I'm one Lucky Idiot

[Mr. Poopypants]

So, as most of you know, I pride myself a no-paying-attention a-hole. Last night, I went down to my car to get a few things out of my glove compartment. I turned on the dome light so I could see in the back (it was raining so I had to close the door, that's why the light had to be turned on) anyway, when I got out of the car, I forgot to turn off the dome light. This was about 11:00 PM. When I went out to my car in the morning, approx. 6:45 AM, I noticed the light was on. If my legs bent that way, I would have kicked myself in the goodies. But I got in the car, fully expecting the car to give me the dying moose impression, but it cranked right up! I even have the original battery, it was never replaced during that whole battery fiasco. I was amazed. Don't you think my battery should have died?

[damronjr]

I don't think the dome light really uses that much power, so I'd say it should have been fine. If you had left the headlights on, however, you might have wanted to try that whole kicking yourself in the goodies trick! You might want to record that should you ever attempt it. That would be an even better laugh than just reading about contemplating an attempt!

[kostby]

OK. I'm confused. Quoting from the 2003 Owner's Manual...Quote »Illuminated Entry System (If Equipped)When the interior/instrument panel brightness dial is in the DOOR position, the light will come on when any side door, the liftgate or the liftglass is opened. After any side door, the liftgate or the liftglass is closed, the light will remain on for about 15 seconds and then go out except under the following conditions: All of the side doors, the liftgate and the liftglass are closed when the ignition is in the ACC or ON positions. The ignition is turned to ACC or ON after all the side doors, the liftgate and the liftglass are closed. All the side doors and liftgate are locked when the liftglass is closed and the light is still on. When any side door is unlocked with the key or remote keyless entry system transmitter, the light comes on for 15 seconds, even if the door is not opened.To prevent the battery from draining, the lights will automatically turn off when the key is removed and the door is left opened with the dial in the DOOR position for 20 minutes or more.Reading Lamp (If Equipped)If you have a sunroof, you will have a reading lamp near the sunroof switch. Press the button to turn the lamp on and press it again to turn it off.MirrorsInside Day/Night Rearview Mirror with Reading LampsThe inside rearview mirror is attached to your vehicle's front windshield glass. If you do not have a sunroof, your vehicle's inside rearview mirror may be equipped with reading lamps. If your vehicle is equipped with this mirror, there are two buttons located on the bottom of the mirror. Press the buttons to turn the lamps on and press them again to turn the lamps off. Be sure to turn off the reading lamps to avoid draining your vehicle's battery.If it turns itself on, it will turn itself off ('dome lights' with keyless entry).If you turn it on and you don't turn it off, ('reading lamps' on the mirror, OR 'reading lamp' near the sunroof switch) it WILL drain the battery.So which 'dome' light did you leave on?

[Mr. Poopypants]

The top dome light, behind the moonroof, not the reading light. I turned it on using the little knob by the mirror adjustment.

[Vibe_dude]

dont these cars have the Gm rundown protection?? i thought they did even my 99 z24 had that...and thats just a crappy old cavy as some people might say.

[Mr. Poopypants]

Technically, it's not a GM, so probably not.

[Merzbow]

You lucked out big time! That's a huge relief though isn't it when it starts up? I left my keys in the ignition for about 10 minutes on Christmas day and when I was about to leave for my girl friend's for christmas dinner the battery died! I was an hour late (removed). Obviously they are different situations but still unfortunate for me and fortunate for you

[Mr. Poopypants]

I was really pumped up when it started.

[BlueCrush]

The Vibe Gods were watching out for you!

[Mr. Poopypants]

Dang, I never thought of that, I should have had the Vibe gods kick me in the junk.

[Kari]

I've left the map light on all night at least 3 times and I never had a problem getting it started the next day...but I did have a problem with the light burning out. I thought the car had the 20-minute rundown protection too...interesting that it let the dome light stay on if it does.

[Mr. Poopypants]

It has the rundown protection now that I think of it, but I manually turned it on, I think that is why it stayed on.

[Baltovibe]

Quote, originally posted by kostby »OK. I'm confused. Quoting from the 2003 Owner's Manual...According to my 2004 Owner's Manual:Quote »The interior light has the following positions:OFF: This position turns the light off.ON: This position keeps the light on all the time.(Door): This position turns the light on when anyof the side doors, the liftgate or the liftglass is opened.The light goes off when all the side doors, the liftgateand the liftglass are closed.Since the dome lights were physically turned on, rather than through the doors, they will "stay on all the time."

[Merzbow]

I keep my dome lights off even when I open the door because I am never sure if they will turn off so I allways stood by the car to make sure they did. I didn't feel like doing that so I just turned them off. I don't need them anyways. I can sacrifice enough energy to reach over and turn the wheel if I need them.

[Atomb]

you were lucky and i know that sinking feeling when you first saw the light on the next day...i went on a 'long weekend' vacation once and left the dome light on in my old VW...the car didnt' start.i hate that feeling just before you turn the key to start the car!

[Psychobroker]

Quote, originally posted by Mr. Poopypants »If my legs bent that way, I would have kicked myself in the goodies. I'd pay to see that, along with Drunken's kicking himself in the forehead with both feet I've left my domelight on overnight more than once without any problems - yet lol

[damronjr]

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »I'd pay to see that, along with Drunken's kicking himself in the forehead with both feet We gotta get both those on tape and sell 'em on ebay! We'd be rich!

[wicked1981]

Quote, originally posted by Psychobroker »I'd pay to see that, along with Drunken's kicking himself in the forehead with both feet I've left my domelight on overnight more than once without any problems - yet lolSign me up for that show!! Both of them!!

[ColonelPanic]

Glad to hear she fired right up! I did the same thing here recently... Turned the dome lights on using the dimmer control and forgot about it. That was on one of my off days, so it sat there for a good day or so with the lights on. Fortunately, no problems firing the thing up! I attribute that to the fact that I replaced the incandescent bulbs up there with LED's. Nowhere near the amount of current consumed (but they also don't put out squat for light, lol!)The Vibe's "battery rundown protection" is pretty cheeseball if you ask me... It *only* applies to the dome lights IF they are on because of an open door. Doesn't work if the dome lights are switched on manually, and doesn't apply to the map lights. There's a much greater chance of us leaving the map lights on, or switching the dome lights on manually than there is leaving a door open. At least for me - since the keyless remote won't lock if a door is ajar, I know that there is a problem somewhere and I will correct that. But it's far too easy to forget that the dome and/or map lights have been switched on.IIRC, they may have corrected this in the newer models - not sure if that was for '04 or '05. The GM setup is great - no matter what interior light is on, or how it was turned on for that matter, they'll all get killed after 20 minutes or so. Can't remember, but I'm pretty sure even the visor vanity mirror lights on my Malibu would go out if the cover was left open...

[ALi3N]

Well, i don't know about you guys, but i know that my domelight could stay on for a couple of days and i could still start it... for some reason my original Delco battery is a 780cca battery. Anyone care to enlighten me as to why a little 4-banger would EVER need 780cca battery?

[ColonelPanic]

Did you buy it new? If so, then there could have been some supply abnormality at the plant! AFAIK, nobody had a battery that big originally... Unless you have some funky cold climate option that we aren't aware of, not likely considering your location. If you bought it used, I bet somebody laughed at the original battery and got rid of it... lol

[ColonelPanic]

Hmm, here's a theory... NUMMI's car line may have ran out of the tiny batteries when they built yours... And snagged some from the Tacoma line. Not sure if they're using Delco/Delphi batteries in those, if they are no doubt it won't be as tiny as the ones we have!