Brake lights stayed on constantly?

Tiny
BRITTANY HART
  • MEMBER
  • 2004 HYUNDAI SANTA FE
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 177,000 MILES
I bought the car one week ago, I have not had a single problem out of it at all. I have bragged about how cold the air conditioner is because I have dogs and it cools the entire car. Anyways, today I was driving my parents to dinner and all the sudden the battery light and brake light came on at the same time, then started flickering on and off. About ten mins later the air conditioner quit blowing cold air and the battery and brake lights stayed on constantly. We got to the restaurant, ate, and as we tried to leave the car would not start as of the battery were dead. So we got a jump, it started fine but gauges, lights, blinkers would not work. So we drove about two miles up the road and it shifted really hard. I pulled off the road and it died.

We jiggled pedal it again to move it into a parking lot and noticed that there was antifreeze all over the front part as you open the hood kind of by the radiator. Any suggestions on what this may be, or how to fix it? I am afraid to drive it home now due to the hard shifting and liquid blowing out. It's like the fan was not kicking on. Any and all suggestions are very much appreciated.
Thursday, June 23rd, 2016 AT 9:29 PM

6 Replies

Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 47,536 POSTS
Hi BRITTANY,

It sounds like you have a battery or an alternator problem, here are a couple of guides to help you, please let me know what you find.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-alternator

and

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-check-a-car-battery

Please run down these guides and report back.
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Saturday, June 25th, 2016 AT 8:46 PM
Tiny
DWANECOFFEY
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2002 HYUNDAI SANTA FE
  • 6 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 83,000 MILES
Can't get the back brake lights to go off. The only way is to disconnect the battery. How do I fix this.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 6:40 PM (Merged)
Tiny
KHLOW2008
  • MECHANIC
  • 41,814 POSTS
Hi dwanecoffey,

Check the brake switch at the pedal.

There should be a rubber stopper which might have broken off resulting in the switch not being switched off when pedal is released.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 6:40 PM (Merged)
Tiny
MEEKOINC
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
  • 2002 HYUNDAI SANTA FE
Six cylinder front wheel drive automatic 90,000 miles.

My brake lights will not turn off when I remove the key (or any time for that matter). Drained my battery. Had to disconnect battery to get them to turn off.

What could be going on? How much is a reasonable "diagnostic test" cost for this? I am getting all kinds of numbers and it sounds like they are hoping it is a more expensive electrical problem to fix.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 6:40 PM (Merged)
Tiny
BLUELIGHTNIN6
  • MECHANIC
  • 16,542 POSTS
Most likely culprit is faulty brake light switch, located under driver dash above brake pedal arm. Approximately thirty minutes to replace it.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 6:40 PM (Merged)
Tiny
BEER4MIKE
  • MEMBER
  • 1 POST
Hopefully you have found your problem by now. I just ran into the same problem and the culprit was not the switch. On our 2001 Santa Fe there is a nylon pad on the brake pedal lever that pushes against the brake light switch to turn off the brake lights when the pedal is released and comes up. This pad disintegrated so the switch is no longer depressed when the brake pedal is released. I placed a small replacement pad for a cabinet door that had an adhesive back on the lever and it did the trick. At least until I can get the real part somewhere.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 6:40 PM (Merged)

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