daytime running lights (drl) come on when car is shut off

[rjp]

hello, purchased a 2003 awd vibe a couple of months ago and am mega pschyed! However, my drls come on when the car is off - this has just begun to happen and consequently drains the battery. I did not know this was happenning untill I replaced the alternator and battery - the car was dead in the mornings, yet was fine during the day. Not only did the lights come on last night - the car was dead this morning, but when I parked this morning they came on after an hour or so, and the battery died again. I've read a bunch of the previuos posts but am wondering how I would go about replacing the drl mod - where is it, etc. I am not sure I want to start cutting wires and installing switches - should I bring it to a dealer? I was/am a pre 2000 Jeep Cherokee guy but I absolutely love this car!Help!

[joatmon]

I seem to remember a problem like yours that Matrix's had when the first came out which was fixed with a new DRL module, but I can't find a thread about it here. Didn't seem to affect Vibes nearly as much as Matrixes. Maybe there's something over on matrixowners.com. I rememberr the short term workaround was to put the headlight switch in the high beam position, and that kept the headlights from coming on for no reason when the car was not running.and welcome to genvibe

[rjp]

thanx for your help, which check it out!

[rjp]

joatmonit worked!!!!!!!dropped it off at the dealership today so that they can diagnose the problem but asked them to give me a call prior to doing any work - if it is exhorbitant (extortianate?) I may bag it and do this quick fix untill I can order whatever part is required and see about getting a local mechanic to do it or if it is a question of plugging something out and replacing it then maybe do it myself. Anyways, just wanted to say thanx for your help

[JWH]

My 2003 Vibe did this for the first time ever tonight (11/6/08). I unplugged one of the cables from the car battery; I didn't know what else to do. Please let me know what you found out from the dealership.

[rjp]

thedealership ran a diagnostic and came back that it was the light switch - when the replaced it they said there was moisture in it. Haven't had a problem since it was replaced. Not sure if you tried joatmon's suggestion but that worked - and you don't have to keep unplugging your cables

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by rjp »thedealership ran a diagnostic and came back that it was the light switch - when the replaced it they said there was moisture in it. Haven't had a problem since it was replaced. Not sure if you tried joatmon's suggestion but that worked - and you don't have to keep unplugging your cablesmoisture in the switch??? that could be bad.... did you do a carfax report on the car before you bought it? Could be a flood car.There should be no reason for moisture inside the car unless someone is dunking their switches in their morning coffee on the way to work LOL

[joatmon]

I wouldn't worry about the moisture, the problem seems to have been more common in Matrixes, but it has happened in vibeshttp://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=8291another related thread here is http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=2686the link to matrixowners in that one doesn't work, the referenced thread was back when matrixowners used to prune inactive threads, so I think the referenced content is lost to the ether

[rjp]

actually I did run a carfax - 1 owner, Virginia ( maybe they were vacationing in New Orleans on Aug 29th ?) Anyways, switch replaced, no problems