Sean Lester

To get the auto headlights to work in my wife's car, I learned way more than I probably should have needed to. I was having a real hard time with the dealership that sold us the car. They just didn't care enough abut my business to open a star case or explain why they couldn't add the sales code. I have to drive a little farther to get to a smaller dealership, but because they took the time with me, I will continue to go there. Hopefully your local dealer is better then the first one I was dealing with.

Okay, So here goes:

This is the location view of the wiring diagram for a 2015 Journey, you can follow the wire between the two yellow circles I made that run from the HVAC Control module in the center of the dash board to the sun sensor. The diagram for 2015 clearly shows the wire running on the passenger side where 2014 and before models had the wire running on the driver side. Pulling the glove box out may allow you to see if the wire is floating around in there somewhere.

This is to just give you an idea of what is going on inside that sun sensor.

This is how they say to remove the defrost cover. It just pops up. If you sit in the driver seat and look at the dash you can push down on the dash and get an idea of where the seam for the defrost cover is. The directions say to remove the A-Pillar covers first, which I found was unnecassary. Honestly I used a Torx head screw driver to get it started prying up (I had it in my hand from adjusting some headlights) and then just used my finger tips after that. however a small flathead screw driver would probably help avoid possible damage and best case scenario you would actually have a trim tool.

Once the defrost cover is off, you can see how easy it should be to slide that plug out and pop a new sun sensor in. The manual shows to use that trim stick again, however you can get it out with your fingers, I think a trim stick is over kill for this step. There is an indexing bump on the sun sensor so it will only go in one way, spin it, it will drop in.
In all you are looking at $50 for the proper headlight switch, $15 for a sun sensor, and it cost me $60 to have the dealership open the STAR case and flash the computer.
So once you verify that you have the necassary wiring you should probably coordinate with a dealership to have them add the LMG sales code to your VIN. I ran into a problem to start with becuase the dealership didn't want to flash the code becuase they didn't install the components and didn't want to be on the hook if the sales code didn't make it all work. Once I begged them to take my money we got the ball rolling.

Looking at your photo it does look like that filler plug would come right out. If you pop the defrost cover up it should slide right out.
If you look at the location diagram I posted earlier, that was for a 2015. On the 2015's it shows the wire for the sun sensor running on the passenger side. It may be accessible if you pop the glove box out (previous years had the wire on the drive side). After checking to make sure that plug comes out of the dash and finding the sun sensor connector you will have to coordinate with a dealership to have the sales code added, the code wasnt available for the dealer to add so they had to open a star case to have Chrysler add the sales code. Good luck.

This is a snip of the HVAC control wiring diagram that shows the wires that are connected between the Sun Sensor and the A/C Heater control module and the corresponding pin locations. You can see that for the Auto headlights it's a white wire with a violet tracer connected to Pin 1 on the sun sensor. I was mistaken when I said there were more wires than on the diagram (I disregarded the ground wire).

So this weekend I popped my sun sensor back up and find there are more wires connected to it than the factory wiring diagram shows. The dealership flashed the computer this afternoon and everything is working how it should.

Okay, So here goes:

This is the location view of the wiring diagram for a 2015 Journey, you can follow the wire between the two yellow circles I made that run from the HVAC Control module in the center of the dash board to the sun sensor. The diagram for 2015 clearly shows the wire running on the passenger side where 2014 and before models had the wire running on the driver side. Pulling the glove box out may allow you to see if the wire is floating around in there somewhere.

This is to just give you an idea of what is going on inside that sun sensor.

This is how they say to remove the defrost cover. It just pops up. If you sit in the driver seat and look at the dash you can push down on the dash and get an idea of where the seam for the defrost cover is. The directions say to remove the A-Pillar covers first, which I found was unnecassary. Honestly I used a Torx head screw driver to get it started prying up (I had it in my hand from adjusting some headlights) and then just used my finger tips after that. however a small flathead screw driver would probably help avoid possible damage and best case scenario you would actually have a trim tool.

Once the defrost cover is off, you can see how easy it should be to slide that plug out and pop a new sun sensor in. The manual shows to use that trim stick again, however you can get it out with your fingers, I think a trim stick is over kill for this step. There is an indexing bump on the sun sensor so it will only go in one way, spin it, it will drop in.
In all you are looking at $50 for the proper headlight switch, $15 for a sun sensor, and it cost me $60 to have the dealership open the STAR case and flash the computer.
So once you verify that you have the necassary wiring you should probably coordinate with a dealership to have them add the LMG sales code to your VIN. I ran into a problem to start with becuase the dealership didn't want to flash the code becuase they didn't install the components and didn't want to be on the hook if the sales code didn't make it all work. Once I begged them to take my money we got the ball rolling.

The wiring should be connected to the HVAC module. My understanding is that the harness which connects to the sun sensor on an Auto Headlamp-equipped Journey is there, but simply secured to the steering column behind the dash. I'm not sure if they will work unless connected to a sun sensor. See what happens after the flash. If they don't work then you'll have to add the sun sensor and connect the wiring to it as described in the STAR case I posted on the first page of this thread.

So this weekend I popped my sun sensor back up and find there are more wires connected to it than the factory wiring diagram shows. The dealership flashed the computer this afternoon and everything is working how it should.

