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Car Forum / Toyota / Toyota Cars / February 2006COROLLA '03 HEADLIGHTS COMES ON WHEN IT IS VERY COLD
I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not identify the problem ! Does anyone know of any TSB from Toyota to fix this problem. I realise that there a few other people with the same problem. I wonder why Toyota is not placing a recall to resolve this problem to avoid people being stranded in cold perhaps in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for the Cell phone. Some one told me that the problem may be with the headlight switch, another person told me that it may be with the headlight relay, some other person told me to snip a wire to Day Light Running relay and put a switch to enable or disable DRL probably to resolve this issue . Before I try any one of these, I need some reliable advice from someone who fixed it of having previous experience of resolving this weird strange situation.Please advice on this matter and it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Tech I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not identify the problem ! Does anyone know of any TSB from Toyota to fix this problem. I realise that there a few other people with the same problem. I wonder why Toyota is not placing a recall to resolve this problem to avoid people being stranded in cold perhaps in the middle of nowhere. Thanks for the Cell phone. Some one told me that the problem may be with the headlight switch, another person told me that it may be with the headlight relay, some other person told me to snip a wire to Day Light Running relay and put a switch to enable or disable DRL probably to resolve this issue . Before I try any one of these, I need some reliable advice from someone who fixed it or having previous experience of resolving this weird strange situation. Please advice on this matter and it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Tech >I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when >it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >strange situation.Please advice on this matter and it will be greatly >appreciated. TSB EL003-03 addresses the issue of headlights coming on when switch is off. HTH  SignatureMr.E > >I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when > >it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > -- > Mr.E Thanks for the reply. It is much appreciated. Where could one get the TSB EL003-03 ? I did a search on the Internet to know about this TSB but the links were broken ! Do you know of any site from where I retieve this information, besides pay sites. Thanks very much. Tech >> >I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when >> >it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not [quoted text clipped - 29 lines] > > Tech Both Toyota and the NHTSA sites are pay sites. My recommendation is to ask nicely at your local Toyota dealer is you can have a copy. Don't go first thing in the morning or in the evening when they are busy with customers dropping off or picking up cars - pick a time when they are slow and are more apt to help you out. If you go back to the same dealership that was unable to diagnose the car when you first brought it in, you can diplomatically ask if the TSB about the condition applies to your car, or pick another dealership. SignatureRay O (correct punctuation to reply) > >> >I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when > >> >it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not [quoted text clipped - 43 lines] > Ray O > (correct punctuation to reply) Thanks for the suggestion. I already tried it by calling a Toyota dealership and requested nicely for the TSB in question. They told me that there are a lot of customers to lookafter and I need to bring the car to diagnose for a fee of $75.00.They know that customer may fix the problem if the TSB content is revealed. The alrming thing is that this condition is a safty issue as draining the battery by this manufacturing defect could make people stranded.in the deep cold. I did a lot of reading on the Internet and there are a lot of ways to disable the DRL on Corolla 03. Will this solve this weird problem? Thank you , Tech >> >> >I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when >> >> >it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not [quoted text clipped - 63 lines] > > Tech One of the Toyota Master Diagnostic Technicians (MDT) who frequents this group once posted the cause and remedy to this condition but unfortunately, I do not remember what the remedy was. I don't think it is related to the DRL relay or to the multifunction switch on the turn signal stalk. The existence of a technical service bulletin (TSB) does not automatically make a condition a special service campaign (AKA "recall"). Most SSC's are issued to remedy a safety or emissions problem, and while this condition may cause a dead battery, it is not a safety problem under most circumstances. Also, the existence of a TSB does not automatically make a condition covered under any warranty by the manufacturer. Good luck with the fix! SignatureRay O (correct punctuation to reply) I think that Toyota must do a recall on this condition as it could make people stranded in the bitter cold causing saftey issues. What could one do when a battery is drained with this condition in a deserted place when the temperature is very cold. Toyota doesn't provide mobile phone service inside their vehicles neither does it have a spare battery. This may be a serious safty issue and I already mentioned it to the Toyota Head quarters in CA. They told me that the engineers may look into it and make a decsion if there are