I have a 2001 Accent that the hatch light in the dash stays on. It will only go off when the brake pedal is pressed. I have done a search on this and noticed that it is a common problem but the only answers that I saw was to take the bulb out. Most of the posts I have found on it are older and I was just wanting to check and see if anyone has found anything new on this problem. Thanks for the help, Kevin

 

It's probably the switch in the hatch jam. Probably the switch on the door is the same switch. Test it by switching them out.

 

You have a short somewhere. Do you carry alot of stuff in the cargo area? Are the plastic panels in place? Have you ever have a heavy object rolling around back there?

 

Thanks for the reply. I dont carry anything in the cargo area except groceries once a week. All the covers are in place and in near perfect condition. I will try to look at it this week. Any other ideas would be great. Thanks, Kevin

 

Possibly a short under the dash too

 

Ok guys, I got this thing fixed. I started my search in the trunk because, after I started thinking, I remembered the trunk light not working for the last few weeks when I would bring in the groceries. I pulled the bulb today and it was still good. Then, after pulling the interior trunk panels out of the way, I traced the wires from the trunk light to the connector in the harness (which also contains wires for the high mount brake light) and noticed the corrosion around the wires. The female terminal for the trunk light wire (green/orange) had deteriorated and the corrosion had covered the other wires in the connector. The wire must have came loose causing the bulb to not work, then the corrosion spread causing the short with the brakes.I found the corroded wire in the trunk area behind the drivers side tail light. I had a new female terminal close to the original, so I trimmed the wire back and soldered on the new terminal. If you cant find a terminal like the original, you could use other connectors from a local parts store and remove the corresponding wires (two green/orange) from the other side of the connector in the harness. Hope that all makes sense. Wish I could have helped with some pics but I didnt have the camera at the time. Thanks, Kevin

 

So now you got the small problem fixed. Time to move on to the bigger problem... a water leak. For corrosion to happen there has to be moisture in that area. Take that panel back off as well as the hatch panel. Get out the water hose and a friend. You climb in the hatch with a flash light while the friend holds the water hose. Have the friend slowly make their way around the hatch window then side window. See if you can find a very small leak.

 

You are absolutely correct. Corrosion comes from moisture. However when I had everything apart, there were no other signs of moisture in the trunk area. Behind the panels was a little dusty but not bad. No water marks or othere signs of a leak. Even all the other wires in the plugs looked like new. Just the one that was bad. I am thinking right now that the wire may have been wet before the factory harness was made and this is the reason for so many issues with the trunk lights not working. I have heard of water getting in around the tail light housings and getting into the trunk, but I didnt see any evidence. We are getting a good amount of rain here now so I may go out and give it another look when it stops. Thanks, Kevin