Brake lights

[LittleRed4wd]

Hey all, last week I noticed my brake lights were not coming on, I found a burnt fuse and replaced it. They worked for a day, but then the fuse blew again. I opened up the light, and noticed that the bulb would flicker on and off if I shook it with the normal lights turned on, I assume this proves there is some kind of short that causes the brake light fuse to blow somehow? I swapped the bulb and socket with my other car, and it worked fine until today. I messed around with the socket and now the bulb won't turn on at all, even with just the normal lights.

So to sum up: The brake light fuse keeps blowing out, so 0/3 brake lights work.
When I turn the normal lights on, they all work except for one. (rear left).

Has anyone had this problem or know what I should check out?

Thanks!

[dlb]

a few others have posted shorting problems involving lights in the last year or so. do a search and you'll find them. i would guess that if you remove the inside trim piece from the rear hatch you will either find a badly corroded ground or that the sheath on one of the brake wires broken and is shorting against something.

[rer233]

i second dlb's response- short where the wire harness goes from the body to the hatch. i've never had a short there, but i have seen severed wires. install a new fuse, have someone step on the brake pedal, and open and close the rear hatch (observing the brake light operation.) if the fuse blows or the center light flickers, you have your answer! good luck!

[LittleRed4wd]

Thanks guys! I threw a new fuse in it for the drive home and it lasted the whole way. I'll check out the hatch wiring tomorrow, I actually have never had the plastic piece for the inside, and now that I think about it the problems started happening after I had the car filled up with bins that were sliding around back there-- totally possible that a wire got snapped, stripped, etc...

[Petros]

most likely sourse is corrosion in the light socket, at a connector, or where the wires pass though a bend. No need to open up all the trim in unlikely places to find a short until you eliminate all the other locations first. I usually clean the light sockets with a fine wire brush and use a die-electric spray like LPS or CRC (not WD40), tuner cleaner spray also works.

[LittleRed4wd]

Okay, so I went through everything, cleaned all the contacts, and put a new bulb socket in. The brake lights work fine, no burnt fuses. Now, the bulb won't light up with the normal lights turned on. I did notice the bulb will work if I put it in backwards. Is this still a grounding problem? I need to figure this out soon, I've already gotten pulled over for it.

[dlb]

how can you put the bulb in backwards? it should just have two small bumps on the metal end which slide into the socket, and it doesn't matter which way those notches face, just as long as current can pass through the filaments of the bulb. it's foolproof.

did you check the bulb to make sure that both filaments are still good? try a new bulb.

[Petros]

It does sound like there is an issue with the contact. Did you really clean the contact well, getting through the surface corrosion?

I had a problem with the tail lights burning out the fuse, I was running out of fuses so I started putting in larger and larger ones until all I had left was a heavy duty 30 amp fuse. When driving at night I went over a bid dip and noticed my dash lights (tied to the tail light circuit) flickered light and dark and than went out. That was why it was hard to find, the short only occured when the suspension nearly bottomed on a hard bump. Using a really big fuse allowed the short to get hot, spark and melt the insulation at the short, making it easy to locate!

Or you can just wrap the fuse with foil and forget about it.

[LittleRed4wd]

The bulb will only lock into the socket one way, if you put it in backwards it's possible to press it down and connect the contacts and in my case make it light up.

I'll try cleaning everything again, and throw in a new bulb. I got pulled over again last night, thankfully the sheriffs haven't written me a ticket!

[dlb]

jeez, do you drive like 140 everywhere? how do you get pulled over so often? i don't think i've been pulled over in 10 years.

[LittleRed4wd]

I have no idea, I always drive at or under the limit, both times with the tail light I've seen the cop go out of his way to get me. It's happened after 11pm both times so it could be they want to catch a DUI or something but need an excuse to pull me over.

[larry mcgrath]

These problems can be a real pain to find at times. Looking at the wiers where they go from the body to the hatch is a good place to start. Bad grounds generaly cause lights to be dimer than usual or not to work at all. A real help in trouble shooting electrial shorts ( blowen fueses) is to make up a automatic circut breaker with some wire and ends to plug into the c/b panel,the autonatic circut breaker keeps re-setting allowing you to wiggle wires and not waste money buying fuses. Automatic circut breakers can be bought for around 8 bucks and come in differnt amp ratings Id use a 20amp one. this little device will make your trouble shooting a little easyer. But in the end it kind of goes along the lines of Dont Let The Bastards Get You Down. Good luck! :Larry. ps. these a/cb are about the size of 2 sugar cubes and are found at any auto parts store.

[LittleRed4wd]

Fixed it! Took me long enough. Turned out to be the wires going to the hatch shorting the brake lights and dirty contacts (had to clean them 3 times) in the bulb socket causing the bad tail light. Thanks for the help!