investigation into getting autolamps on my super duty truck.

confused
 

At the end did you guys maked work the auto lamps because I'm in the same procedure i hav a 08 XL and i brought a new daylight sensor a new switch with the auto lamps option and the original wire harnes looks like is ready for it but for some kind of reason it doesn't work... So i am really interested to know if you guys maked work...

...Ford vehicles with auto lamps also have a different dash headlight switch required. Part of the circuitry along with the sunload sensor.

I hav that switch with the auto lamp and the sensor and i hav remplaced the original sun ligth sensor cause it comes with a led flashing ligth but it comes with no sensor the new one comes with it and still not working...

Speak English?

does anyone know what the square thing hanging off the back of the rear view mirror on a 2008?

It's for the compass

Oh OK. Thanks!

Any Update??
 

Did you guys ever complete the Auto Headlights?!? I have a 2004 STX and I'm trying to add it right now. FYI, you can modify your switch (without autolamp option) to add it. It requires trimming a little plastic, but it's fairly straightforward.