New owner w/Qs

[jwangelin]

Hi,After shopping around my wife and I bought an '06 Vibe w/26,000 miles. We have only had it for a week and we love it. It definitely beat out the focus wagon we were considering. Even though I just ordered an owners manual I need to ask. How do you temporarily disable the running lights when idling? We were at the drive in last night and I wouldn't dare start it till the movie was over. Also some of the buttons on the radio are worn down. What years of Vibe radios will interchange? Were they all standard AM/FM CD equalizer theftlock w/radio data system? Lastly what is the little green lightbulb light on the dash w/in the tach?Thanks in advance,Jon

[02csnow]

First off, Welcome to Genvibe.The DRL's came be turned off put you need to put in a switch to do that. There is a how to in the forums. The radios are all the same size so u can pretty much change it out, but some do have cd and some dont and there there are ones with sun and sound or moons and tunes packages. As far as the little green light w/in the tach, i have no clue what that is. Do you have a manual or is it auto?

[northvibe]

I think this worked for me, If you turn your car off and lift the ebrake (with button down) up one or two clicks. Then turn your car on that will disable the head lights while you idle.The green light in the tach...ill have to look. The radio could and someone correct me if im wrong, could be swapped with the 05-07 proabbaly? I know toyota did some change to the trix then with their HU, so maybe pontiac did too.OH ALMOST forgot, welcome to genvibe!!!

[GMJAP]

Without modifying the car, you can disable the DRLs while sitting idling by having the Hand Brake engaged when turning the ignition ON.You can replace the radio from any other model year with either a single-CD or 6-CD, unless you have factory XM. M&T (Sun & Sound) doesn't matter. You shouldn't need a code to enable a new radio (they don't have any lock, regardless of what the manual says)The green lightbulb idiot-light in the tach tells you when the headlights are on. (They'll be turned on automatically by the light sensor when it gets darker.)

[jwalcik]

Welcome aboard!If your Vibe is a manual, you'll have to search on here for some instructions on how to install a switch that disables the DRLs. Engaging the E-brake before ignition doesn't work.

[joatmon]

You can download a PDF of the owners manual from http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id-1010You can not turn off the daytime running lights (DRL) without modifying something. On earlier models, the DRLs wouldn't come on if the parking brake was engaged when the the engine was started and would stay of as long as the parking brake was engaged. However, that changed, and on later models they come on anyway, even with the parking brake on. (or is that just the manual tranny ones as jwalcik says?)The radios are all interchangeable. I do not think the 06 radios had theftlock. The earlier ones definitely didn't. GM made several versions of the radio that look the same, and although the vibe radios didn't have theftlock, others did, so if you buy a replacement, make sre it came out of a Vibe (or an 03/04 Matrix)The little green light in the dash is effectively your tail lights indicator. When your DRLs are on, the headlights are on half bright, and the tail lights are off. When the headlights are on full, the tail lights are also on, and the little green light comes on int hte dash to let you know that. SOmetimes, the automatic switching betweenn DRL mode and full headlight mode is not exactly the way I want it to be, such as a day with rain, or fog, sometimes it will only go into DRL mode, and I want full headlights so I'll have tail lights so I don't get rear-ended, so I use the manual control to turn the headlights on full. (or sometimmes, just put my hand over the sensor in the front left corner of the dash top)

[VivaVibe]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »The radios are all interchangeable. I do not think the 06 radios had theftlock. The earlier ones definitely didn't. GM made several versions of the radio that look the same, and although the vibe radios didn't have theftlock, full.I have an 04 Vibe with the Moon & tunes single CD and it does have the theftlock feature.

[dianebrat]

It has a blinky red LED, but none of the Vibe stereos I've heard of have actual "theftlock" that would require a code be input if the stereo was swapped.(I've been wrong before, but I've done heavy reading in the audio fora lately)They dance around the subject, but it's just a blinky LED.

[GMJAP]

Quote, originally posted by jwalcik »Welcome aboard!If your Vibe is a manual, you'll have to search on here for some instructions on how to install a switch that disables the DRLs. Engaging the E-brake before ignition doesn't work.This works very well. (I have a manual.) Of course, on any model, once you disengage the hand brake the DRLs come on, so it's only good during idling when you can leave the brake engaged. BUT - here's the rub, and why it won't work for your drive-in experience: When it's dark out, the auto-headlights will come on with the ignition, regardless of the hand brake position.Also, ignore the post about the 04 having theftlock. They are evidently confused.

[808 Vibes]

Welcome and congrats!! We can't wait to see pics!!!

[engineertwin2]

I'm probably mistaken, but doesn't switching on the parking lights shut off the DRLs?

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by engineertwin2 »I'm probably mistaken, but doesn't switching on the parking lights shut off the DRLs?In my 03, if the parking brake is on when I start the car, the DRLs stay off. If I release the parking brake, the DRLs come on. Doesn't matter if I put the parking brake back on after the DRLs hacve already come on, the DRLs stay on, until the engine is turned off. Quote, originally posted by GMJAP »BUT - here's the rub, and why it won't work for your drive-in experience: When it's dark out, the auto-headlights will come on with the ignition, regardless of the hand brake position.Supposedly, if you disconnect the light sensor, then you only ever get DRLs, and no auto headlights. Me, I like the auto headlights, and used the put a switch in the red wire mod to be able to disable it all when I want, but usually leave it enabled.

[4X4CHICHI]

I'm almost positive that the little green light is telling you that your fog lights are on.

[NascarXprt]

Welcome to the family!

[engineertwin2]

Quote, originally posted by joatmon »In my 03, if the parking brake is on when I start the car, the DRLs stay off. If I release the parking brake, the DRLs come on. Doesn't matter if I put the parking brake back on after the DRLs hacve already come on, the DRLs stay on, until the engine is turned off. I was referring to the parking lights, not the parking brake. My parking brake, once off keeps the lights on. But I thought rolling forward one click to the parking lights turned off the DRLs and just left the side blinkers on front and rear...still probably wrong though...

[BlueCrush]

Welcome to GenVibe, Jon! Looks like everyone answered your Q's.