Anybody know anything about electical shorts in Hyundais?

Question

No jokes, now--I like my little car. It just has...issues...
It's a '98 Elantra with a 1.8L.
Problems started when the turn signals & hazard flashers quit. Now the tail lights won't go off unless I disconnect the battery cable.
A friend suggested putting an ammeter, ohmmeter, or multimeter on each fuse in the box to find the short. But he didn't know what to do if I find it. And I don't know what to do if I don't find it that way. I went to the hmaservice site but it talked about grounds and relays, and I don't know how to find them, even with the wiring diagrams. Any suggestions?
These cars are reasonably priced to buy but expensive as all getout to have repaired, so I'd like to do as much as possible myself.

Walter, I appreciate the wisdom of your advice but I can't afford to have it repaired right now. I'm a reasonably intelligent person--I believe that with the proper instructions, I can at least pinpoint the problem, if not fix it outright. Thank you for your answer.

Answer 1

my friend's elantra had a similar problem, as did several other elantras. I never found a fix to it, but if you open the hood the relays should be in a box that hooks up to the positive battery terminal, along with a bunch of fuses. be sure to disconnect the battery before you do this. If they're not there, usually they're in a little panel in front on the driver's side.
And yes it's dangerous to mess with some parts of the electrical system, but seriously, the TAILLIGHTS aren't controlled by computer, certainly not in a 98 car.

Answer 2

Even though electrical repairs are expensive; if you don't know what you're doing, take it in or you'll wind up replacing the car (read electrical fire). Electrical repairs are usually beyond the scope of the do-it-yourselfer as everything is computer controlled in the cheapest of rides nowadays.