240sx Ebrake light stays on when car is off

[90S13dude]

Hey guys before you start yelling at me I have searched and tried all methods of fixing this problem prior to starting this thread. First off I drive a 92 Coupe and the problem is that when the key is on or the car is running the ebrake light operates just fine(when the handle is up the light is on, when down the light is off) but when I turn off the ignition the light is staying on no matter if the handle is up or down which is keeping my turbo timer from shutting off. Please help........
Chris

[BoostedCoupe]

low brake fluid

[90S13dude]

That is what I thought but I already checked that as well as replacing the sensor. Like i said it works fine when the car is on but when you turn the key off the ebrake light stays on.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by 90S13dude

when I turn off the ignition the light is staying on no matter if the handle is up or down which is keeping my turbo timer from shutting off

The turbo timer is introducing ambiguity into your question. I'm not clear if the turbo timer is causing the handbrake switch to ground.

Please remove the turbo timer, or at least disable it, then come back and we'll talk.

[90S13dude]

okay, I will go try that right now

[90S13dude]

okay so I unhooked my turbo timer and the problem still exists.

[g6civcx]

Originally Posted by 90S13dude

okay so I unhooked my turbo timer and the problem still exists.

With the turbo timer unhooked, you turn the key to OFF. What happens?

[90S13dude]

nothing........ the ebrake light stays on no matter if the handle is up or down. and I can still roll the power windows up and down as well as the sunroof.

[vaughn4]

ebrake switch is a ground side switch.. get a volt meter and see what going on with it when the key is off. if you got voltage going to it with the key off you will have to start back tracking the circuit from there.

[nixad]

just go by the ebrake and disconnect the wires that go to the sensor, wtf you need a ebrake light for anyway?

[90S13dude]

it is showing no voltage

[vaughn4]

thats good... then you dont have a short to power. must be a short to ground somewhere in the circuit. its obviously not in the switch since it works properly with the key on. pull up a FSM.

[90S13dude]

yeah but why would i still be getting power to the windows and sunroof? also I noticed that if i unhook the battery and reconnect, all the lights go off and windows etc lose power like they are supposed to. This only happens after the ignition is turned on then back off. Could this be a bad ignition or something like that?

[g6civcx]

I can tell you right now that a problem like this may take me all weekend to diagnose. I've done a couple of cars with the same problem and they're all a mess.

Right now my main suspect would be your turbo timer harness. I recommend removing the harness completely and restore your car back to the stock wiring. Not just unplug the timer. Remove the harness completely. We'll go on from there.

If that doesn't fix it, there's a short in the wiring somewhere that's feeding power back to the circuit. It's eimpossible to diagnose unless in person.

[90S13dude]

Okay I will remove the timer completely first thing in the morning and post my results.

[vaughn4]

good luck.. hope that fixes it.

[90S13dude]

I went ahead and did that and it didn't fix anything...... What next?

[g6civcx]

Check every single wire for short. Sorry. There's no other way.

[90S13dude]

okay. This wouldn't have anything to do with me changing from digital to analog cluster would it?

[Jtuned_andy]

When you went from the HUD to Analog cluster, did you replace the cluster harness as well?

[90S13dude]

yes sir I sure did

[g6civcx]

Again, when I diagnosed similar issues on several other cars, I had to trace every single wire and look for shorts, broken wire insulation, bad grounds, etc.

There are possibly hundreds or thousands of reasons why this problem is happening to you. It's not a simple fix where I can tell you fix this one thing and it's done.

You have to put the time in and go through the entire wire harness. If you are 100% sure that all the wires are good, then you can start looking at electrical components like relays, sensors, gauges, etc.

There is no other way.

[90S13dude]

well last night i noticed that the acc relay was clicking so I pulled it and it looks like at one time or another it got severely hot. Could this be the problem? I am currently working on checking the wires for that circuit.
Thanks
Chris

[TUnity2]

Originally Posted by nixad

just go by the ebrake and disconnect the wires that go to the sensor, wtf you need a ebrake light for anyway?

better yet, just let it be. it is an LED, it drains virtually no power.

Besides it'll look like you have an alarm or something.

[90S13dude]

it is not just the light staying on it is the fact that the windows and sunroof and other accessories are still getting power as well.

[90S13dude]

Could this be caused by the motor being out of the car? We went outside to my old shell which also has the motor out and it is doing the same thing. I didn't think that this had anything to do with it but now I am wondering.

[TUnity2]

mine does that but only if i turn the accessories on then off without running the engine. if i run the engine then turn the key completely off it doesnt happen. I dont know why it happens but i dont care.

[projectRDM]

Sounds like to me either a relay is sticking and not powering down or the ignition switch is shorted and staying engaged even when turned off. The switch itself is just a rotating tumbler, if the switch was to go bad one of the contacts can 'roll' inside and jump pins.
I'd try unplugging the ignition switch first, turn the car on, start it, turn it off, then unplug the switch under the column, the big 6pin plug. If that kills it, start tracing the switch circuits to see which one is staying powered.

[90S13dude]

I tried that. When i unplug the ignition the lights stay on anyway

[Schassiskid95]

Was this problem ever solved?