brake lights flashing

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herbie 66

New Member
Posts
71
Location
Manchester
Hi all my brake light flash when i brake and the relay doin my head in any ideas a friend of mine said it may be a bad earth but where to look :rolleyes:
 
def sounds like a bad earth earthing through the indicators, try running a wire directly from the bulb housing to the neg batt terminal
 
Are they flashing regularly on and off or are they flickering randomly? If they are flashing regularly, see Mike's reply above, and you'll hear what sounds like a relay operating - its the flasher unit behind the dash. Flickering brake lights is probably the switch, just above the brake pedal, or a poor connection in the wiring.
 
ye the flasher unit does flash when the brakes are applied but its not the indicator flasher unit it is a seperate one of work next week so will try the earth from the battery if that works i will put a new earth wire on thanks for the replies folks will keep you all posted
 
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There should only be one flasher unit - in the indicators. If there's a flasher unit in the brakes then bypass it as it shouldn't be there. The wiring should go from the fusebox to the brakelight switch and then to the stoplamp bulbs.
 
where would the brake switch be located I have had a look behind the brake pedal but cant seem to see one? could that be the reason for the relay?
 
There should be no connection whatsoever to the indicator relay, unless someones done a bad bodge.
You mention a relay, as far as I know the original wiring on the landy does not have a relay for the brake lights, the supply comes direct from the switch, sounds like its been played with.
I think a bad earth is probably the first thing to look at, find the earth at the light cluster at the back on both sides and connect them via a long wire to the battery negative, if the problem goes then its a bad earth, not necessarily at the earth terminal at the lights either, it could be somewhere down the line closer to the battery.
If the fault persists then your gonna have to look at the wiring alterations and put it back to standard, go from the haynes manual.
 
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First trace through the brake light wiring and confirm that it is standard. If it's been modified then it's probably best to put it back to standard, because the standard wiring is simple and works fine. Set all electrical switches off. Turn on the ignition and operate the indicators. If the brake lights flash then it's likely that the insulation on the wires has become damaged and bare brake and indicator cables are touching - some rewiring iwill need to be done. If only the indicators flash, go onto the next stage: With the indicators flashing press the brake pedal. If the brake lights are alternating between bright and dim - dim when the indicator lights are light and bright when they are not light, then the problem is a bad earth. There is an earth strap running from the gearbox to the chassis - remove it, clean up the connections and bolt it back on. If that didn't fix it then it could be the earth connection between the lamp holders and the body. You'll find these by removing the rear light unit cover from inside the rear tub.
 
could the extra relay be for the tow bar electrics I had a look at the back today and some of the electrical conections tor the tow bar are a bit rusty i`m gona replace these first then if that dont work gona have to rewire it back to the original way thanks again for the advice its good to know your all there
 
Yeah sounds like a reasonable explanation, a tow bar relay senses the load taken by the trailers lights and some have a beeper to remind you that your towing, the wiring usually isnt in the brake light supply though, unless for some reason someones wired it into the brake line so that the beeper sounds when your braking and towing.
If theres any scotch locks in the modded wiring take them out and throw them, a long way, nasty horrid things.
 
dr pepper said:
Yeah sounds like a reasonable explanation, a tow bar relay senses the load taken by the trailers lights and some have a beeper to remind you that your towing, the wiring usually isnt in the brake light supply though, unless for some reason someones wired it into the brake line so that the beeper sounds when your braking and towing.
If theres any scotch locks in the modded wiring take them out and throw them, a long way, nasty horrid things.
Click to expand...

Yep, mine's got those beepy relay things in the indicator wiring - they're a bit annoying, but give confidence that the trailer lights are actually working.
 
Hmm. does beg the question of what the relay was put in for in the first place. Do your trailer lights still work?

Glad you got it fixed though :)

And if the beepy trailer thing is annoying you why don't you repace the beeper with a bulb, then you get a little confidance light with no annoying beep. I'm suprised you can here the thing at all though!
 
havent got a clue wot it was for(the mysterys of owning a series 3) just glad ive got it sorted havnt checked the tow bar nothing to check it with but will over come that problem if I need to tow anything...the other thing it has done is I have also repaired the rear door the speedo and he has had a wash.
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