Parking Lights Not Working (Other Lights Fine)
 

Sorry if this is the wrong forum. I have a very annoying issue: the parking lights are not working. Thus, at night, when I am not on the brakes, I have no lights in the back. The headlights, turn signals, and brake lights all work fine, though. I have tried looking at the fuse panel, but nothing seems obvious. The "Stop Lamp" fuse is presumably fine since the stop lamps work fine. Any help would be much appreciated.

Man... I remember seeing this problem ages ago...

Your car has been ripped apart twice though, once to add the traction control system too I believe... So god knows what was touched...

I had this problem when one of the fuses wasn't in all of the way.

Pushed it in and it was fine.


Which fuse you ask? I don't remember. Sorry. :( Though, I think it was in the fuse panel in the footwell, not the engine bay.

Your fuse went pop. Happened to me when I changed my plate bulbs. No more running lights. Of course tails worked fine when I pressed the brake! Have fun pulling that fuse box out! :)

check the fuse!!

Traction control was never installed.

Interesting. I guess I am somewhat glad to hear that it could be just a fuse with the other lights still working.

OK, I'll spend some time this weekend pulling fuses and checking them. Unfortunately, the brake lamp fuse is right below some large white thing in the fuse box that doesn't seem to come out.

Check the fuses with a ohm meter or a test light. A visual inspection isnt always enough.

Probably the fuse. Going by what Elan said, the fuse is in the IPDM (you can verify using the Owner's Manual or FSM) which is located next to the battery. You can find DIYs for removing the IPDM in some of the steering lock threads (see link in my sig). It can be a PITA to get out (especially the first time) but not all that bad. The biggest problems I had were getting the wiring bundle that goes into the bottom of the IPDM past the mounting bracket and getting the trim piece to fit the bottom of the windshield properly. For the former, I just stuck my hand in there and guided the bundle around the bracket (I'm a small guy, so you may not be able to do that; a stick might help). For the latter, I just cussed a few times and kept at it until I got it right.

If it's not the fuse, I'd start looking for a loose connector.

It's possible that both lamps/filaments are burnt out ... but rather unlikely.

I think that IPDM is the part on the car responsible for the most of the swearing on the whole car. Getting it out is easy, its getting the dam thing back in. I find that when you have it out if you take the wires and bend them out towards the drivers side (it will make more sense when you look at it) that it keeps them from catching on the car as you slide it back down.

The lights in question are all LED, so no burnt out bulbs (wish it was that easy).

Wondering if it's the Tail/Illum1 Fuse in the IPDM, now that I am doing a bit of research.

That would be the first one I'd check. I'd still do a little more looking to see if there are any other candidates. A look at the FSM wiring diagrams will tell you for sure.

Well, I have checked all the fuses in the driver's side block as well as the IPDM and everything is good to go. Still no corner lights. I hear the relay kicking on when I move the switch into the parking light spot so at least from the stalk to the relay is working. *sigh*

Next thing I'd try is checking the voltage at the relay. Make sure you have power going to the lights when the relay is on. If the relay checks out OK, I'd move to the lights (or the next connector down the line) and check voltage there.

The thing is, it's all 4 corners that are out, which makes me think it is something well before the actual lights themselves. Also, since the other aspects of the lights work (headlights, turn signals, and brake lights), I think it must be between the IPDM and the lights. Problem is, just very little I can track through the car.

I did find one wire underneath the passenger side in the foot well area that was unconnected, but I do not see anything that it can connect back to. And for whatever reason, I doubt this is the culprit. But anyway, let me know if anyone recognizes this wire or knows why it is unplugged:

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7345/...11073089_o.jpg

Here are the relevant manual sections (assuming 2012 is basically the same):

Overview:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7422/...dd6fc36e_o.png

High Level:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7374/...51ff5a80_o.png

BCM Location:
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7329/...8126d7ec_o.png

Relay Control (Tail Lamp Relay seems to be the relevant one):
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5595/...19f456dc_o.png

Fuses (looks like 52 and 53 are relevant - I checked those and they are good):
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7455/...e5c9bd8f_o.png

Wiring:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5552/...87f17144_o.png

If you have DRL, check fuse 59. If you don't have DRL, check fuse 52. 10A and in IPDM. If the fuse checks good (use a meter), check the Tail Lamp Relay (non-DRL) or the Daytime Running Light Relay.

Yeah. I definitely do not have DRL, but I think the car may be wired for it as there is a relay for it. Are the fuses numbered? I don't remember seeing that. Haven't found a reference in the service manual to the numbered fuse locations.