too many instances of this nature. Why can't someone from Toyota simply spell out the remedy in simple words when the dealerships say that they never heard of it. It really amazes me as I am a first time Toyota owner. I used to own Pontiacs most of the time till I begin to have so many problems with my previous Pontiac Grand Am. >I think that Toyota must do a recall on this condition as it could make > people stranded in the bitter cold causing saftey issues. What could [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > most of the time till I begin to have so many problems with my previous > Pontiac Grand Am. Actually, Toyota did spell out the remedy for dealerships. Unfortunately, not everyone at the dealerships read every TSB or remember all of them. SignatureRay O (correct punctuation to reply) Would you please tell what does it say in the TSB EL003-03 about this condition as people have to pay to get this information for a presumably manufacturing defect. >Would you please tell what does it say in the TSB EL003-03 about this >condition as people have to pay to get this information for a >presumably manufacturing defect. A copy of the TSB is available for free in the Toyotas_Only Yahoo group. Go join and go to the Files section. It is in PDF format. SignatureScott in Florida >I have a 2003 Corolla and the head lights comes on by themselves when > it is very cold. I took it to the dealership and they could not [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Tech There is a service bulletin regarding this condition, issued 3/13/03. The dealership should know how to search for it. SignatureRay O (correct punctuation to reply) > There is a service bulletin regarding this condition, issued 3/13/03. The > dealership should know how to search for it. Out of curiosity, is it only the '03 that is prone to this issue, or has it been reported in the '04 and newer? >> There is a service bulletin regarding this condition, issued 3/13/03. >> The [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > it > been reported in the '04 and newer? I got the original information from the NHTSA web site. I went back and looked for 2004 Corollas and did not see the information. If you want info on TSB's for a specific year, you can search at http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/tsbsearch.cfm SignatureRay O (correct punctuation to reply) Could you please tell which one causes this problem. Is it is DRL, Headlight Relay or Headlight stalk switch. Thank you. Tech It costs almost $40.00 to get this information from that site ! Does anyone know what exactly causes this strange weird problem. Will snipping a particular wire of DRL to disable with a switch rectify this problem? I read a lot about a yellow wire switch method but it doesn't necessarily addresses issue whether or not such an approch would resolve the Headlights coming on by iteself when it gets very cold for Corolla 03. Toyato must have placed a recall on it but amazingly enough when I called Toyota Cetral office in CA , they don't have a recall on this weird situation reported by many. >It costs almost $40.00 to get this information from that site ! Does >anyone know what exactly causes this strange weird problem. Will [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >when I called Toyota Cetral office in CA , they don't have a recall on >this weird situation reported by many. Looks like it is the Headlight switch itself....as I said go to the Yahoo Group Toyotoas_Only and print it out. You have to join the group. SignatureScott in Florida I am now reading all the posts in the Yahoo Group Toyotoas_Only . Under what heading the TSB EL003-03 posted. Thanks a lot! Tech >I am now reading all the posts in the Yahoo Group Toyotoas_Only . Under >what heading the TSB EL003-03 posted. > >Thanks a lot! > >Tech Under Files Toyota TSB EL TSB EL003-03 That should get you to it... SignatureScott in Florida Thank you for the information. I find that people have to pay $40.00 for this TSB. Why would people have to pay for Toyota manufacturing defects? Could you please tell what causes this weird condition? >Thank you for the information. I find that people have to pay $40.00 >for this TSB. 1.) 24 hrs of access is actually $10 on techinfo.toyota.com 2.) Last time _I_ had to find the problem documentation, the dealer repaid me. As a self-maintainer, I gladly took a few genuine Toyota filters for my troubles. <G> Ask the dealership to check while you stand there (in person). Thank you again for the site: www.techinfo.toyota.com . I live in a state where the closest Toyota dealership now sells American cars and some are put on a high platforms. It looks kinda funny. They may be concered that more and more American people are buying Japanese cars trading their American problamatic cars for a few bucks or so, more becasue of the high or unstable gasoline prices. The service department is therefore not all that co-operative unless one is prepared to pay a lot of money on Toyota. This is one of the reasons why I did not buy a Toyota Hybrid as one could only fix it at Toyota dealerships and they could come up with funny estimates to fix a simple problem. It seems that there is a need to have Japanese people to own Toyota dealerships just like many Chinese made computer stores. My guess would be the plastic being used in the 03 would shrink when cold, closing the circuit, and they changed to a different or heaver plastic at some point.to correct the problem ;) mike hunt >>> There is a service bulletin regarding this condition, issued 3/13/03. >>> The [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > If you want info on TSB's for a specific year, you can search at > http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/problems/tsb/tsbsearch.cfm Are you talking about the stalk switch for the Headlights, or the DRL relay module located under the dash almost above the break pedal, or the Headlight relay. If it is the stalk switch, I could put a woolen sleeve on it till summer during when I could fix this weird problem by myself. Well, I am getting the feeling of it, you know what...... I am going to put a sleeve on and gear it to the high beem position to see what happens. Thanks for all the help. Hey, I found out that new Corollas have a switch for turning the DRL on and off. What a fun, invented by the Japanese. Good night everybody. >Are you talking about the stalk switch for the Headlights, or the DRL >relay module located under the dash almost above the break pedal, or >the Headlight relay. If it is the stalk switch, I could put a woolen >sleeve on it till summer during when I could fix this weird problem by >myself. That's pretty funny!... :) (you weren't serious I hope) Signature-Gord. (use gordon in email) > >Are you talking about the stalk switch for the Headlights, or the DRL > >relay module located under the dash almost above the break pedal, or [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > -Gord. > (use gordon in email) Oh... no ! I am very serious to resolve this issue. I think I might have found out the problem ! I didn't put a sleeve on the stalk switch. I geared it to the high beam position and that did it. Its always nice to see bulbs are coming on day and night as I was thinking of DRL relay problem. It seems that the plastic or rubber used on the stalk switch may be either too small or it has a coefficient of contraction unsuitable to make short circuits or so. I will be monitoring the condition today when the temperature dips well below zero. Thanks for helpful remarks and pointing to the right direction. Tech This may make sense as I moved the stalk swtich for the headlight into the high beam position and the light didn't come on yesterday for some reason. I do not know whether the temperature was not cold enough to make this defect to happen or it was the switch of the low beam short-circuiting when it gets cold because of the shrinkage of the plastic cover of the headlight switch stalk. I am not really sure of the problem yet. Just experimenting to isolate and indentify the problem. Thanks for all the feed backs. Tech >This may make sense as I moved the stalk swtich for the headlight into >the high beam position and the light didn't come on yesterday for some [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >Tech I told you what the problem was and how to get the answer. Take that answer to your Toyota dealer and get a new switch installed. gawd....you make everything so hard.... SignatureScott in Florida >>This may make sense as I moved the stalk swtich for the headlight into >>the high beam position and the light didn't come on yesterday for some [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > >gawd....you make everything so hard.... I tend to agree with Scott (please don'i spread it around) Just wanted to point out that putting a sleeve on the switch will do nothing to keep it warm... :) Signature-Gord. (use gordon in email) > >>This may make sense as I moved the stalk swtich for the headlight into > >>the high beam position and the light didn't come on yesterday for some [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > -Gord. > (use gordon in email) I think I found out another way to solve this problem which is cheaper for the time being, rather to say the problem I am having with my 03 Corolla, namely, headlights coming on by themselves when it gets really cold. I simply geared the stalk switch to the high beam position and the lights did not come on by themselves when the teperature dips to way below zero. Nevertheless, I wont leave my Corolla in cold with a battery charger as a safty precaution. I think, the problem is with the stalk switch. There may be a cheaper way of solve this problem as it would cost about $300 or so to replace the stalk switch. The cheaper solution I found out and that it works with my Corolla is to gear the stalk switch to the highbeam postion when the car is parked in the deep cold. I wont apply this method without having a battery booster or portable battery jump start in the trunk. Overall I am quite satisfied with this little peppy Japanese vehicle as opposed to the GM car. I never spent one Penny for repairs for almost one year now. I think you may be right. Thanks for pointing to the right direction. However, I solved the problem without replacing the headlight stalk switch. At least it works for my Corolla. The simple and cheaper solution that I found out to solve the problem with my Corolla is shifting the headlight stalk switch to the high beam position during the time car is parked in the deep cold. All that I can say is that it works for me and that it may not necessarily be an universal solution to this nuisance that Toyota did not place a recall. After talking to the useless Toyota dealerships people I would have snipped the wire on my DRL as a possible remedy to rectify the problem. Thank Goodness that I didn't do it and thanking very much for these helpful discussion groups. >I think you may be right. Thanks for pointing to the right direction. >However, I solved the problem without replacing the headlight stalk [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >Thank Goodness that I didn't do it and thanking very much for these >helpful discussion groups. It will be replaced FREE by the Toyota dealer under warranty.... SignatureScott in Florida |
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