Alton87

Intermittent lighting problems started after my car was losing connection at the negative battery terminal and running off the alternator. I'm having several weird occurrences with my front turn signal bulbs and the inside door ajar buzzer with lights on chime. It would be ok some days but now the problems haven't gone away.

#1. With the lights turned off and the door open, when i press the brake pedal the brakes light up normally, but the lights on with the door ajar buzzer chimes.
#2. When I turn my lights on, my brake lights come on full brilliance including the 3rd brakelight. Which means while driving at night i don't have brake lights because they are already on. (I don't need to get pulled over)
#3. While sitting at a stop light, I've noticed off the reflection of the car in front of me that while the brake is depressed the front turn signal lights slowly illuminate to full parking lamp brilliance. Not like the turn signal flasher.

So far I've swapped the under hood headlight and brakelight relays. Checked all under dash fuses. All bulbs are correct size and in working condition. I'm wondering if my parking lights are grounding through the brake light switch, I'm pretty sure the stop lamp switch relay is good. And I don't think it could be the multi function switch because the turn signals work properly along with every other function. I'm kinda running out of things to try and am very close to taking it to someone with more experience. I just need some opinions or advice, so far I'm stumped.

frozen

Does your car have cruise?

Just wondering because a problem with the cruise wiring could cause the tail light thing. Just let us know before we start troubleshooting this.

Also do you have a multimeter or test light?

So with the turn signal on, it slowly illuminates, so that eventually it is solidly ON instead of flashing on/off? How long does it take?

Also, do all three of these happen at once, or did one problem start, and then another, and then another... Sounds like a wire is grounding out somewhere to be causing this many problems...

Alton87

Actually yea i have been having problems with my cruise. Sometimes it works and sometimes it won't engage. And its been going on about as long as the above problems. The front parking lights take about 2 seconds to light up when i hit the brake. I have a multi meter and a test light also. All the problems pretty much happened all at once. The first thing I noticed was the light dinger going off while i was about to start the car before i shut the door. Then noticed the other problems within the next day or two.

frozen

Double check fuse 3 under the dash, as well as green fusible link, and left and right tail lamp fuses in the engine compartment. If one of them is blown, don't bother replacing it, it'll help to find out where/if theres a short.

I'll try and print these off and go through them tomorrow.

Alton87

Where is the green fusible link? I pulled all the fuses under the dash and under the hood and checked them for continuity and for bad fuses and all that is good. I forget to get a wiring diagram off of Alldata today while i was at school. I really hope its a bad ground somewhere. The brake lamp switch is under the dash next to the ECU right? But if that was bad it wouldn't have anything to do with my parking lights in the front coming on would it?

frozen

Green fisbile link is the 40a fuse in the fusebox. Probably fine though.

Check ground 8. Located in the hatch, on the left hand side.



Also check ground 5, located on the right side (you can see the condenser and A/C canister in the pic)





When you hit the brakes with the door open and the chime turns on, which lights come on? Just the overhead console lights? And are the keys in the ignition when this happens?

Alton87

The light dinger comes on when i press the brake pedal with out the key in the ignition. It also causes my front parking lights to come on, but not blink. Turn signals and everything work normally when i use them. Another thing to note, when i press the brake and the dinger starts to chime it sounds weaker than it would if the door is open and the parking lights are on. Kinda like its not receiving the same voltage. It must be a bad ground somewhere. The pictures are extremely helpful thank you for those. I have checked the ground in the hatch and its good. But i can't find the one shown in the engine bay.

frozen

That's odd... The chime gets power through the ignition switch. Pull apart the center console so you can pull our your head unit/radio. Inside there, on the left you'll see the ETAC module. Unplug it, and test for power on the red/white wire and the brown wire with your test light. Neither of these should have power without the key in the ignition. If they do then the problem is wiring. (Also test with the key IN the ignition/turned, etc, play with it)

Plug the etac module back in and test the same wires, if you're getting power and you didn't before (with the key out) then theres an issue with the module. Test the other issues with the etac module disconnected.

Alton87

I tested the red/white wire and brown for power with the key out and they aren't getting power. But they are with the key in so that's working as it should. I have been leaving the ETAC unlugged any way to keep the door ajar dinger from going off and it doesn't effect how any of the problems im having. So the module is probably good. The issue must be before the ETAC. I'm wondering if it is a faulty multi function switch. Because sometimes my cruise won't come on and most of the time it will.