My wifes' 01 4runner has a small issue. He headlights won't turn off when the truck is running.

She called me yesterday to tell me that the battery was dead. I helped her get it jumped and she was on her way.

I instructed her to turn everything off in rder to not make a huge draw on the battery while it was charging.

She couldn't turn off the headlights no matter what position the stalk was in. I thought maybe she wasn't doing something right but she wasn't. I know these things don't have drl so i know there must be a problem.


When the truck is off they go off, but when the truck is on you can't turn them off. You can see the difference in the off, parking lights and on position. the high beams work as do the turn signals.

Do you think it can be a relay?

 

DRL... did you just get the truck?

 

lol, no. I don't drive it all the time, so you sometimes tend to forget what safety features are there.

 

DRL's started in 2000 on 4Runners. There are lots of DRL delete threads around for the years that have them.

 

ok, i thought i was able to shut the lights off before and thought there was a problem since they would not go off.

Since we had a dead battery, i connected the two as if there may have been a problem. If it does have drl, i'll just leave it alone, but i don't remember it having them.
'

If this battery goes dead after a week of inactivity, then we know there may be a problem.

The old battery was 6 years old anyway.
That one was $40 in 2005 an this one was $85.
Both were from wally world.

 

so how did the battery die with headlights on, if the engine was running?

 

If a relay is bad and stays open can't it keep the current live even when the vehicle is off?

If the car is running, i understand that this is different than being off.

My concern was that if the headlights were on even when turned off, something associated with them and a dead battery is coincidental.

We could have just left a door cracked enough during the week to drain the battery completely. I am leaning towards that.

I just don't remember the lights ever being on when the stalk is turned to the off position.

 

I do understand that this question sounds like it came from someone who can barely put gas in the thing.

Maybe the way i worded it made it sound retarded.

Can a relay, if it's stuck open, drain a battery if the vehicle is off?

I do remember being able to shut the lights off when the truck was running. I don't remember this thing having drl.

As long as the battery doesn't drain from this, if there is a problem, i just may leave it alone.


I would have never questioned this except for the dead battery. My wife did notice that the rear light at the tailgate was in the "on" position yesterday. It's possible that the light was on when the battery was drained and it would make the most sense since it was dead with a capital D.


Either way since the battery was dead so long, i am sure it was going to have a dead cell or would have developed it soon enough since it was 6 years old.

So, we replaced it with another from wally world for $85 witha three year free replacement.

 

but on my 00 as long as the key in the ignition and the doors are shut the DRLs are still on. Also if the interior lights are remaining on that tells me the keys in the ignition and/or its not turned all the way "off"

 

interesting. I wonder if the po has done the drl delete and i never noticed it.

 

Yes, but the load will be live (I assume you meant closed, not open--open is the OFF state). I did have a case where I got a set of Hella fogs and the harness was miswired or the instructions were bad. The coil was permanently live, even with engine off, and the entire fog light load was going through the dash switch. It worked that way for years because the truck never sat for more than a day or two without someone driving it. Then it sat for a week and the battery went dead. I started looking for parasitic loads and found it.

What I am saying is a relay that is stuck CLOSED will only draw when the ignition is off if the load is energized which should be obvious; the load will be on and the battery goes dead quickly. The tricky one is a coil that receives power continuously--this may not be obvious and it takes days to drain the battery--but it is not a relay defect, something has to be miswired or there is a fault ELSEWHERE in the system, not in the relay. If the relay clicks when you unplug it with key and load off, you know something is wrong.

 

Thanks Durk, I know it sounds like a silly question, but it was puzzling.

I'll have to check it out the way you have descibed and see. When switching between the settings with the truck on, i could hear the relay behind the glovebox, but i didn't investigate any further. I'll have to take a look in the future if the battery decides to continue to drain.

 

By the way, to settle the DRL question: Put the e-brake on with the car running and headlights OFF. If those lights go off, YOU HAVE DRL's.

 

It passes PA inspection so when the mrs. sells it in five more years it'll be someone elses issue. At 143k we aren't going to complain.

 

You have to have the e-brake on before you start the engine, or turn the key to accessory, or the daytime running lights will be on.

 

I wonder if replacing the e-brake cable had anything to do with this?????

 

with you any thing is possible!!!!

When you just pull the wires apart rather then disconnect connectors .

If the wife is smart she won`t let you touch her 4Runner!!

 

lol, It's not smoking and it works for now.

She thinks i know what i'm doing.

 

my wife made the same mistake too
once

 

My 2000 has DRL. I added a switch wired in the line that goes to the big resistor next to the battery. Info about parking brake is correct. DRLs should be off when the brake is set.

Don't forget you have those switches on the interior lights. Have had battery DOA in the morning because of that.

Also, batteries do go bad.

Ebrake cable change might have put something out of adjustment or broke something.

I get uncomfortable thinking about the possibility of a dead battery. Especially if I'm trail riding in some remote place with no other vehicles around.