1989 Nissan 4x4 truck, automatic headlights not working, seems to be a short.?

Question

Hello, I have had this problem a few times now, as it comes and goes for some reason. I first notice the problem when my battery light comes on, which first led me to believe it's over charging or something. But the battery is fine, the charging seems fine. When the key is off and I rub the positive terminal against the battery post I get a spark, which means a short somewhere. I have two wires I traced to the ignition, and then from there I'm not sure where they go, I get lost easy with this auto wiring. I guess my question would be where is the control box that automatically turns on the headlights? This is converted to european standards I guess, because the lights are always on the off position, and they come on when I start the truck. I should also mention that when I put the light switch to to the on position they work just fine, and the highs and everything work fine as well. But there is still that short somewhere. I'm really stuck with this, I've tried tracing wires all over the place, but the short is running from me. I appreciate any help.

Marcel

Answer 1

u have canadian model

all car 1990 and up in canada as  DRL" DAYTIME RUNNING LIGHT"

  if u put batt terminal on post it normal to have a spark

computer control and relay kick in on power

need to do a power drain test to find out

check fuse first

chance are you're DRL module is defective  

Answer 2

The battery terminal is going to spark because the battery is grounded. This is normal. If you had a short it would blow fuses. The feature for the headlamps is daytime running lamps. Check the fuses and relays for that circuit. Also check the negative ground wire connection for corrosion or if it's loose.