Headlights won't turn off, even with ignition off

Looking for a little help from my Tacoma brethren.
A guy just stopped by, he noticed all the toyotas in my driveway. He has a 1st gen Tacoma (no mods) and explained to me for the past few days his headlights would stay on even with the ignition off. He went to several auto parts stores, but no one could help him diagnose the situation. Can anyone think of a cause for this? It has been rainy and sleety here lately.
My thought is possibly a short somewhere allowing power to the lamps.
I asked him to stop by later and I'd look at it. In the meantime, I thought I'd post the question here.

Thanks !

 

Bad relay?

 

Hmm maybe
I think I have a spare relay..I'll give it a try and post results

 

Not the relay
Just swapped my working relay with the suspect one and same issue, lights on without ignition on. Checked all wires and nothing seems amiss externally. Wasn't able to help him today. But I will forward any suggestions to him if anyone has any ideas.

 

Most likely the headlamp stock switch.
Have him pull it and look at the connections - if he sees brown tint (darker than the copper) or black tint, the switch is bad and needs to be replaced.
He can find them online.

Forgot to show you what I mean...


Look at the terminals inside both the stock and steering column.


Yes... I had to replace mine, due to my battery shorting out one time.
The hard part was to make sure you only order what you see and not everything. Sorry forgot what the part number I used.
If I find it I will post it.

 

I can turn my headlites on, without the ignition on, or even the key.
All cars work this way.

So I'm not understanding the issue here. Are you saying that you simply can't turn them OFF?

 

^^re-read slowly^^
Simple test disconnect one headlight and test. Do the opposite headlight. If nothing then test light or DVOM backtracking for shorts from the headlight sockets back to fusebox all the way back to switch and alway testing in both high and low beams. Looking also for burn or melted sections in wiring.
Good luck

 

Correct, they do not off when switch is in the off position. Perhaps that is a better description.
We temporarily disabled them by pulling the fuses.
I'll look into testing for a faulty switch next.

 

It turned out to be the headlight switch.
We didn't have time to pull the steering wheel and remove the column covering to test each terminal, but when we finessed the switch we were able to turn them off.
Thank you all for your help and input.

 

MY FRIEND, HOW DID YOU FIX IT?

BECAUSE I HAVE THE SAME ISSUE BAK WITH MY BRAKE LIGHTS, I TURN OFF THE TRUCK AND THEY STAY ON, AND ALSO WITH THE TRUCK ON THEY ARE ON WITHOUT PUSH THE BRAKE PEDAL

REGARDS

 

You're way off. The brake lights are a completely different circuit. Most likely the little rubber cushion that contacts the stop light switch disintegrated and fell off of the brake pedal. The tell-tale sign is the small pieces of hard rubber on the floor under the pedals. You can get a new rubber cushion for about $1 from Toyota.

90541-06036 Cushion

 

Thanks my friend

I will check it

 

I just checked

Thanks so much I fix it and my headlights are ok too

Regards