2003 Vibe odd issues

[biggman100]

I have a 2003 Vibe, FWD, automatic, 187k, that i bought for less than scrap yard price, and have since replaced the engine in, that is having several issues i cant seem to figure out. First issue, even though the battery and alternator have both tested good at several places, the battery light is always on. I found some references to the DRL module, the DRL disconnect trick, and the battery light, but, i cant verify if the battery light would come on or not if the DRL's are disconnected, or not functioning, which mine aren't, but, after quite a bit of searching and testing, i am sure the DRL module is bad. The other issue is the ECM, drive cycle issues, and not able to pass inspection. To make a very long story short, the engine was replaced about 4 days ago, and since then, i cant get the CAT and EVAP monitors to clear, and have also seen that from time to time, after driving it, shutting off, letting it sit anywhere from 5 minutes to 10 hours, when i restart it, it will show 4 incomplete monitors, instead of just the 2 it had when i shut it off. 2 local shops, without testing it at all, have came to the conclusion that the ECM is bad, due to the battery light being always on, and the monitors periodically resetting themselves. I dont believe the ECM is the problem, i think the issue is the battery light. My questions are, will the battery light stay on if the DRL module is bad? And, what are the chances of a bad ground somewhere causing the ECM to periodically lose its ground? I did clean the main ground, the plate, the bolts, and the ground eyelet where it all connects to the transmission, but, the light is still on constantly. Another thing i noticed that i think is odd, is that i only have one wire from the ground on the battery to the plate on the transmission, there is no secondary ground from the battery that i can find anywhere, so, is there supposed to be a secondary ground or not? In the last 4 days, this car has idled in my driveway a total of at least 3 hours, and has been driven more than 200 miles, in every condition from highway, to city stop and go, to hilly back roads, and the CAT and EVAP monitors will not clear. Other than these issues, and the fact that it gets less than the mileage i expected, the car runs fine, never shows any set or pending codes, and seems to have a decent amount of power at all times.

[Salsa Guy]

If you have don't have any codes but the monitors haven't cleared you need to drive it more. Letting it idle for a few hours does nothing but waste gas and is hard on the engine. Normally it takes a good tankful of normal driving to get the monitors to clear. That's been my experience.

My next question is how were the battery and alternator tested? The best way is to pull the alternator and put it on a machine. The battery needs to be completely disconnected to test. In car test on both is iffy at best. However with your situation remove either one would cause the Monitors to reset.

It's odd the DRL fails. You could get one from the junk yard and swap. I believe any 1st gen Vibe/Matrix will work. Also if you need an ECU I think any 03-04 1zz FWD Vibe/Matrix ECU can be swapped in with no "reflashing" required. The +05 ECUs are pinned different, have DBC, front AFs (instead of 02s like the 03-04).

Good Luck

[biggman100]

Maybe i should get a bit more in depth here. The idling wasn't so much to clear the monitors, and wasn't done all at once, it was actually done due to some other issues with the car. Here is the back story on a lot of this. Roughly 9 weeks ago, i bought the car for less than scrap yard price, with what i was told at the time was a bad head, due to the timing chain breaking while the PO was driving. The PO replaced the timing chain, guides, tensioner, exhaust cam gear, crank gear, and VVT gear, tried to start the car, said it wouldn't start and obviously had bent valves. I pulled the head, and all of the intake valves were bent, so, i replaced all the valves and valve seals, and put the head back on with all new gaskets. In letting it run to circulate the antifreeze, i noticed severe ticks and knocks in it, that i thought would clear up as oil pressure increased, but, instead, oil pressure dropped to 0, and the #1 rod blew, pulled the wrist pin out of the piston, and left the piston in the cylinder. I pulled the oil pan off, and the oil pick up was so plugged, it couldn't be knocked loose with a chisel. I then went and found a used bottom end, figuring my head was still good, and then swapped my head onto the used bottom end. After it was running, i noticed the oil pressure light was off, it seemed to be running fine, but, the more it ran, the worse the ticking got. I took it for a short drive, and every time i shut it off, and restarted it, i got a code P1349, for the VVT. In trying to fix that, i found that from the previous bottom end having no oil pressure, it caused damage to the cam journals on the head i had just rebuilt. So, i went and got the head that was taken off the bottom end i had already bought, put that on, which was done 3 days ago. Since then, now that it is actually drivable with no noises, i have noticed all the other issues that i am currently having. Yesterday and today are the first time i was actually able to drive the car for more than a mile.

[biggman100]

Battery is actually a new yellow optima, and due to some issues i noticed once i first started to mess with the car, before i even rebuilt the head, i took the alternator and had it tested at Autozone, as well as a local Monro, and at a local shop.

As for parts for this car, i only have 2 options, because the local yards dont have any Vibes or Matrixes, of any year, which means, i either buy new, or drive 161 miles one way, and hope that at least a couple of the cars they have are the same as mine. They show 3 2003 Vibes, but, no specs on them, as to whether they are FWD, AWD, automatic, manual, and calling them gets me nowhere. All i get told is, you will have to come see if what we have matches your car or not.