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1996 Hyundai Sonata

Tiny
ROBDODDINGTON
  • MEMBER
  • 1996 HYUNDAI SONATA
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 80,000 MILES
The side lights stay on when the car is turned off. Disconnecting the leads from the back of the lights still drains the battery. I thought it might be a stuck relay but I've tried disconnecting the relays, in the housing under the bonnet and the lights stay on.
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Thursday, August 19th, 2010 AT 9:19 AM

7 Replies

Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,815 POSTS
Hi robdoddington,

Are you sure it is the side lights (taillights) that are staying on? Are they the lights at front and rear of vehicles or only the rear?
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Saturday, August 21st, 2010 AT 1:45 PM
Tiny
ROBDODDINGTON
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  • 4 POSTS
It's the lights at the front of the car which are staying on so I'm thinking that its a faulty light/indicator assembly
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Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 AT 1:45 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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Power has to come from the taillight relay and it should be either the light switch or relay. However once the taillight relay is removed, the lights should go off even if the light switch is turned on.

Did you pull the correct relay?
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Sunday, August 22nd, 2010 AT 3:36 AM
Tiny
ROBDODDINGTON
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  • 4 POSTS
I pulled the relay in the box under the bonnet labelled 'tail'. In fact I pulled all the relays one by one and the lights stayed on. I didn't think that was possible. Is the relevant relay somewhere else?

I'm still thinking it must be the switch and am trying to locate a switch through find a part. So far no luck.
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Monday, August 23rd, 2010 AT 4:02 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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If the relay is removed, the lights should go off as the power source has been disconnected.

Here are the schematics and you can see it is impossible for the lights to stay on if the relay is removed.


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_ExteriorLights96SonataFig17a_1.jpg




https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_ExteriorLights96SonataFig17b_1.jpg



https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_ExteriorLights96SonataFig18a_1.jpg



https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_ExteriorLights96SonataFig18b_1.jpg

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Monday, August 23rd, 2010 AT 10:37 AM
Tiny
ROBDODDINGTON
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Where exactly is this relay located? I agree the power is cut if the relay is removed but the only tail light relay to remove is in the housing under the bonnet. I have removed this and the lights stay on.
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Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 AT 3:46 AM
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
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It is relay EO8 in the diagram. Location is in underhood fuse box as you mentioned.


https://www.2carpros.com/forum/automotive_pictures/192750_EngineFuseBox96SonataFig07_1.jpg



I just remembered 2 other possible causes.

If the antitheft system is non factory, it is possible the alarm control unit is linked to the lights directly and bypassing the taillight relay. If it is faulty, it can cause the problem. For factory system it would not occur as the system needs the taillight relay to work.

The other possibility would be a wiring fault. The light wires have been fused to a power supply possibly due to a shorting and overheating has caused the wires coverings to melt.
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Tuesday, August 24th, 2010 AT 6:40 AM

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