Pontiac Repair: 01 Pontiac Sunfire DRLs, pontiac sunfire, high beams

Question
When I place my '01 Sunfire in drive my DRL's flash 5-6 times, the service light comes on and the high beams don't work. My research online indicates a faulty wiring harness as the most likely suspect. I did take it to a garage and the maintenance man determined that it was a failed body control module. He said all the wire resistances checked out good. Should I trust him and order the new BCM and have it installed at the dealership? If he is wrong I could be at a 300 dollar loss with no resolution. What is the liklihood of a failed BCM causing these problems? Please help!

Answer
Hi Eric:

I doubt it's a bcm. more than likely you have a wiring issue in the forward lamp harness on this car. turn on the head lamps both hi and lo beams you will see that one or both of the lamps are on dim or don't work at all. that is a dead give away that ther is a wiring issue with the headlamps. the drl's use the same bulbs that the headlamps use so if the headlamps do not work right neither will the drl's. these cars are noted for harness problems. ther are 3 or 4 splices that go bad ther are in the harness behind the washer bottle and under the left fron head lamp. good luck :)


The fact that the hi beams do not work is why the drl's do not work as well. in order for the base headlamps/hi beam lamps to work has nothing to do with the bcm. the head lamp switch gounds the hi and lo beam bulbs on this car. if either the hi or lo beams do not work they are missing a power or a ground. In this case It's more likely they rae missing power from bad splice packs in that forward harness. I have done tons of thse for this exact same problem and I don't think a single one was a bad bcm.