Battery Dies Overnight, Cold Weather

[axelkabre]

So basically the history with my 2003 base Vibe is it was gifted to me by my Bro-in-law after 200k miles of driving in southern US. Now it's all the way up in Idaho for college. It originally had an oil leak and P0171 "lean code", and some other minor problems.
This forum has been super useful for me to identify issues and fixes, as this car is obviously showing its age. I've fixed the oil leak, but of course, that wasn't the only issue.

So about a month ago, the battery died when the temperature went below 20. Old batteries die with cold, and that one was OLD. So after getting a new one, things seemed to work for a while until I got misfires in cylinder 2 and 3.
This led to me changing the spark plugs and coil packs. I also changed the intake manifold gasket, throttle body gasket, 2 breather tubes (which were brittle and snapped/cracked really easily), and finally the upstream and downstream O2 sensors.
Out of the electronic parts, the coil packs (QYL) and upstream O2 sensor (Kwiksen) were non OEM. Misfiring and lean code are gone so far after multiple starts.

The past weekend, a day after these repairs, a cold front hits and temperatures have dropped below 10°. The next day, the car is totally dead. Unlocking door, the door ajar light goes on, and a jump start got me running. O Reilly tested the battery as good, and the car is able to crank after sitting for 2-5 hours during the day.
Another night passes, the car is dead again. After another jump start, I decide to take some advice from a friend and take off the negative terminal for the night, put it back on in the morning to crank.
It started! It was a weak start, but it tells me that there might be some sort of parasitic drain on the battery.

Anyways, I'm going to test for that this weekend, but I'm curious if anyone else has had similar issues. Is it a parasitic draw? Just an issue with the winter and an older car? The parts I changed?

The alternator also has oil on it from the now fixed leak, but it seems like its charging the battery.

[joatmon]

Its a long shot, but there was a problem with a few of the 03 Vibes and Matrixes, actually related to the turn signal/headlight switch lever, where very cold temps would cause the headlights to come on. Not sure how that happened, but definitely a thing, although uncommon. Replacing the switch fixed it. A workaround was to leave the car at night with the headlights off but push the headlight lever forward into high beam position. You could try that as a diagnostic, leave the headlight switch in high beam at night and if the battery still drains overnight, then what I've said isn't the problem. If it doesn't drain the battery, that's not a 100% test to prove it is the problem since the nature of that particular issue depends on how cold it gets. But something free to try

[zbyers]

When you took it to the parts store, did they test the alternator? They can test it in the vehicle.

They should shut off when the key is turned off, but are you leaving anything plugged into the 12V outlets that might cause it to drain the battery overnight? Or do you know if you or the BIL have messed with any wiring (added aftermarket fogs, trailer wire harness, etc?)

[axelkabre]

Its a long shot, but there was a problem with a few of the 03 Vibes and Matrixes, actually related to the turn signal/headlight switch lever, where very cold temps would cause the headlights to come on. Not sure how that happened, but definitely a thing, although uncommon. Replacing the switch fixed it. A workaround was to leave the car at night with the headlights off but push the headlight lever forward into high beam position. You could try that as a diagnostic, leave the headlight switch in high beam at night and if the battery still drains overnight, then what I've said isn't the problem. If it doesn't drain the battery, that's not a 100% test to prove it is the problem since the nature of that particular issue depends on how cold it gets. But something free to try

Thanks for the recommendation. I actually saw another older post by you mentioning this. Will try tonight. I actually took out the DOME fuse last night to see if that did anything, although idk if that prevents the headlights from coming on.

[axelkabre]

When you took it to the parts store, did they test the alternator? They can test it in the vehicle.

They should shut off when the key is turned off, but are you leaving anything plugged into the 12V outlets that might cause it to drain the battery overnight? Or do you know if you or the BIL have messed with any wiring (added aftermarket fogs, trailer wire harness, etc?)

They didn't test the alternator, although idk if they can do that at the local one. I'll call and ask given I dont find anything with the draw test.
Not leaving anything plugged in. Car definitely doesn't have aftermarket or modified wiring, but I just sent a message asking BIL. The fog lights are smashed up (no covers) and the RHS Fog has gone out.

