Ek short circuiting

[karlos]

Hey,

My tail lights are out! They only work when i apply the brakes, I've located and checked the fuse, It's blown and it blows every time i replace it with a new fuse.

I had a look at the wiring at the rear for the lights, but they look fine? I don't know where to go from there?
Obviously something is short circuiting, but i haven't got a clue what?
So I'm wondering whether anyone has had the same problem and can suggest some ideas or things that i can check and try?

thanks.

[2MPRS]

check the light itself cause it might be blown and thats whats cauing ur fuse to blow

[karlos]

By that do you mean the bulb? Because they work when i apply the brakes? Or does that not necessarily mean they are working?

thanks!

[2MPRS]

yeah i mean the bulb soz lol. the bulb has 2 little sections in it, one for when u turn on the lights and another one for when u brake.

[hisoka]

lol just buy a new bulb. one of the things inside has blown, it has two inside. this is common with ek

went through about 2 within 7 months when i owned one. hope that fixes your problem

[karlos]

Okay, I'll try changing them tomorrow, so if the part of the bulb that turns on when i turn on my lights is ruined, that could cause it to short circuit?

thanks, is this common?

[hisoka]

mine short circuited once. the other times it would just do what your saying and only work when i press brake, other then that it wouldnt work. i actually had spare bulbs in the car all the time lol~

i think its common. my eg bulbs would go out alot, but never short circuit.

not to sure about if its causing it to short circuit or not, but just try change the bulb and fuse same time if anything

[karlos]

thanks hisoka and 2MPRS!

[karlos]

Hey guys, If this doesn't work, is there anything else i can look into?

[Limbo]

make sure you clean the bulbs of your finger prints also. The residue from fingers cause bulbs to die faster

[karlos]

hey guys, i put in new globes and a new fuse, turned on the lights and it still doesnt work and the fuse is blown again.

any other ideas?

[2MPRS]

ummmm all i can think of is to check the bulb sockets for anything wrong

[2MPRS]

btw are u using the right fuse that also might be causing it to blow

[karlos]

They're definitely the right fuse, I'll check the sockets but they look fine.

[~Sp33~]

Your tail light wires are grounding out to the chassis somewhere. You can follow the wiring from the tail lights to the fuse box and see if you can find any exposed wires making contact with the chassis.

Have you done any wiring recently? Or any modifications to the car that could effect the wiring?

[karlos]

I haven't had a look yet, but wouldn't it be really difficult to trace the wiring all the way to the fuse box considering it's all hidden and tucked away?

[riruiz_88]

usually happens if you have recently done some wiring of some sort on the car. could also be your parker lights, im pretty sure they are on the same circuit?

[karlos]

yeah they are, but they have a separate fuse, unless this could also blow the tail light fuse?

[riruiz_88]

why would they use a separate fuse if they are on the same circuit? when something similar happened to mine it was the active of the parker bulb the was rubbing against the power steering pulley. this killed lights for the dash, rear lights and something else i think but i forgot. if you dont think your very good at fault finding then i suggest you take it to a auto sparky