Ugh! 2003 Pontiac Vibe Turns Headlights on When Temperature Falls Below Zero

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Yeah, this is a weird problem. But now I have had the same thing happen with two different 2003 Pontiac Vibes so I am wondering what is going on! I have owned two 2003 Pontiac Vibes and both have had this same annoying experience. When it is extremely cold (this morning it is minus 8) the headlights turn on. Not the tailights, jut the headlights. Obviously this drains the battery (I have a charger on the car right now, and the headlights are still on!) Is there any way to stop this from happening, short of disconnecting the battery every night?

2

Here might be some help
http://www.cargurus.com/Cars/Discussion-t9448_ds36614

Home / Questions / Pontiac / Vibe / Stop headlights from being on all the time the car is running This is one of the easiest features to disable safely. There should be a relay marked DRL in the under-hood fuse compartment. Pull this relay and the lights will only come on when the switch is on.

Or try a new relay.

3

You’ve owned two Pontiac Vibes…that’s awesome.

4

Replace the headlight switch, there is a service bulletin to address this problem;

Some customers may complain that the headlights turn on with the switch in the “OFF”
position while the vehicle is parked. This could result in a dead battery after an extended
cold soak. An updated Headlamp Switch has been made available to address this
situation.

5

The first 2003 Vibe made it to 330,000 miles before the engine gave out (BTW: the odometer stopped at 299,999 miles, so I had to use the trip meter to keep track of the mileage after that!) I found another 2003 Vibe on Craiglist for $1400 with almost a perfect body, but some running issues that I thought I would be able to fix (fingers crossed) with parts from the dead Vibe … and I was right: the fuel pump, fuel rail and O2 sensor came off the old one, and now the new one runs likes a champ (yet has that same stupid lights thing come on in cold weather.) Thanks for the suggestions on the headlight switch and the relay … I’ll give both of those a try.

6

Not to take this off topic, but do all cars where the headlights come on with the key in the run possition…have this relay that controls that feature.

I’m asking because I was trying to help someone out who had a charging issue…so they could make the 20 mile trip home. I pulled the pigtails on the headlamps to cut power consumption while they drove home. Could I have just pulled a relay???
Car in question 97 Chevy Corsica.

Yosemite

7

I think most of todays cars use relays for the headlights and they are usually located in the power panel under the hood. Removing the relays would disable the lights. Pulling the fuses for them would also work but they could supply power to other things that you might not want to disable.

8

“You’ve owned two Pontiac Vibes…that’s awesome.”

I owned just one Pontiac Vibe (2005) and that was one too many for me.