[zbyers]

Thanks for the recommendation. I actually saw another older post by you mentioning this. Will try tonight. I actually took out the DOME fuse last night to see if that did anything, although idk if that prevents the headlights from coming on.

Pulling dome fuse wouldn't affect the headlights, but is a good way to eliminate the interior lights.

They didn't test the alternator, although idk if they can do that at the local one. I'll call and ask given I dont find anything with the draw test.
Not leaving anything plugged in. Car definitely doesn't have aftermarket or modified wiring, but I just sent a message asking BIL. The fog lights are smashed up (no covers) and the RHS Fog has gone out.

I know Autozone can test the alternator. It's partially basically basically hooking up a multimeter to see output, and partially puts a draw on it, to test the diodes or whatever. It's been a while since I've had it done. I presume O'Reilly's or your preferred parts store can do the same thing.

[axelkabre]

Performing the draw test found the DOME fuse as the culprit, and I forgot to mention that the airbag light has been constantly on while the car is on for a long time.
EDIT: Drawn from DOME was about 0.75A. That seems abnormally high.

BIL said that he's taken it for the airbag recalls as of 2016, but the light never turned off. Not sure if a fault with the SRS system can cause a parasitic draw. Also, dead battery this morning even with the dome fuse out. Should have turned on the brights as well!

[axelkabre]

Update for zbyers, BIL says he has only replaced fuses. So nothing extreme, luckily!

[zbyers]

BIL said that he's taken it for the airbag recalls as of 2016, but the light never turned off. Not sure if a fault with the SRS system can cause a parasitic draw. Also, dead battery this morning even with the dome fuse out. Should have turned on the brights as well!

airbag light would be due to the clockspring. it's like $20 or so on ebay and fairly easy and straightforward to replace.

[axelkabre]

airbag light would be due to the clockspring. it's like $20 or so on ebay and fairly easy and straightforward to replace.

Will do. I'm just hoping it's not causing a possible parasitic drain on the dome fuse.

I say possible because after doing some research, it looks like the dome fuse is hooked up to a lot of the car's interior electronics.

[axelkabre]

Took joatmon's advice and put the brights on before shutting off the car. Also took out the dome fuse as a precaution.
It was a somewhat weak start, but the car started without trouble! I found the headlights would stay on after switching them off brights, and shutting off the car.
I think the main culprit is probably those headlights going on in sub 20 weather. Will experiment leaving the DOME fuse plugged in overnight. It's possible I'm making incorrect measurements on the draw due to the keyless entry or doors being open during the draw test (although I keep them closed)

I've noticed the vibe and matrix sold well in Canada. Very surprising considering the little bug. They must have fixed it in 2004+ models.

[zbyers]

The issue you're experiencing is such a minor subset of people, that most don't even know about it.

The headlights will stay on, even with the switch in the off position as you have daytime running lights, as well as automatic headlights. there is a sentinel on the upper left hand corner of the dash near the windshield. if you pop that cap off and unplug the sensor, your switch would give you full control of the lights, but you'd still have DRL's. To disable DRL's, you'd have to cut a wire near the steering column.

[joatmon]

I think there was a change early in the 03 production run that made the issue only possible in the early 03's, but I could be wrong about that. Just out of curiosity, what does the driver door say when your Vibe was built?

I still think the cold weather light switch is a long shot, so if you think putting the headlight switch in hi beam during cold parking prevents the issue, do it many times before you decide to spend any money to replace the switch

[axelkabre]

I think there was a change early in the 03 production run that made the issue only possible in the early 03's, but I could be wrong about that. Just out of curiosity, what does the driver door say when your Vibe was built?

I still think the cold weather light switch is a long shot, so if you think putting the headlight switch in hi beam during cold parking prevents the issue, do it many times before you decide to spend any money to replace the switch

Door says July of 2002 I think. It's definitely an early Vibe.
Switching the lever to the brights side the trick. Left the dome fuse in, and the car started. 0.75amps is a large draw, but it's possible I'm mismeasuring, and I dont think that's enough to kill a good battery in 10 hours. I'll look into it more when I'm in an actual garage and not freezing my hands off doing draw tests.

Thanks for the advice along with zbyers!

I guess my remaining question is... What would I replace the turn signal lever with to stop the problem? Could it be replaced with an 04 lever? I love this car, but I'm not sure I want to experiment with too many fixes.