The digial displays on my 2008 Impala sometimes goes dim and I cannot read the radio stations or read the clock. It seems to go bright again within 10 minutes. This even happens in bright sun light, exiting a tunnel, etc. Is there a sensor that controls the brightness on these radios?

Edited October 13, 200916 yr by tomg

The digial displays on my 2008 Impala sometimes goes dim and I cannot read the radio stations or read the clock. It seems to go bright again within 10 minutes. This even happens in bright sun light, exiting a tunnel, etc. Is there a sensor that controls the brightness on these radios?

seems to happen in my parents 03 or 04 lesabre.... when the lights are one the display doesn't dim.... well.. at least 1/2 the time.

The digial displays on my 2008 Impala sometimes goes dim and I cannot read the radio stations or read the clock. It seems to go bright again within 10 minutes. This even happens in bright sun light, exiting a tunnel, etc. Is there a sensor that controls the brightness on these radios?

My Bonne does this when the light sensor on the dash switches the DRLs to full brightness. The car thinks it is getting dark, and you don't need the full brightness... which is likely wired to the dimmer on the headlight switch (or whatever the Imp has instead). This isn't a big problem for me, as I keep my dash at full brightness, but I could see it as a problem if you kept things pretty dimmed down.

If its not the dash dimmer, it is likely something in that circuit, disconnected or shorted.