rear lights problem

[joetheeskimo]

So my drivers side rear side light and rear number plate lights don't work. I've checked the bulbs but does nothing. The brake lights work. Do you know if there Is a fuse for the rear lights. It's strange that the rear passenger side light works though.

Any ideas would be great

[joetheeskimo]

So I checked my fuse box and one of my fuses had blown. Replaced it and it blew again. Checked all bulbs and they are fine. Any ideas why the fuse keeps on blowing. Could the relay be dodgy. What relay controls rear tail lights

[Davezj]

i can confirm that the rear lights are on 2 separate fuses, it stops complete rear light fail by a single fault.

you could try taking the bulbs out and replacing the fuse to see if it blows, then you know if it does you have a issue on the live side of the bulb.
or if you have a multimeter, remove the bulb and resisance to chassis gnd on each of the bulb terminals, one side should be connected to chassis gnd and the other should not be. i suspect you might have a short to chassis gnd on the live side of the circuit.

[joetheeskimo]

Still got this issue. Tried taking each light out independtly and putting each one back in one at a time checking the lights still worked every time. It worked fine everytime. Left it overnight tried turning the lights on again and after about 1 - 2 seocnds the fuse blows. Im going to check the GND with a DVM and also check there is no continuity between the supply of each bulb even though i would of thought all the supplies were tied together. Except from this has anyone got any other thoughts. Tried putting a bigger fuse in but it still pops.

[joetheeskimo]

Any ideas...

[Confused]

I had a similar issue with the wiring in my Anglia, I never got to the bottom of it, but tracing it back, I think there is an issue within the fuse box/ETACS unit - I've got another fuse box that I will swap out at some time...

[MarkSanne]

It sounds like a typical wire issue from my (limited) German cars experience where the wires are knackered at the point where they exit the car body into the trunk lid, which could lead to fatigue in the copper wiring & the insulation. Simply pull back the rubber grommet there the wiring enters the boot lid and inspect for faults there.

My experience is that the Germans use inferior copper wiring & insulation which can't handle too much flexing & bending for long (much younger cars who have similar issues).

[joetheeskimo]

Also found out that when the fuse blows it takes all the interior dash lights with it. It's always fuse number 8 in the engine bay. It just blows the fuse randomly sometimes it does it when I turn the lights on, sometimes it's after I've driven for 10 minutes. There's no reason why it blows the fuse.
It's highly annoying.

[Tony_T]

Dash lights too: maybe bad wiring to an aftermarket stereo if you have one, shorting the lights wire out....just a thought. Seen lots of twisted up joints with insulating tape which goes gooey and falls off: some stereo installers' workmanship is extremely poor.