Newbie needing help with Freelander 1 electrics

Hi everyone, right i have a 52 plate 3 door freelander 1 with the 1.8 engine. I've had the car for about 2 months and the only noticeable problems were: the high level brake light did not work and also the interior light in the boot. After about 4 weeks the rear light/brake light stopped working which left me with only 1 working rear brake/light, all other lights were working fine. I changed the rear brake/light bulb and it now works fine, but i changed the high level brake light bulb and it still does not work, i also changed the boot interior light bulb and this still does not work. Then the rear number plate lights decided to stop working so i changed them, and they now work fine, but after i changed them the clock on the dash now doesn't work. it still lights up but no numbers are displayed. I also decided to check the bulb in the interior light on the roof (in the centre) but once i put it back this now does not work, so currently i am very frustrated, it seems 1 step forward and 2 steps back. I've been told that the freelander is know not only for HGF but also problems with it's electrics. Currently i have no working:
1, High level brake light
2, Interior boot light
3, Interior light on the roof
4, clock lights up but does not display numbers.

Can anyone help me? I also have no idea which fuses to check in the fuse box.

Fuse F14 is for interior lights, load space light, plus a few other things ( interior fuse box).

top boy, thank you very much i will check the fuse in the morning.

Thanks for the link but i still can't find anything for high level brake light on freelander 1

Where any wiring is being flexed between the body and a door or tailgate is always a good place to start.

thanks, should i just remove the spare wheel + holder and the actual high level brake? do you know which fuse the high level brake runs off? or just it have it's own in the actual bulb casing?

BigShuggs said:

thanks, should i just remove the spare wheel + holder and the actual high level brake? do you know which fuse the high level brake runs off? or just it have it's own in the actual bulb casing?

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I'd seriously doubt that a circuit with one bulb would have a fuse. It's more likely to be a wire from the brake light wiring and an earth return. I'm a Rangie driver so don't know 'landers but i have repaired vans where the central brake light went through spring contacts on the door 'landing' on pads on the door frame. A bit of dirt or corrosion could break the circuit.

thanks for your advice

Just an update if anyone was curious: I got a flat tyre yesterday so as i was taking the spare wheel off the back of the car i decided to check the wiring from the high level brake light, and for some unknown reason the wires had been cut half way down, where the washer hose is for the rear wiper/window, so unless this was done on accident whilst removing the rear wiper etc as there isn't one, but i doubt that is the case, anyway after 10 mins check the wire and replacing i managed to get the light working again, fingers crossed it stays that way. As for the rest, i'm not sure why the interior boot light does not work, and why the numbers have disappeared off my clock (but it still does light up) so any hints at a guess would be appreciated, thanks guys.

Pleased you found the brake light cut wires...wonder if the HL brake light was staying on - so they cut the wires maybe.

Does the interior light work now?

The boot light has two wires one purple and one purple/white are they both connected ok?

The purple wires from both go to the interior fuse board F14 and the purple/white wires from both go to the coil transponder - not sure if this is the transponder around the ignition barrel... somebody else might know better?

Interesting that you have no rear wiper - good luck

No idea why they were cut but it works like a dream now, no problems so far. Touch wood. Not checked the boot light yet as i have removed the bulb. Am i right in thinking the interior light on the roof runs off the same fuse as the interior boot light? If so, it's not a fuse problem as the interior light on the roof works. The wires have 2 connectors which slide on to the light fitting and they seem fine...so no idea. And i don't know why i haven't got a rear wiper but it causes me no problems plus i prefer the look of the back window without 1 haha.

Yep same fuse.

If theres no power across the terminals for the bulb then there is a connector behind the panel that you could trace the wire in to - see if its loose or has come out.

Do i have to remove the back panel where the light fits in to? Or can i find the connector by looking through the hole where the light sits? Sorry if i sound daft.

BigShuggs said:

Do i have to remove the back panel where the light fits in to? Or can i find the connector by looking through the hole where the light sits? Sorry if i sound daft.

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Thinking again I'm not sure if the connector I'm thinking of takes these wires ..then again its worth taking the panel off to get to know all the relays, connectors and earth points that are behind there....I'm sad and didn't want to put it back lol.

just an update, i changed the F14 fuse and took a look at the wiring for the interior boot light, it seems as though it was coupled up incorrectly. I gave the connectors a clean, changed the wires round and it now works and also the numbers have reappeared on my clock, so that's the high level brake light fixed, clock fixed and interior boot light. All the electrics are now working fine, thanks for any posts guys. cheers!