You can contact Chrysler's customer service number, but in this case I don't see that as the most effective solution. That is usually reserved for issues where your dealer is not helping you or if you wish to complain about a specific, unresolved problem. They will not likely have any knowledge of missing sales codes and they have no contact with STAR (Service Technical Assistance Resource center) so I don't feel that a call to them will help you. STAR cases are opened by the technician in the shop or by the service manager. I'm not certain if that will resolve the missing sales code issue, either, but I'll explain. Just before the DRL sales code "LMK" was put back in the menu, I found a STAR case that advised the shop to open a case and request the sales code. I don't know the end result of that request since is not something I can see unless my shop opened the case. So, in this instance the only thing that I think your dealer could do would be to contact STAR and request the sales code and see what happens. I'll monitor the menu from time to time and see if it comes back just like the DRL code did.

Sean - that is a great idea and logical thinking on your part. Unfortunately, the sales codes that are available to us as dealers to add generally pertain to Mopar accessories like hitches, mouldings, tonneau covers for trucks, remote starters and the like. Equipment packages like ALW as you mention, or AGV as in Flexible Seating are not codes that we are able to add on to your VIN since they are proprietary to the factory as the vehicle is built. Good thinking, though!
As for the PM mystery, perhaps one of our moderators or administrators might know? I received a PM today from one of our forum members; not sure why you are not able to get a message to me. Sorry!

Dang... Well that sucks. Thank you so much for updating me on this, I don't know why my local dealership couldn't just tell me that. I'm wondering if that is why I haven't heard back from the new dealership. Anyway I'm not going to give up on this and will continue to follow the thread so if you happen to notice LMG starting to work again, I would appreciate a heads up. Hopefully the new dealership I've been talking to does submit a STAR case. I don't suppose there is anything I could do to help that along? When I was dealing with Dodge cares it didn't seem like they had much ability to affect change. Is there maybe somebody at Chrysler that I could start a case with as a consumer or is that a complaint that only a dealership can make?

Sean, this is interesting - I didn't realize it was so simple. My dealership told me it would be impossible to add automatic headlights to my 2012 Journey, but from what you describe the technical piece isn't that difficult provided you can get the code listed to your build sheet.

Sean - I checked your VIN and tried to add LMG to your options, but it does not appear in the drop-down menu of sales codes. This is why you've not been able to get it added. While I was there, I added LMK for you so you can enable your Daytime Running Lights the next time a vehicle restoration is done at the dealer.
We went through this last year with DRL - the sales code LMK just vanished one day and was missing for months with no explanation from Chrysler - and at the beginning of this year, it re-appeared in the same drop-down menu that used to contain LMG.
Your dealer may have to open a STAR case and request that LMG be added, if possible. Once your dealer does this then the STAR center will respond and advise if it is possible. Sorry that I could not be more help to you.

I'm having the same problem sending you a PM, it says that you can't recieve anymore messages. The last 8 of my VIN is FT533875 and the milage is sitting about 3,600.
By the way. Thank you very much, you wouldn't believe how much time I've spent at the dealerships trying to get this taken care of.

So BramFrank got me thinking and on the right track (I think). I got on the moparone.com site and started looking up parts for the Sentinel sensor. And found three different ones below are the part numbers that were listed and their uses. Obviously I ordered one and will update this when it comes in.
68230113AA - w/o Auto Temp Control, w/o Auto headlights
68230115AA - w/o Auto Temp Control, w/ Auto headlights
68230114AA - w/ Auto Temp Control, w/ Auto headlights
That being said, I also looked up the wiring diagram on ShopKeypro. The only diagram I could find referenced it as the Sunlight sensor and showed that it had a four wire connecter that runs to the HVAC control. So I'm assuming that the sensor I have in my dash already has the wires all ran to it, but that it is just the wrong sensor to work with auto headlights since the car didn't come with that option.

We bought a 2015 journey crossroad a couple months ago and have been having a horrible time trying to get automatic headlights. The dealership sold us the switch with auto but it doesn't work correctly. The lights are on when the car is on, including on the sunny days. We've been to the dealership 3 times and I told them about this post. They made it sound like they flashed the bcm multiple times but weren't able to find a way to make the auto feature work correctly. I tried looking under the dash by the steering column and all I could see for wires not hooked to anything is a wire taped to a large thing of wires behind where the switch is. (Does anybody have a photo of the harness mentioned above?) I popped the defrost cover of the dash and pulled the sun sensor up and it has 4 wires connected to it. Is it not possible to activate the auto headlights on a 2015 crossroad, or is there something I can tell the dealership to help them do their job? I started a case with dodge cares but it seems like they call the dealership and then call me and tell me what the dealership says. I thought dodge cares would know more of the technical details and help the dealership figure out how to get this working.

STAR Case
Contact the STAR Center for assistance if no solution is found
Chrysler Group LLC Version 3
Case Number:
S1308000070
Release Date:
02/28/2013
Symptom/Vehicle Issue:
Auto Headlamp Request, Vehicle Is Not Equipped With LMG Sales Code
Discussion:
Owner would like to add auto headlamps to a vehicle that does not have the option. Required
components: auto headlamp switch, twilight sun sensor (harness take out with connector is secured
in the steering column area, needs routing to the center dash), addition of the LMG sales code to
activate. Perform a vehicle restoration to complete