Auto Headlights stuck on = blown TAIL fuse

[dianebrat]

Weirdness, and I can't figure it out.Somewhere in the past few weeks DRLs stopped working and now it's auto headlights on all the time, and it gets weirder.In the past when I had the autolights on and they were in daytime mode, I could turn the lights to "real on" with the stalk, and I could adjust my dash lights. With this latest thing, the dash lights are always on full blast, even with the headlight stalk turned to on I can't adjust the dash lights.possible red herring, we put in a new stereo a week ago, but it was a bolt in with the harness already wired, when we did it I had to disconnect the center panel (hazards, defroster, airbag light panel)I also tried the ODO sequence to turn off the seatbelt warning when running (and that never worked)I'm going to go try the "e-brake on" thing to see if it changes anything, but I never use the e-brake, so I wasn't thinking that was it.Any ideas?Diane

[ColonelPanic]

Does the lighting for the other stuff work? (A/C, shifter, cig lighter, inverter switch, hazards, rear defrost, etc?If none of that is working, it sounds like a problem with the dimmer switch circuit. But if you do have lights on the other stuff that can be adjusted with the dimmer control, I dunno... I remember a tale of someone having the cluster wiring harness work itself loose, (they had issues with exterior lights IIRC) but perhaps you could check that out as it obviously has a wire in there somewhere for the dimmer.If everything that can possibly light up is at full blast and can't be dimmed, my vote goes to the dimmer switch being dead.Is there a wire in your harness for the new stereo that is for dash illumination that maybe has gone somewhere it shouldn't have? Very strange...

[joatmon]

I'd suspect the radio wiring, unless you are positive that the problem didn't start with the new radio install. because it may be possible to cause what you are seeing with the wires that go to the factory radio. Also, that is one thing that you know has changed, and nobody seems to have this problem before. Start the car, and I guess the headlights would come on, the interior controls would light up full, and not be controllable by the dimmer. Pull out the trim piece that has a dash vent, mirror controls, and dimmer/dome control (left of the steering wheel, it should just pull straight out) Disconnect the connector from the dimmer switch, and if the lights around the heater controls stay on, then I'd suspect the new radio wiring. If the lights go out, then the new radio wiring is probably not the cause. if the lights stay on, then try disconnecting the new radio wiring. Then if the lights still stay on, it might be warranty repair time. But make sure the nonstandard thing you did to the car isn't the cause before you try for warranty service,

[dianebrat]

thanks guys, I'm going to try and swap out the new DVD player for the OEM stereo tomorrow and see if the behavior returns to normal.FWIW while the gauges are on full intensity, none of the other items the dimmer controls work, the heater illumination and PRNDL lamp is out too. I'll report back what we find.Diane

[joatmon]

I misread your original post, and thought those lights that are out were on at full brightness,some of the interior lights, dimmer stuff, etc, and the tail lights share a fuse (the TAIL fuse) , so make sure your tail lights still work before you drive around at night.

[dianebrat]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »I'd suspect the radio wiring, unless you are positive that the problem didn't start with the new radio install. yeah, I'm leaning that way too, the harness had a B3/A3 issue too, so I'm going to pull it out and put the 6CD unit back today. The lights in the dash work, so it's not the TAIL fuse, I was going to check the ECU-B fuse which says it controls the DRLDiane

[dianebrat]

update:yes it was the new DVD player, it had popped the TAIL fuse, we've pulled the radio out and I'm going to go over the harness with a fine tooth comb, since the harness was "supposed to be compatible" I'm going to go out and buy a real vibe harness from METRA, etc this week and compare it.*compared* the harness i have had the B2 IGN+ jumpered to A4 and A6, I've removed the jumpers, but still have a question on if it's worth hooking up the ORG/WHT B4 Backlight control the the HU dimmer input.Since all the connections are soldered, I'm more comfortable moving wires in the harness before I go and get it rewired.(the benefits of having a previous job working on/building wiring harnesses)Dianep.s. is there a way the mods could move this back over to Audio now that I found out it was the stereo?

[joatmon]

well, it's good news that you are onto the cause, and that it wasn't some expensive module somewhere. If you get stuck on the interface wiring, somebody here is sure to be able to help

[dianebrat]

someone has an image named radio24pin.jpg that I grabbed from an older thread, and that was exactly what I needed to see as far as things not being right.

339848=11719-Radio24pin.jpg