I’m having some problems with my wife’s 2002 kia optima. The brake lights are constantly on, the power locks aren’t functioning, the radio is dead, and the clock is off. The lights are of course draining the battery so I have to jump start it every time. I was about to try and change the brake light switch until I noticed the other problems. @_@ I’m about to go search to make sure the ground wire is attached properly and didn’t come loose. Has anyone else had a problem like this?
That sounds like a really weird combo of issues to me but I’m not automotive inclined. All I’d think to do is check fuses for the dead stuff? Hope it’s something simple
I’m approaching this from the electrical perspective but sounds like you have a short somewhere in the car’s electrical system. The reason some things aren’t working is likely because hopefully a fuse(s) blew to protect your car. May be worth pulling the OBD log from the car and seeing what if anything is reported failing?
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On a 2002, the OBD2 system isn’t going to have any information or logs on anything apart from the engine controls and potentially the automatic transmission.
All of that stuff together sounds to me like something is grounding through the brake lights. Check your fuses and look for evidence of short circuits. Verify the grounds, there are several, and any one could be a failure point. Alternatively, strongly consider replacing the 15 year old Kia with something that isn’t a 15 year old Kia. Commoditized garbage from Korea was never built to last this long.
Change the brake light switch first. Then proceed from there.
Likely not to be interrelated but a series of issues that cropped up over the years.
P.S. Radio & clock are usually on the same fuse/power circuit.
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Knowing nothing about 2002 Hyundais, including Kia Optimas, won’t prevent me from posting.
99.9% of the ‘brake lights stuck on’ problems I’ve faced have been related to the snubber (little rubber stopper thingy that the switch pushes on to turn it off; also cushions the return of the pedal to its highest point, hence the name) having deteriorated and fallen out. I usually replace it with something substantial and adjustable (like a bolt/double nut). It isn’t as smooth as original, but lasts indefinitely, unlike the rubber.
IF the brake light switch itself is bad, it’s conceivable it might cause other wonky things (the weirdest for me was a 2002 VW Jetta power door locks refused to cooperate due to a faulty brake light switch!), now that we’ve tied all that stuff together in the “convenience control unit” (or whatever Kia calls it). So, fix the obvious first, then…on the fault hunt… 
PS Disconnecting the battery will also kill the brake lights and cause it not to need a jump start. I know. I know…
EDIT: Found an illustration. This knucklehead calls it a “stopper”. ( 
)
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Thanks guys. I’ll try to fix that brake light switch first to at least make it legal and safe to drive. I need to save up to get my wife a new car but this is her first car and I’ll probably have to rip the keys from her cold dead hands to get rid of this kia.
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I recommend fire. Lots and lots of fire.
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I recommend fire.
no you don’t
(sorry - taking Ethics and Compliance training at work today! 
)
What’s Compliance gonna do, unburn the car?