03 Vibe Automatic Lights Not Working

[inthebasket]

First post, debated on where to post. I ended up in here. I've searched around, but I can't find the answer. My automatic lights stopped working while I was driving to work this morning. The little green dash light went off. The DRLs still worked fine. The dimmer dial allows me to turn on and off the dome light, but no dimming of the gauges. Also, the dials on the turn signal lever don't turn the parking lights on, the rear lights, or license plate lights. The turn signals work fine, the brakes light up when the pedal is pushed down. Any ideas of what fuse, relay, etc. to check first?

[triz]

I would check your headlight relay. I do not know which one it is but most likely the culprit. The relay heats up and it will shut off your lights. Once it cools down the lights come back on.

IIRC also there was a TSB for the DRL module on NHSTA. I would check that first.

[inthebasket]

Upon further inspection I found a blown TAIL fuse. Replaced it, then heard it blow the second the car started. I've found some good info in these threads. I'm still reading, but I'm not sure how long I'll keep working in the rain. Also, I do have an aftermarket stereo deck, but it's been in for a year with no problems (professionally installed).
viewtopic.php?t=33052" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
viewtopic.php?t=22510" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[inthebasket]

I would check your headlight relay. I do not know which one it is but most likely the culprit. The relay heats up and it will shut off your lights. Once it cools down the lights come back on.

IIRC also there was a TSB for the DRL module on NHSTA. I would check that first.

Thanks for the post. I'll try to check that, but the car sat for 8 hours so it should have cooled down.

[inthebasket]

UPDATE:
I switched what is supposed to be the TAIL relay with the one next to it, assuming it was good since I haven't had any issues til now and it seems to just affect the parts related to the TAIL fuse. The TAIL relay being the 2nd relay in from the passenger above the glovebox. I also switched the DIMMER and HEAD relays that are under the hood. All of which still blew the fuse. Once I switched the relays under the hood the DRLs still lit up, so those relays are fine. And I assume the TAIL relay is fine, since I switched it with a different relay and didn't notice a change in anything else about the car. All relays I switched were compatible. I've also taken out the kick panel to check for a loose wire(read that somewhere). My next move is to check the aftermarket stereo deck, or at least remove it and try the lights with a new fuse. If that's it then it would seem to me to have to be a pinched wire. The stereo currently has full power. After that maybe a replacement DRL module? Thinking out loud and still hoping for some magic guru guidance. Thanks.

[inthebasket]

ANOTHER ADDITION TO MY STORY:
The stereo didn't seem to be intruding on anything, so I didn't disconnect it at all. After blowing my last fuse I bought at 4am I'm waiting til an auto parts store opens to get more. I do have possibly good news as to a solution. My final check was the DRL module. It appears to have a dark blemish, which I can only believe means I better track down a new one. Here are some pictures for future reference.
Below is the DRL module including it's stock label

Below is a healthy chip, taken from a thread here about how to disable the DRLs. These wires will not be there unless it has been modified by you or a previous owner. Please ignore them.

Below is the chip from my car. You can clearly see the blemish.

[triz]

I would check your headlight relay. I do not know which one it is but most likely the culprit. The relay heats up and it will shut off your lights. Once it cools down the lights come back on.

IIRC also there was a TSB for the DRL module on NHSTA. I would check that first.

Hopefully that is it. Although I did say check it first, everything else was probably much easier as far as troubleshooting. Keep us posted if that was your problem.

[inthebasket]

I took today to check the fuses with a multimeter that has an audible continuity setting. All fuses under the hood are fine. All fuses near the steering column are fine. I also checked all of the smaller relays above the glovebox and the relays under the hood. I have a picture below showing my method of checking using the car battery. I wore safety glasses and leather gloves, along with insulated alligator clips on the terminals. Battery connectors to the silver terminals on the relay, then touching the multimeter probes to the copper terminals - for each part attaching positive then negative. It seems like many people put a disclaimer, so do these things at you and your vehicles own risk. Whenever I try to find the words "headlight relay" I am always taken to the HEAD MAIN relay under the hood. The DIMMER relay is also a part working with the DRL module, so I paid close attention to that too. All relays came back fine: nice click sound to start, then a steady beep noise showing a good flow to the multimeter. Below are pictures of what and how I checked.


I have a new DRL module on order, which should arrive in a couple more days. Unless I have any more advice on things to check I will be waiting for my new DRL module. I'll put that in along with a new TAIL fuse, which will hopefully give me good news to report here.

[inthebasket]

WORST CASE...it pretty much happened.
I got the DRL module in early. I unhooked the battery. I put in a new TAIL fuse, then put in the DRL module. The battery was hooked back up and I slowly turned to key, but only for the ACC. I didn't want the car to turnover and not hear what was happening. So I manually turn the dial to activate the lights. The TAIL fuse blows. I check the DRL module I just put in, it looks fine. Long story shot, nothing is fixed. I did check some of the circuits on the old DRL module, which didn't work so a new one was a good thing. I also found the plug for the driverside rear turn signal has no continuity and 0 ohms. This seems like the next place to look, but I think it's a job for someone else. I'm about out of ideas, so it'll probably be a trip to the dealer/mechanic.

[joatmon]

The stock radio gets illumination voltage from the tail fuse, the aftermarket one probably does also, so it might be worth checking the aftermarket radio wiring, or just completely disconnecting it

The NHTSA item on the DRL module was likely complaints about the early DRL modules taking too long to switch from DRL to full headlights, people would startup the car and start driving at night, not aware that it might be 15 seconds or so before the tail lights came on.

WORST CASE...it pretty much happened.

Look on the bright side, it would have been worse if you hooked up the new DRL module and it got fried

[inthebasket]

Here is the conclusion to the saga:
I went to the dealer and explained everything I had done. He said they would troubleshoot my problem, so I got a cup of coffee and relaxed. The original DRL module was bad, so I'm glad I got the new one. However, there was a bad parking light. I'll post a picture below. I'm not quite sure of the exact timeline, because at one point I had unplugged and checked all the lights and still blew the TAIL fuse. So whether it was the process of continually blowing fuses to locate the problem area, a DRL malfunction, or maybe me not looking as closely as I thought...the car is working fine for now. There may be an excessive amount of pictures, but when I'm looking around on here I always wish there were more. If anything else changes I'll add to this thread, but hopefully this case is closed.

[Doug14]

Glad you have everything working alright for now, strange that the bulb did that. I guess to future Vibers that may have tail fuse issues, its good to check all their bulbs for defects?