brake light fuse keeps a blowing

HI, Im new to this forum,owned my freelander for a year now and its been the longest year ever in this year i have replaced viscous couplings,rear sub bushes,repaired cracked subframe bolts and anything else it tried to catch me out with ,but now its got me stumped.The brake lights keep blowing fuses.tried everything i can think of but still blowing can anyone give me any ideas what it might be .

I think it mite be my old one

fuses - or just A fuse ?

The only way a fuse blows is cos of over current, or a dead short, take the blown fuse out, and get a multimeter test on it to see what you got.

Could be a chaffed wire shorting out to earth (chassis/body) somewhere !!

Ok thanks for that, it has blown 2 fuses so far but the weard thing is was a few weeks before it went again.I will let you know how i get on.

As always 'think simple' usually works, check all three brake light bulbs and sockets for corrosion first as it's quick and easy then take a look at the possibility of a wire chafing. Wiring adjacent to tail door hinges would be good place to start.

D...

Hi dan
Yes tried that and the wiring seems to be fine, i even checked the tow bar wiring and nothing seem damaged.i kept pressing the pedel at home and it didnt blow so I took it about 5 mile down the road with a new fuse and when i got back it had blown again i just cant work it out.

Have u tried disconnectig each lamp in turn and trying brakelight after each disconnection? If that fails, using one of your BLOWN fuses, solder a wire to each contact on top of fuse, then fit a 21w bulb to other end, plug the blown fuse into the appropriate fuse slot on fusebox, press brake pedal with ign on,if bulb lights fully you have a "dead short", you can experiment by moving harnesses or removing connectors, while watching bulb, if it goes out you have found the problem. Good Luck

just an up date, i have now narrowed it down to the reversing lights.The fuse blows as soon as you put it into reverse.The brake and the reversing lights are on the same fuse.I have cleaned the rev bulbs and sprayed with wd40 the wiring is fine so i am wondering if it could be a switch.Electrics is not my strong point so if anyone has any ideas i would be greatfull.

Hi again Gary, Sparky johns idea with the bulb across the blown fuse is great for finding these annoying intermittent faults. Having had a similar problem I have the reverse light switch permanently disconnected on one of our flanders which stopped the fuse blowing. Reverse lights are fairly superfluous out here in the wilds.

D...

tiss indeed a great idea by sparky. . . .good fault finding tool

Hi Dan
Great idea disconected the switch problem solved

Had similar problem with my 98 Diesel Freelander.

Break and reverse light Fuse continually blows:

Fuse was fine whilst testing electrics when stationary but fuse would blow instant vehicle was driven.

Eliminated obvious: tow-bar electrics (ext & Int) Break & reverse lights for rust/moisture.

Resolve: Reverse sensor cable is threaded through a hole in a steel plate roughly 6 inches above the sensors location on the gearbox which is where the cable had worn through causing a short every time the vehicle moved.

Had considered eliminating reverse sensor by cutting/disconnecting but glad I didn't.

Hope this helps