1998 tiburon lighting problem

My '98 tib's headlights went a couple of nights ago. There is power on the hot side, and ground side of the headlight sockets. The left signal light indicator, as well as the left rear signal light comes on when the fog lights are turned on. The signal light works fine with the foglights turned off. The left indicator will brighten when the brakes are applied, or the parking brake is engaged. My high beam indicator is gone as well. This is what I know so far. The bulbs, fuses, and fusible links seem to be ok. Can anybody help me figure this out please? I appreciate any help!!!!!!! I thank all on this site for their time.

hum, I'd say the ETACS maybe?

Or the battery and Alt are due to be changed?

what is the ETACS? if it is traction control, she doesn't have it. The battery and alt seem fine. I am being told that it may be a bad ground. Does anybody else have any idea? i thank you for your time.

Well I would check for shorts in the wires.

The ETACS is a device that control the lights, door opening trigger (for the chime and dome light), clock, etc ... it's under the dash :

http://www.crookedh.com/images/munky%27s%20crap/Pictures/DIYpics/four-red.JPG

Good day to you,
thank you for your help. I appreciate it very much. I have another question I would like to ask you please. Where the battery is located, in behind it there is a small square box attached to the wall. It has 8-10 wires coming out of it. A contact on this plugin is corroded. Are you able to tell me what this box is for please? thank you again for your help.

This is the DRL module, never thought about it because I assumed you were in the US, this module is available only in Canada.

It could be caused by that, the DRL means Daytime Running Lights, it opens the lights when you start the car and every wire that goes there is managing the lights in the car.

So try to repair the corroded wires in that harness, if it works then you're good to go, else check with the ETACS.

You could also check with the wires that run behind the driver side front fender, I just hear that there may have some problem with shortcuts in those wires over time.

This is the DRL module, never thought about it because I assumed you were in the US, this module is available only in Canada.

It could be caused by that, the DRL means Daytime Running Lights, it opens the lights when you start the car and every wire that goes there is managing the lights in the car.

So try to repair the corroded wires in that harness, if it works then you're good to go, else check with the ETACS.

You could also check with the wires that run behind the driver side front fender, I just hear that there may have some problem with shortcuts in those wires over time.
good day again sir,
Thanks again for your help. I'm sorry i didn't mention i was from Canada. the wires running inside the front fender. I had the fender off because of an accident with a moose. The fender was crushed into the frame. I had it off and checked for any damage to the wiring but couldn't see any because of the loom over the wiring. The loom wasn't crushed, so i thought everything was ok there. what kind of problems do you know are with these wires? My daytime running lights don't work, they did before the accident. This DRL module, do you know if the foglights and signal lights go to this as well? Again i thank you for your help. I have been unable to get any help elsewhere.

No problem, I'm happy to help some fellow Hyundai owners! :)

Every lights (tails, front and dash lights) are in part controled by the DRL module, fogs included. The only lights the DRL module doesn't take parts in, are the flashers and the dome lights.

The problem with the fender wires are shortcuts appearing in them, those wires are mostly accessories and lights power, a friend of mine had to redo a big part of those wires, he had lost his lights (front and tails) and a few accessories in the HVAC (the ventilation and A/C console)

And BTW, you don't have to worry about the engine because the engine wires are the ones that goes through the firewall. But repairing this problem is still important. You might wanna check if the battery is ok, it might be near it's death and draining too much from the alternator (trying to charge it) and this would cause those kind of problems.

Electric gremlins are hard to pinpoint sometimes!

Hi again,
Again i thank you for your time. I think I may have found my problem. It looks like its the DRL module. Do you know if its possible to remove this from the system and join the wires together? I haven't pulled the plug and tried to find which wires are for what. So far i have my signal lights, and indicators, and fog lamps working properly. the left signal light and indicator don't come on with the fog lights anyway. But no headlights yet. There isn't any power to the headlights themselves now. If I can cut the wires to the headlights from this module, i am thinking I can get it to work. Again, any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Try to find a used DRL, because if it's not the problem, 200$ to find out (the price of the DRL) is a bit overpriced! ;)

As for removing it from the electrical circuits it's probably possible, but for that you would need the Canadian wiring and the US wiring, they are available at www.hmaservice.com , you just need to register and you'll have access to pretty much all informations for you car (or any other Hyundai for that matter!)

Good luck with that! :)

Good day again,
Thank you for your help. I went into the site but was unable to find anything about the lighting circuit in either the US or Canada. A used DRL is not available here. The closest place i may get one is 700 km away providing there is one available there. I will check to see what I can find on the car. Thank you again for your help. i appreciate it.

search for "SCHEMATICS"

then look for illumination or lights, you should have both schematics for DRL and non-DRL cars.

Hi again sir,
I will try that. thank you for your time. Just to update you, last nigth my headlights came back on, I don't know how or what. But I am getting smoke out of the dash by the lower left hand corner when the headlights are turned on. The wiring problem you mentioned concerning the wiring behind the fender, you said something about shorts in this harness. does the harness have to be removed altogether? right now it looks like I have to pull the dash apart just to see where this smoke is coming from. With just the park lights on there's no smoke. Any help is appreciated theank you.

From what you just described it looks like there is a short but it's probably behind the fuse box or in the wires that enter the driver's side front fender (the wires harness that run in that fender starts behind the fuse box beside the rest pedal).

So yeah, to check that you will have to remove the dash, it is quite time consuming and that work done in a garage could be pricy but I would still recommand you to check with a specialist (which I'm not) and tell him exactly what your problem is (including the dash smoke). He might know where and what to verify.

My frien solution was simple, he change a big part of the wires, bought the wiring harness in a junkyard, removed his and replaced it with the one he got at the junkyard, took him a weekend to do it.

Good day to you,
Thank you for your help. I got the schematics for the car. I appreciate your time. Talk again soon.

no problem, good luck and keep us updated on how the repair goes!

Good day to you sir,
Sorry to bother you again about this problem. I have my dash apart and found the source of the smoke. There's a connector taped to the harness that looks like a ground connection. One of the wires I could get a good connection on and it goes to ground (checking with a meter). There are 4 black wires (with female connections) going into what lookes somewhat like a small junction block with 8 pins in it. Next to this was 3 diodes taped to the harness. The connector was melted. This is part of the harness that goes through the side of the car for the lighting and such. Your friend..... did he have trouble with this part of his wiring? Again i thank you for any help you can give me on this.

no his problem was directly in the cluster of wires taped together in the front fender, he thinks the car might have being in an accident or maybe the fender well let some water get to the wires, they were not melted, just corroded.

hello there again,
thanks again for all your help. I think i found my problem. For some reason, 4 ground connections under the dash burned up. They are all tied together and taped to the harness by a cross member just to the right of the left door post. I don't know what caused the short or whatever it was. But right now I have lights again, but the high beam indicator isn't working right yet, it comes and goes. I have a question for you again please. Under the left fender is a ceramic block incased in a heat shield with 3 wires coming out of it. Can you tell me what this is please? Thanks again for your help. Take care.

Dan

Happy you find out the problem! :)

About the ceramic part under the fender, I'll have to be honnest : I have no idea.

I usually let my dealer deal with electrical problems. My friend is more inclined to play with everything so he told me what was his problem but I don't have all the details or what exactly is under there! :(