OK, I just bought a 2000 Elantra today. Test drove it and everything, all seemed fine. Drove it in the dark for the first time and realized that when I have my headlights turned on, my brake lights stay on. However, if I press the brake pedal, the do brighten slightly, but barely noticeable. When my lights are turned off, the brake lights go out, and only come one when I press the brake pedal, BUT, the dash lights also come on when I press the brake pedal.

Where do I begin to look for the fix to this problem?

 

Ok, you might have the wrong brake light bulbs in the sockets, thus the incorrect brightness. Or perhaps the bulbs are put in backwards. I would go out and buy new bulbs to be sure. As far as the dash lights when you press the brakes, I don't know.

 

Neither do the experts at justanswer.com. Three experts reviewed my question, none of them replied.

 

You know, the more I think about this, the more I think you might be on to something with the bulbs. My thinking, (off of your suggestion) is that maybe one of them is twisted in such a way that it's completing a circuit with the rest of the light wiring harness, thus feeding power to the whole system when the brake lights come on, and vice versa when the lights come on. I'll post my findings here tomorrow on that matter, it's too cold and I'm too tired to mess with it tonight.

LOL I sent my boy out to "mess" with it. He said one of the light sockets seemed loose, he wiggled it and everything is working fine. Great call

 

Glad it was something stupid. It usually is.