YACT: 1999 Kia Sportage hazard lights came on by themselves, won't turn off

[Joemonkey]

So my wife just went outside and came back in saying "my hazards are on"

she got in the car, pressed the hazard light button, and the hazard lights stayed on but blinked a little bit slower. Pushed it again to turn them off, they stayed on but picked up in speed a little bit

When the key is in the "On" or "Acc" position the lights stay off and function normally with the button

When the car is started the lights stay off and function normally with the button

I've tried pulling the fuse to conserve battery power, but the manual is bullsh!t as far as fuse locations... it says hazards are a 15A fuse in a certian location, but that location doesn't exist, and i've tried pulling all the 15A fuses in the kick panel and the hazards stay on.

It's been raining pretty heavily and we had some close lightning if that makes a difference, but i doubt it does since the lighting wasn't THAT close and my car (1999 VW Jetta) is right next to hers and is fine.

Kia forums are few and far between on the 'net, and the searching for info is slow going. Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Lotheron]

That is the funniest thing I have ever heard... I hope someone has an answer LOL

 

[Joemonkey]

wife just told me she set the alarm, then unlocked the doors and something popped really loud

so yeah i just went out in the pouring rain and disconnected the battery...

 

[SunnyD]

Sounds like a relay blew.

 

[Joemonkey]

Well i found this page, looks like her turn signals and hazards have been recalled but no letters were sent... check out EA00-018 and PE00-004

 

[Viperoni]

It's about time everybody had a well made car!

Sorry, I just had to
GL with it, hopefully it's nothing big, and even better, it's covered under a warranty.

 

[TechnoKid]

blinker fluid is the wrong type. must change asap.

 

[Kegger]

almost sounds like that loud pop you heard was a short in the flasher assembly and instead of blowing apart and disconnecting it sort of like welded itself together making the current keep flowing thru it instead of making a disconnect

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Is the hazard button integral with the ignition switch ? If it is, it might be bad. Changing out an ignition switch can be a pain, as they are installed with tamper proof screws.
A stuck relay would most likely leave them on all the time.

You have to register but autozone.com might have something to offer. Look up your car there.

 

[VTboy]

I think your battery might be near dead. My car does the exact same thing when the battery is dead. It is the alarm doing it when the battery is dead.

 

[MAME]

it's a Kia, what did you expect? try finding the fuse

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: VTboy
I think your battery might be near dead. My car does the exact same thing when the battery is dead. It is the alarm doing it when the battery is dead.

That makes sense. Flash lights when the battery is near dying!

 

[Black88GTA]

It's because the Kia itself is a hazard, to yourself and others. Standard feature on all Kias.

 

[nan0bug]

Maybe Kia contracted Volkswagen engineers to design the electrical system

 

[VTboy]

Originally posted by: WinkOsmosis

Originally posted by: VTboy
I think your battery might be near dead. My car does the exact same thing when the battery is dead. It is the alarm doing it when the battery is dead.

That makes sense. Flash lights when the battery is near dying!

This happens because the alarm is confused it thinks someone is trying to tamper with the alarm because the power keeps fluxuating so it makes the alarm go off, only there is not enough power to fully make the alarm go off. I have driven 2 different cars and both do the same thing when the battery is low/dead.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: nan0bug
Maybe Kia contracted Volkswagen engineers to design the electrical system

 

[OrganizedChaos]

pull the flasher. not like anyone uses turn signals anyway

 

[Joemonkey]

turns out it was a bad relay, $35 to replace, works fine now