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no brake lights, turn signals or dash lights

bmxdude151

NAXJA Forum User
So a few weeks ago i was out wheeling and one of my buddies nearly rear ended me. i didnt have any brake lights and he didnt notice me slowing down. I also lost my turn signals to. before this i noticed my turn signal indicators on the dash were flashing abnormally fast as well. the next day i was running some trails by my house at night and i lost my dash lights. The dash lights will come on when i play with the switch so i thought that could be my problem. i replaced but i still had the same problem. all fuses are good, all light bulbs are good front and rear. i checked them with a dvom not just visually. I also found where the engine harness goes into fuse box had a lot of what looked like tar in it. cleaned that out and put in fresh dyelectric grease. this isnt the first i have heard of this problem either. do you guys have any other suggestions?
Its a 96 xj 4.0 auto
Thanks for the help on this!!
 
so i blew the big 20 amp fuse in the distribution center under the hood for the second time now and the turn signals and brake lights now work. for now. if im think correctly the problem should lie somewhere between the fuse box under the dash and the distribution center. correct?
 
Keep us posted. I had brake lights. All of my othr lights work. But suddenly with no notable changes, I now blow the small 15 amp fuse in the underhood PDC everytime I touch the brake pedal. Not sure what gives.
 
sounds a lot like my problem. still no solution. it appears that my turn signal work just fine until i hit the brake and pop the fuse. I found melted wire (white w/ brown tracer) that the housing was melted off of. its coming from the brake switch by the pedal and appears to head towards the fuse box under the dash. Ill keep you posted and if everyone has any other suggestions that would be great!
 
So I replaced the brake light switch on the brake pedal and the headlight switch and I'm still having the same problem. So as of right now the brake lights and dash lights don't work. As soon as I hit the brakes I pop the 20a fuse at the PDC. Also dash lights only work when I pull the switch out to a certain spot. It was the same for both of the switches I tried. I'm thinking these 2 problems could be related as they happened right after the other.
 
You have a dvom. Take out the brake bulbs. Set dvom to ohms and check for continuity from socket center post to ground (such at outer part of socket). You will probably find continuity to ground which is a short. This short to ground will be somewhere between the brake light switch and the rear bulbs.
 
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