[quote="joatmon"]It sounds like it could be hard to find the wiring issue.
In the dash, above the glove compartment, there is a junction box. On the top of that junction box, there are four relays, one big and three smaller ones. The smaller one in the middle is the TAIL relay.
This pic is with that junction box unbolted and pulled down. You should be able to reach up above that junction box, feel for the middle small relay, and pull it out. Won't fix the problem, but might help eliminate some part of the wiring. Depending on if the tail lights stop working when the relay is pulled, it will let you know if the short is on the supply or load side of the relay. The relay switches power from the TAIL fuse, and the coil is also driven from the TAIL fuse, so I don]t think it possible for a bad relay to cause a problem where the tail lights stay on even when the TAIL fuse is pulled or blown.
Not much help though. If you do get it figured out, please let us know the solution[/quote
2006 Vibe , 93,500 trouble free miles. i lost my tailights and DSL as well as the dash dimmer switch function, probably more but I was concerned about the taillights. I read this posts and others like it. I dropped the relay box above the glove box and just as some others have said here the relay was more than 1/2 way out of it's socket. There is no way that relay worked it's way out on it's own. I am the second owner and as I do all of my own work, I can only guess that someone at a shop that the original owner went too was playing dirty or someone at the factory was having a bad day or playing games.
Anyway, I pushed it back into it's socket and everything was good. I have photos but their files are to large to post, PM me with email address if you need to see.