2003 corolla having problems with lights - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

maskedman72 · 01-27-2003, 05:42 PM

my 2003 has 4,000 miles on it. i love the car however, this is strange.
when the outside temputare is below 6 degrees my dash cluster lights(this includes the cd player and the shifter lights) go out. if i lightly move the turn signal arm they will flicker on and off. as soon as the car's interior warms up all of this will go away.

now even stranger-this morning when i woke up it was 0 degrees out and i looked out my window and my headlights were on! they turn on by themselves! they were off last time i drove and even if they werent the battery would have died if they were on through out the night at that temp!
so i went out and started the car to see how low the battery was and it cranked fine! this tells me that the lights werent on that long.
i checked my light sensor in the drivers side corner of the dash and it works fine.
is there a way to bypass the light sensor and use the manual light switch on the turn signal arm?
if this happens and my battery dies and i cant get to work the car is useless!!!!
thus now i am thinking to cut the wires where the lights are connected near the fuse box and install a hidden master switch there so the lights cant come on until that switch is thrown.
any ideas?

***REN69*** · 01-27-2003, 08:49 PM

WOW it's posessed!! :o hehehehe..

I think it's just the weather man.. my speedometer makes this funky noises when it's really cold outside.. like the cable is frozen and it wants to turn but it can't.. oh man! high pitched noise too! :x take it to toyota and see what they say.

maskedman72 · 01-28-2003, 04:23 AM

well i took it to toyota and even though i just bought it(3 month ago) they want me to pay for it out of my pocket if they dont find anything.

and you know they wont find anything. it a tempature based problem so it has to be just right for it to happen. so im not going to take it in just to take it in the rear.

fgf001 · 01-28-2003, 06:40 AM

There is a TSB about this problem. The light switch is faulty and will be replaced under warranty. Mine will be replaced this Thursday at no charge. You DO NOT have to pay for this. Tell the service manager to look up the number of the TSB.

angelox · 01-28-2003, 07:37 AM

damn that sounds messed up, which model u have?
anyways i'm just about at 5000k and so far i've had no problems

maskedman72 · 01-29-2003, 04:26 AM

i have a 2003 ce.

fgf001-what does tsb stand for?
can you tell me more? does toyota know about this problem?
exactly what will they replace?

Deep · 01-29-2003, 08:40 AM

TSB stands for Technical Service Bulletin. In most cases they're problems that Toyota is aware of and will fix for free. If I were in your situation, I would try to find a list of TSBs for your car (do a search for TSBs, print off the ones that apply) and then call up the service manager at your dealership and tell him the problem, and ask him if they are going to charge you to bring it in to have it looked at, tell him that a TSB was issued if there is one. If that doesn't work then talk to the General Manager. Go in with TSB in hand and see whats up.

***REN69*** · 01-29-2003, 06:14 PM

most commonly known in the car industry as "RECALLS"

I did a search on google.. the only ones I could find so far were these:

http://www.alldata.com/TSB/59/035971AA.html
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/59/035981AA.html

same TSB's for LE, CE and S models.. but note that the last one is from August of last year.. the newest ones have not been updated yet.

maskedman72 · 01-30-2003, 05:00 AM

thanks ren and deep!
can someone send me a link to the tsb related to my problem?
if i go to the dealer armed with a tsb number can they still charge me?

fgf001 · 01-31-2003, 06:59 PM

Here's the bulletin that ALL Toyota dealers have regarding the problem:TSB EL001-03. Mine was repaired in less than an hour but make sure they have the part in stock first.

maskedman72 · 02-01-2003, 09:54 AM

fgf001-can you send me a link to a page that has info about this tsb so i can print it out?
did they fix yours without a hassle?

fgf001 · 02-02-2003, 08:35 AM

There is no link that I'm aware of. TSB stands for Technical Service Bulletin. I simply called the service writer at the dealership (I always use the same one) and explained the problem. She informed me of the TSB, ordered the part and set a date to bring the car in. All you need to do is tell your dealer about the TSB # that I noted and let them do the rest.

***REN69*** · 02-02-2003, 11:59 AM

yep.. write that tsb number down.. it will make it easier to get the car fixed.. like I said... the ones I found were updated last year in august.

maskedman72 · 02-03-2003, 04:56 AM

thanks guys!!

angelox · 02-03-2003, 07:38 AM

here is a link for current 2003 TSB for toyota cars
http://www.alldata.com/TSB/0359_mo.html