Automatic Headlights
Lobotomy
Automatic
headlights were designed as a USA-only feature, so you can disable it by simply
unplugging the sensor. The plug is
inside the dashboard on top of the speedometer. When I did mine I didn’t realize the plug is easily accessible**,
so I cut the connections at the DRL relay.
The
inappropriately-named daytime running light relay doesn’t contain a relay, and
it meddles with much more than just DRL.
High beams, low beams, tail lights, fog lights, alternator, and hand
brake all connect to the DRL relay.
Can’t turn on your fog lights without the headlights on? Thank the DRL relay.
The
DRL relay has a 20-pin connector with 19 wires attached on my Vibe, probably 13
on a Canadian Matrix. The Matrix wiring
diagram shows 18 wires, so who knows what the other one is. The modification below was done on a 2003
Vibe GT using the Matrix wiring diagram, so it should work on any USA 2003 Vibe
or Matrix. I am told it works on 2003 Corollas
too.
The
DRL relay is located above the brake pedal, immediately forward of the ignition
key, and looks like the black box shown above.
Get a light and a 10-mm nut driver or a 10-mm socket with extension, and
slither under the dash. Press in the
latch in the middle of one side of the DRL relay connector and pull the
connector off. Remove the single
mounting screw and slither back out with the offending organ.
Settle
down at a static-safe work area and snap open the DRL relay, sliding out the double-sided
circuit board. We don’t need to mess
with the board, just the connector legs.
The big connectors are numbered 1 and 2, then 3 through 11 are the
exposed legs with 12 through 20 beneath.
Cut 19 and 20 (lobotomy shown above) and space the cut ends enough apart
so they won’t touch anything. Voila,
your car is Canadian, eh?
**
The plug is right behind the trim rings -- see the discussion under rattles and vibrations.