Electrical Gremlin

**stealthee** · 12-04-2010, 11:23 PM

I was sitting here watching some football and my brother informed my headlights were on. I was a little confused because I know there weren't on when I got back from picking up pizza earlier, but sure enough they were on.

I opened the driver's door and went to turn the switch back and to my confusion it was already back. I turned it forward and back again and the headlights remained on. I flipped it back and forth several times and nothing changed.

I popped the hood and pulled the main light fusible link and all light remained on. I pulled the headlight relay and they finally went off. I swapped the relay with the fog relay and the lights worked with the switch.

But there's a catch. When the headlights are off, the MFI relay buzzes like crazy.

I messed with it some more and made the relay quit buzzing, but anytime I turned the headlights back on, then off again, it buzzed again.

I just unhooked the battery for tonight because it was 11 oclock and I was out there with a flashlight and in shorts.

Anyone have any clues before I tear into it tomorrow? I dont know if its a relay issue, or maybe something with the headlight switch itself.

Any input ahead of time is appreciated.

**Steve '92ES** · 12-05-2010, 12:25 AM

Damm, that's more of a troll than a gremlin..

No idea what it is but some ideas off the top of my head:
Do you have an alarm?
Battery OK?
What happens if you turn the key on and off?
What happens if you pull the tail light relay?
Squirrels been munching on the wires?

**stealthee** · 12-05-2010, 10:30 AM

I'm about to get dressed to go out and mess with it more now. I'll see what I can figure out and report back with any new findings if I still can't figure it out.

As for the questions.

No I dont have an alarm.
Battery is less than a year old and the lights were bright when they were on.
I didn't have my keys on me when I was messing with it last night.
Didn't get the tail relay pulled but will check it out.
No wire munching that I know of.

**stealthee** · 12-05-2010, 12:19 PM

Ok I went out and pissed with the car. I realized that in the confusion of the dark and the cold last night that I didn't pull the headlight fusible link, so that explains why the lights remained on. Another thing I remembered is that only the headlights were remaining on. When I turned the switch back and forth the parking lights were going on and off.

I cleaned up the battery terminals because they had a little corrosion on them, cleaned up the posts, then hooked the battery back up and everything seems to be working like normal right now. I don't know if just the relay got stuck on its own or what. I'm going to keep an eye on the car today to make sure the lights dont come back on again. Hopefully it was just some weird hiccup the car had to get out.

**stealthee** · 12-05-2010, 08:16 PM

The gremlin must be in from the cold again.

I decided to go out and make sure the car started ok and that the headlights worked as they should. I turned the headlight switch on and turned it back off only to have the headlights remain on, while the parking lights were off. As soon as I started the car the headlights turned off.

I kept getting this to repeat and then looked down to see the brake light ever so dimly lit when the car was off. I put the ebrake down and the dim light went out.

Is this sounding like an ETACS issue? I don't even know where else to begin.

EDIT: BTW I pulled the headlight fuse under the dash while the headlights were on, and they remained on.

**GTOJOE** · 12-05-2010, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by stealthee

No I dont have an alarm.

Where do you live again?

The only way I can see these still working after you pulled the fuse is that the wires have rubbed through to something else. Either that or the relay is wired up to the -neg side not the +pos side and the lights are earthing somehow. Do they stop when you pull the relay?

**stealthee** · 12-05-2010, 08:54 PM

Yeah, they shut off when I pulled the headlight relay last night. I then swapped it with the fog relay.

I think something is happening making the headlight relay stick. I don't know what would cause that though.

**Steve '92ES** · 12-05-2010, 09:01 PM

The gremlin must be in from the cold again.

The cold or the dark..
Do you have the delayed headlight shutoff option? I don't remember, but if you do does it use a light sensor or does work in the daytime too?