99 Bright Headlight Indicator Flashing/Short

[Hooter1]

Recently picked up a 99 Prizm(assuming same electronics as Corolla) with a known electrical short in it causing the battery to drain. Driving it home, noticed the bright headlight indicator flashing in the dash and also noticed the headlight relay in the engine compartment making noise as it was trying to be energized with low voltage. With the lights on, the flashing goes away and the relay is not making noise. Previous owner replaced the headlight switch(found a receipt in glove box). Any suggestions on what to check next. There is approximately 2 volts pulsing into the headlight relay socket causing it to try to come on and I'm assuming causing the dash indicator to flash when this happens.

I've pulled the relay to see if the battery drain goes away. Previous owner said the battery would go dead after sitting for 2 days.

First post on here. Thanks in advance.

[Hooter1]

The more I think about this, thinking it's the DRL module not working correctly. Also found a receipt where this was also replaced recently. Is there any way of just disconnecting this without effecting the other electronics? Also, would this cause the battery drain the car is experiencing? I wouldn't think so since the lights are only supposed to be on when the key is on, but grasping at straw on that

[landphil]

This may sound strange, but does the dash cluster have a tach? In a lower trim level car, ie no tilt, cruise, power windows?

If someone installed a 2000/2001 cluster in a 1998/1999 ( there are differences in the clusters involving the high beam indicator and ground circuit) I can see it causing something like this.

Otherwise, a low current amp clamp is your friend, put it on the battery cable and pull fuses until the current drops off. At least then you'd have an idea of where to start looking. Keep in mind that a few hundred milliamps draw is normal for the constant ECM and stereo power. This assumes the battery itself is fine and has passed a load test, but it sure sounds like a draw.

[Hooter1]

The car has the original dash cluster with no tach.

I also confirmed good grounds on the DRL socket(saw the thread indicating this was a problem on some cars). Still thinking of disabling the DRL since the headlights work fine.

The car also has a battery drain on it. Overnight, it will drop the battery voltage down to 9 volts. I unhooked the alternator suspecting a bad diode and the battery stayed up for 5 days before dying again. I think there are multiple electrical problems on this car. I'm gonna run a test light on the negative side of the battery and start pulling fuses and unplugging things trying to track this down. Aint it fun....

[randini667]

About 4 years back I had the sam symptoms. Ended up being my DRL relay had two fried electrical components in the box. This caused a persistent drain on my battery.

Running Lights Won't Turn Off

[Hooter1]

Had alternator tested over lunch. No issues. On to the DRL relay.....