GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Last weekend I made a quick trip to the corner store and came out about 20 minutes later to the smell of an electrical fire. At first I didn't realize it was coming from my car until I got closer to my car and could see smoke inside through the windows. I installed a Tow Ready T-One Connector ModuLite wiring kit back when the '09 1.8L Vibe was about a year old. I noticed that the turn signal light were on constant, not flashing and as I was getting tools from the rear of the car to disconnect the battery, then the brake lights suddenly came on as well. After disconnecting the battery I check the OE light control module under the dash which was not the issue. This is when I realized it was the ModuLite module. Opening the access cover for the taillights and saw that the module was melting and smoking. Reconnecting the battery momentarily the brake and turn lights came back on and smell of smoke increased. Disconnecting the battery again pulled the fuse supplying power to the Modulite and removed the T connector to return the wiring to stock. Reconnecting the battery again I tested all cars electrical systems which all worked except the brake and turn lights.

Being a few blocks from home I drove home grabbed a test light and found that the fuses for the Brake and turn signal light curcuits had blown. I have only used the trailer plug 3 times. The last time a trailer was attached to the car was over 3 years ago (trailer had LED lights) to move a trailer about a block and the trailer plug is stored inside the car when not in uses.

The fact that the module could have shorted out in a way that the power fuse to the module did not blow, allowing the unit to continue to overheat could be a major concern if I not come back to to the car as soon as I did. I have been in and out of the hospital for extended periods of time for the past 18 month and the car has been parked much of the time. There could have been a totally different issues if this had happened while the car was parked in the garage. Has anyone else ever had a similar issue like this?

Wow! That could have been tragic indeed! I would consider parking outside for a while. Just to be sure. And contact the manufacturer. Perhaps report it to the CPSC or maybe the NHTSA?

I already ripped the unit and wiring completely out of the car mostly because it made the car smell of a electical transformer fire and didn't want the smell to impregnated deep into the interior. As it is, it still took a shampoo of the seats and keeping the window and hatch open for a couple days for the smell to be almost un-noticeable.

All ready sent a email to Tow-Ready waiting for a reply.

Wow, you got lucky on it! I wonder if it would be good to remove the fuse if not using the trailer lights.

If you want to help with the smoke smell, put a couple of bowls of vinegar in the car for several days. It does help with the smoke smell.

Good luck on it!

Can you show us pictures of this module?

Baltovibe wrote:Can you show us pictures of this module?

How do you post photos to this forum?

Host them someplace like Photobucket. Then copy the link and paste it between the Img tags.

dragon64 wrote:How do you post photos to this forum?

Here ya go !

Here we go. Module grew an appendage. You can also see that tar like potting compound is starting to come out around the wiring in addition to the melted plastic.

Forgot got to mention I got a reply from a Melinda Hancock in customer service at Cequent (Tow Ready). She has refered me to contact there tech support dept. Don't know why she didn't just forward my email to them herself. I have worked in manufacturing and customer relations for years and would have redirected enquiries to the correct dept or person rather than asked the customer to contact them.

Sent the Tech dept a message to start a new paper trail.

Oh shish !!! You really were lucky it didn't cath on fire, specially in the garage. Ouch...
Let's just assume it was a rare case of T-One modules going bad...
I have one of those Tow Ready T-One for my '09. Like you said, I also only used the connector 4 or 5 times only, I barely use the hitch for trailers, just sometimes. Last time was a year ago.
Like TRB mentionned, I think I will remove the fuse while not in use. This will avoid any bad surprises...
Thanks for the heads up...!