Electrical issues (DRL?) on 2009 Aveo5 automatic

[koushiro]

So I'm having an issue that I know was fairly common on years before 2009. The lights in the instrument panel cluster started going out a couple of weeks ago. At first, it would just go out for a few minutes. Now, it's out all the time. Eventually I figured out it wasn't just lights inside the car. Here's a list of what I can tell is out.

IPC, but not lights like ebrake and seatbelt, etc
A/C control lights
Gear shift lights
Right brake light
Rear tail lights (or whatever they're called, the ones that are on when the headlights are on)

I checked all the fuses with a fuse checker (and visually for the important ones that are obviously related like PK/LP RH and LH) and they're all fine. Years before 2009 seem to have a problem with the splice pack melting and causing similar issues but I can't find any info on this happening to the 09, and that splicer isn't even there. I also looked under the fuse box in the engine compartment and can't see any obviously charred wires. The bulbs themselves that are "out" all look fine, and the fact that it started out happening intermittently really makes me think it's a wiring problem, but I just don't know where to start. It seems like there's way less info out there about the 2009+ models.

The biggest problem is that no one can see me from behind at night unless I'm braking, so I can't really drive after dark. I'm at the point where I need to take it in if I can't figure out what's wrong myself, but I commute half an hour to work so I can't really not have my car for a long time. And the thing is probably only work like $2k anyway so I don't want to drop tons of money in labor costs for somebody to track down an electrical problem. Any ideas for other obvious areas to check?

[koushiro]

Not sure if anybody is actually reading this, but here's an update of the little progress I've made.

I rechecked all the fuses in both fuse boxes with a multimeter and they're definitely all still good. I also used a test light on all the fuses and everything is getting power except the the PK/LP RH and PK/LP LH fuses in the engine compartment. I pulled the park lamp relay and confirmed it does close when voltage is applied and the circuit has continuity after that. However, I'm not positive that the relay is closing when it's actually in the car. I pulled out the IP dimmer switch and tested for power but got nothing. I was testing through the front, though, where the blades of the dimmer plug in. Do I need to test the actual wires themselves? I tested the power pin for continuity the same way and that worked, so is there no power getting to the dimmer? Trying to figure out where to check next...

[koushiro]

I'm pretty sure I've figured out what the issue is, though I haven't had the time to try to fix it yet. I'm mostly posting this because I hate finding a post online where somebody has the same issue I have and they never post what the problem or fix was.

Basically, I think the wire coming off the park lamp relay (and feeding PK/LP RH and LH) has a bad connection or something. Those two fuses have no power, but the fuses themselves are good. I took the relay out and tested it and it's good. I used the test light to probe both the high and low amp power coming to the relay and they're both hot. So the relay is good and getting power, but it's not getting to the fuses. With the relay out, jumping from the incoming power to the fuses turns on everything that should be on. Obviously, then, jumping from any fuse getting power to the cold fuses gives them power. Notably, jumping only one will power the other one, meaning the connection between them is still good.

Power should come out of the relay and then split before going to the two fuses. So if power comes to the relay (and the relay is good) but doesn't make it to the fuses, and the fuses are still connected to each other, it seems like the problem pretty much has to be between the relay and where power splits before going to the two fuses. Since nothing looked melted when I looked under the fuse block a week and a half or so ago, I'm going to guess the connection coming off the relay is loose or something. But I won't have time to get under the fuse block and look again until Saturday. In any case, I'm hoping it will be a relatively easy fix.

[koushiro]

Still haven't had the chance get under the fuse block because it's been raining way too much. But I came up with a cheap quick fix until I can fix it the real way. I bought two fuse taps and tapped PK/LP RH into another 10A fuse.

As a side note, I really hate how the fuse block is laid out, with every row of normal fuses in between relays or those bigger box shaped fuses. The only 10A fuse with enough room around it was EMS-2, since fuse taps seem to all have the out wire coming off the side. And the park lamp fuse definitely didn't have room for that, so I had to chop the wire off and just jam a wire in the front where one of the fuses is supposed to go. But at least everything is still fused properly and now PK/LP LH gets power from RH. It should be fine until I get a free sunny Saturday to repair the connection coming off the park lamp relay.