But this makes me think I do have DTRL wiring at least:

IPDM Wiring: (note connector E9)
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7455/...eeb16cf4_o.png

IPDM Description (note wire 105):
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2938/...761c987a_o.png

My IPDM (note the light blue wire in the 105 spot and no wires in the 91 and 92 spots (which are parking lamps for non-DTRL cars):
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2902/...22fe2df9_o.jpg

So I definitely have a daytime running light relay connector in the engine bay. And based on the IPDM wiring diagram, there are no wires where there should be for the parking lights if I did not have DTRL system (wiring at least). So I think I may need to look at the connection between the IPDM and DTRL relay as a potential culprit.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7319/...c64e7d48_o.png

OK, so update. I think everything between the IPDM and DTRL Relay is working. I tested the voltages and there is a solid 12.5V across the both sets of terminals when the parking lights are turned on, and < 1V across the one set when they are turned off.

First set of terminals in DTRL relay::
https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7393/...459973c0_o.jpg

Second set of terminals in DTRL relay:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5483/...f3f13bd8_o.jpg

Check terminal 3 of the DRL Relay. It should have power all the time (along with terminal 1). If not, check the fuse and wiring between fuse and relay. Terminal 5 of the DRL Relay should have power whenever the DRLs are (supposed to be) on. Use chassis or other ground when taking readings.

Terminal 2 of the DRL Relay will show battery voltage when the relay is de-energized and close to ground when the relay is on. If it is always at battery voltage, check the wire going to terminal 105 of the IPDM (the IPDM sinks that wire to ground to energize the relay).

Feeling stupid ... but I only see 4 terminals. Can you please give me numbering for them based on this picture? The middle is the DTRL relay based on the cap. I see two on the left (top and bottom) and two on the right (left and right).

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7426/...618d1e04_o.jpg

The pinout should be in the FSM. Usually right after the wiring diagrams.

If that doesn't help, there is often a diagram printed/molded on relays, showing which terminal does what (numbers won't always match those on the socket). You may have to pull the relay from the socket to see it.

If you're still stumped, you can use your VOM to ID the terminals on the relay. The coil will show some resistance (not a short and not an open). The contacts will change from open to short when the relay energizes.

Duh. I found it in the FSM. What confused me was there is no terminal 4. I am going to go check now and see how it reacts to different switch settings.

OK, retested with correct numbering. Did not see any change between the terminals when turning parking lights on and off. Going to check continuity between IPDM and DTRL Relay next.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5557/...eb66ca7b_o.png

Here's what I got when testing (grounded to battery negative)

Light control stalk switched off:
1 - 12.5
2 - 0
3 - 12.5
5 - 0

Light control stalk switched to parking lights:
1 - 12.2
2 - 0
3 - 12.2
5 - 0

I sometimes think the engineers do that on purpose just to mess with people. :)

Terminals 1 and 3 should always have 12-15V (battery) on them. Either the fuse is blown or the wire is bad.

Or you could be looking at the connector wrong - the HS symbol in the upper left corner means the drawing shows the connector from the Harness Side (the side with the wires), not the side that plugs into something. Ie, you may have 1 and 2 reversed. Which, as I look at your readings, looks like it is very possible.

The fact that you never have power on terminal 5 tells me the relay is not working. Or you were testing with the relay unplugged.

Edit: If the fuse is blown or the wire is bad, you won't have power on either 1 or 3. If you reverse 1 and 2 in your charts, it makes more sense. Unless you took the readings with the relay out, it looks to me like you have a bad relay.

Yes, I had it backwards. I updated the post above with new values. Learning as I go here. I have just checked and there is continuity between the IPDM E19 105 and the DTRL Relay E2 (light blue wire). Thus, I think the culprit must be the relay. Wonder how hard that is to get ahold of???

Anyone know a part number for that DTRL relay and/or whether it's a Nissan-specific product?

Huge favor to ask of people. The car is now at the dealership, where they seem to be stumped too. Can anyone with a 2012 couple please post a picture of their driver's side under-hood relay box (towards the front of the car). I need to see what relays are installed. Specifically whether or not there is a DTRL relay (the middle one of the row of three). Mine has none currently. The dealership told me that based on my VIN, I shouldn't have a relay there, but I have seen some evidence to counter that. Thanks in advance!

Update: stealership called me this morning. They replaced the DTRL relay and everything is back to normal. Unfortunately, they charged me an hour of labor to figure out what I already told them. In fact, when I came in the shop, I asked for the relay part only, and they told me that the part was not necessary for the car. Based on that, I left it with them to diagnose. This morning I get a call that the car is ready to go. I asked what the issue was: the relay. And now I am responsible for is the relay + the labor to diagnose the issue.

... dealerships ... :mad:

sucks... you could try arguing with them. I didn't pay for diagnosing of an issue that I told my dealer was the issue. they spent 2 hours looking for the problem but didn't charge me.

glass half full: you have your lights working now ;)

Yeah, at the end of the day, just happy to have the issue resolved. It wasn't that expensive.

so having the same problem..trying to avoid going to the stealership...So will i have to replace the DTRL relay