Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options

05 santa fe brake lights coming on with tail lights

thundercluckerthunderclucker Member Posts: 1
edited May 2014 in Hyundai
a friend of mine has an 05 santa fe. I was driving it one night and I noticed that the brake lights stayed on all the time. I messed with them and realized they come on with the tail lights. They come on normaly when the lights are off, but when you apply the brakes when lights are off the dash lights up.

Any suggestions would be appreciated,
Tagged:

Comments

  • Options
    denvertrakkerdenvertrakker Member Posts: 132
    This is usually caused by a bad ground. Electricity will always follow the easiest path to ground or neutral. If the ground connection on the rear lights is corroded or disconnected, when the lights are turned on the current feeds back through any alternate path - i.e. the brake lights - and illuminates anything else on that circuit. That's why the dash lights up when you apply the brakes - somewhere along the way there's a bad ground, and it's most likely in the rear light assembly.
  • Options
    macdoddmacdodd Member Posts: 3
    I noticed the other day that other santa fe's had brake lights come on in the rear bumper. I pulled the light housing in the bumper and found that there were no bulb assemblies in the housing, nor any wiring going to them. I never noticed it before. Is this common? I have a '05 3.5 top of the line for that year. Thanks
  • Options
    oscar_gataoscar_gata Member Posts: 96
    Maybe it was a Canadian or European model. US models just have bumper reflectors - this is true for both the 1st and 2nd generation models. Check out this site to retrofit them - http://www.hyundai-forums.com/t9368-santa-fe-bumper-lights.htm.
  • Options
    macdoddmacdodd Member Posts: 3
    Where is it located at,,,,,I need to change the oil,,,,,thanks
  • Options
    dingo1dingo1 Member Posts: 4
    I have a similar problem.
    Where do I find the ground connection in the rear lights? Is it obvious or is it
    hidden inside the light assembly itself.
    Also would there be one ground for both lights, or a single per each.
    The problem is driving me crazy, and I've been trying to stay out of the
    dealerships where the fault would be "researched" hit and miss at $100/hour labour.

    dingo1
  • Options
    espo35espo35 Member Posts: 144
    I bet you have the wrong bulbs installed. They should be dual filament # 2057 or 1157 (2 contacts on base of bulbs). If you have single-contact bulbs #1156 or 2056 bulbs stuffed in there you will get a similar problem.
This discussion has been closed.

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles