Brake Light problem. Keeps blowing fuse

[Beezy4MD]

Ok recently I discovered that I have no brake lights. When I checked the fuse for the brake lights it was blown. So I put a new fuse in and tested by pressing the brake pedal. Almost immediately the fuse blows again. I thought it might have been the bulbs so I replaced all the lights in the rear and same results, fuse keeps blowing. Next I tried changing the brake light switch and what do you know, the fuse blows again. This is really becoming annoying and I have no idea where this short could be coming from. I've even unplugged all the tail lights from the plugs and the fuse still blows.

Any help would greatly help. My car is a 90 S13 if I forgot to mention. Please help because I do not want to get a bs ticket from are lovely police pigs.

[MaximA32]

Have you checked the wiring between the stop lamp switch and the fuse?

[Beezy4MD]

Have you checked the wiring between the stop lamp switch and the fuse?

Yes I checked over the wiring to the switches and it looked ok. All of the sheathing was still around the wires. Ill check under the fuse block to see if I see anything out of the ordinary around there. Thank you for the tip.

[Q451990]

Try unplugging each brake lamp socket assembly one at a time to see if you can isolate one of them as shorted. I assume the S13 has dual filament bulbs like the Q45. Sometimes the tips will melt and short out... It's also common to see corrosion between the tips in the socket - causing this kind of short.

Heath

[Beezy4MD]

Try unplugging each brake lamp socket assembly one at a time to see if you can isolate one of them as shorted. I assume the S13 has dual filament bulbs like the Q45. Sometimes the tips will melt and short out... It's also common to see corrosion between the tips in the socket - causing this kind of short.

Heath

I tried this method as well. I had all of the assemblies unplugged to the brake lights and still blew. Thank you for the advice though.

[Q451990]

Does the S13 have any kind of brake lamp out warning on the dash? If so, you might check the sensor for that... we see those fail from time to time on the Q, but they usually just fail open vs. causing a dead short. I'm assuming you don't have any aftermarket wiring like trailer lights, etc... If you did I would certainly check those first.

Heath

[Beezy4MD]

Does the S13 have any kind of brake lamp out warning on the dash? If so, you might check the sensor for that... we see those fail from time to time on the Q, but they usually just fail open vs. causing a dead short. I'm assuming you don't have any aftermarket wiring like trailer lights, etc... If you did I would certainly check those first.

Heath

Nope there is no kind of warning light on the dash. Just only for the fluid level. I did have aftermarket fog lights but those were ran off a completely different circuit and had its own fuse. I uninstalled them thinking that was the problem but no luck.

[Q451990]

Guess it's time to start pulling the car apart and going backwards from the switch to the brakes. As I'm typing this I thought of one more thing. If you have an A/T model, you might disconnect the shift lock mechanism and eliminate that circuit, since it's fed by the brake light circuit...

[Silvia2b]

Hmmm....if the fuse keeps blowing stop replacing it! Until you do some more troubleshooting and find out what is causing the short. Continuously replacing fuses is a great way to fuse wires together when they get too hot and melt the insulation, this will cause further problems in the repair process. The fuse box is designed to protect the individual circuits of the car not for t-shoot/repairing a problem.

I suggest you start with the lights sockets and a multi-meter check for continuity to ground on each conductor. Q451990 had mentioned a good idea, but if you have cruise control there is also a connection to that circuit, so that when you depress the pedal with CC set to a cruise speed it will deactivate.

I would inspect wires near the pedal switches and in the back near the lights themselves and then check any relays in the system to be sure they are functioning correctly. Good luck!

[Beezy4MD]

Ok guys I found the problem. I guess some how some wires that I running under the center console was causing the short. I just removed the wires today and what do you know problem solved!

Silvia2b I only replaced a fuse after I tried a different trouble shoot method to see if any thing changed. But thank you for your help and thank everybody else for the help and input. I feel so much safer driving my car now.