2003 VUE DRLs Not Working

[rwebb71]

Ok, need help. Don't want to take car to dealer if I can avoid it. They supposedly fixed the problem once before, so why am I having it again? My DRLs seem to have a mind of their own. They worked, stopped working, then decided to work and now don't work. Took the car into my own mechanic for an oil change today and had him try to figure it out. He noticed a ground wire missing. Now, Saturn noticed a ground wire missing two and a half years ago and supposeldy fixed it. My mechanic doesn't seem to think that's the problem though. He checked fuses and relays and all work fine. The dash light flashes 5 or 6 times before it goes out and stays out. My headlights and high beams work just fine. I'm going nuts with this. Now, I may be a female, but my dad brought me up right. I like cars, can change my own oil, have done engine work on other cars. Just need it straight and detailed, or enough to go on to help my mechanic. Thanks!

[fdryer]

Not being familiar with the Vue-series and going on the assumption that DRL's are the same whether S, L, Vue, Aura, or Relay, the easiest thing to try is replacing the DRL relay with another relay from the fuse box. After pulling out the DRL relay look down into the contact pins for any corrosion, if any. The simple act of pulling and re-seating the relay cleans the contacts and substituting it with another one may fix the problem. If it does you either moved the problem to another area or it was the contact pins in the fuse box that was slightly corroded. You may have to look at the other side of the fuse box to check the wiring going to the fuse box.

If you live in an area with winter roads that are salted, like NYC, there may be hidden corrosion that was introduced long ago and slowly crept in to the wiring under the hood that may be causing the intermittent DRL's. You would have to determine where to look for wiring that may have loosened up such as the fuse box(es) including all the ground wires that can affect other electrical circuits but seems to be isolated to the DRL's. Just some ideas being thrown out as I don't have the wiring schematics to be more specific and although I stated that I think most, if not all, of Saturn's DRL's are wired similarly I wouldn't quote from my FSM and assume it would apply to your vehicle.

[rwebb71]

Well, have given up. Took the car in to the Saturn dealership today. They have to keep it overnight as they cannot figure out the DRL problem. The service guy told me my car looked like a life support patient with all the wires and machines connected to it. The bulbs are fine. The relay is fine. The plan is to have someone else look at it tomorrow. UGH!