I am the PROUD owner of an '06, and little things like this don't mean a thing to me, because I LOVE MY HHR!

 

I wonder what it would take to get that to work in the 06's?

 

that is not safety comeon what if he jumps on your shifter? dogs are the worse bet you dont keep those eyes on the road with him in the car if he's barking?

 

Wow, not being a dog owner I would have never thought about that...pretty cool!

 

I'm just going to add this because you do seem like you are concerned for your dog.......

The method that you have elected to tether him, is not really a good idea. First, there is to much slack in the leash, which would allow the dog to propell forward (remember, our seat belts have a locking mechanism to prevent this). Second, the collar method is not good...it may strangle him/her or break his neck...because of a whipping action of the extra leash material.

My wife was in a serious accident a number of years ago. The "at fault" party did exactly the same as you, with her animal. The dog was the only fatality from the accident.

You probably didn't want to hear all the "static" from us members, regarding your dog. So, I apologize.

 

yeah it would be nice to be able to turn on the lights like a normal car. anybody wanna go pull their dash apart and see if they forgot a connector?

 

The inability to turn on the dome light in the '06 is the reason why I got the front mirror that has the map lights in it.

You can feel the "click" in the dimmer switch where the dome light would come on. No idea why they didn't make it actually work for the 2006 models. It would be interesting to know if it could be easily "fixed".

This is the first car I have ever had that did not have a dome light controller.

 

I looked at the wiring diagram a few months ago to see what it would take. There is a connector pin at the computer (located on the side of the console) that has no wire going to it on the 06 models. If you ground this wire, the interior lights will come on. You could probably buy a dimmer switch from an 07 model and wire the "interior lights on" output to this unused pin on the ECM. I will probably try this mod soon, as I need to be able to turn on the interior lights from the dash. Also, the current 06 switch might have the terminal on it already, but no wire connected. So there are some possibilities : 1) buy an aftermarket SPST switch and wire it to the ECM 2) Buy an 07 dimmer switch and hook it up the extra wire to the ECM 3) maybe 06 dimmer switch has capability but just needs a wire.

I will let you guys know when I try it.

Steve

 

Please keep us posted on this! thanks

 

OK, here's an update on the dome light situation. The current (2006) dimmer switch does NOT have a "switch closure" built into it that could be used to turn on the dome light. I was hopeful it would because there was a detent at the full brightness position of the dimmer, but alas, it's not so.

Next step, get a 2007 dimmer switch and check it out.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Steve