Help Needed: Stuck in Park & blowing Fuses

fleabus

Member
Dec 2, 2005
15
0
Los Angeles, CA
Alright folks... I know this is a Defender question, but since we share the same bloodline I thought I could use your brains on this problem:

My stereo guy was working on my 1997 D90 today and once he finished we ran into an odd problem.

At first the truck wouldn't start. Everything turned on fine, battery was fine, but nothing when I turned the key.

Some troubleshooting revealed that one of my fuses was out. This happened to be 15A fuse that controls the rear wiper, brake lights and turn signals.

I replaced the fuse and the truck started fine, but I couldn't shift out of park. I turned off the truck and noticed that the fuse I just replaced was blown. Replaced the fuse, tried again... and noticed that this time the fuse would pop when I hit the brake pedal. Started troubleshooting everything associated with the brake wiring and isolated the problem to the Auto Transmission shift lock.

On the auto shifter assembly, under the center console is a plug with 4 wires which leads to two wires which leads to the shift lock (solenoid I presume). I unplugged this connection and hit the brakes and the fuse didn't pop, but (naturally) I couldn't shift out of park. The bulbs are fine and when disconnected from the shifter, the brake lights work normally.

So I am stuck... I can't figure out why the fuse keeps popping when I hit the brake pedal (which releases the shift lock). For the time being, my truck is immobilized.

I read that the 'Stuck in Park' syndrome can be attributed to a bad brake switch. Does this sound about right? What confuses me is why the fuse that keeps blowing. Could a bad brake switch pop blow the fuse when the brake pedal is pressed? I found a few threads on this very same problem, but no follow-ups.

Any help would be most appreciated.

Cheers! :patriot:

-Dan
 

scottjal

Well-known member
Mar 16, 2006
1,484
0
Nashua, NH
scottjal.ath.cx
Well with the solenoid unplugged and you hit the brakes and the lights light up like they should then you have found the problem. If I was you I would be removing the shifter interlock permanently.
 
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Owen Birch

Guest
I agree with PT. Follow all of the wiring, especially the amp remote wire.
 

fleabus

Member
Dec 2, 2005
15
0
Los Angeles, CA
scottjal said:
Well with the solenoid unplugged and you hit the brakes and the lights light up like they should then you have found the problem. If I was you I would be removing the shifter interlock permanently.

Scott-

Are you inferring that the shift lock solenoid is toast? I suspected this as well, but I am not sure how to confirm this.

Also, the amp was wired directly to the battery since they are both right under the driver's seat. The installer didn't tap into any existing hot leads. The other work that was performed was simply moving some speaker crossovers from the back of the truck to the front. :(
 
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Owen Birch

Guest
She had to connect the amp remote somewhere, or the amp would always be on, even when the car's off. Some hack places will put the wire around a fuse. The better places will tap into an ignition line. That way, the amp will only get juice when your key is in a certain position. Hopefully that's not what's causing the problem, but you should still rule it out. It's usually a blue wire, I think, no bigger than most of the other wires in the amp...
 

fleabus

Member
Dec 2, 2005
15
0
Los Angeles, CA
Owen Birch said:
She had to connect the amp remote somewhere, or the amp would always be on, even when the car's off. Some hack places will put the wire around a fuse. The better places will tap into an ignition line. That way, the amp will only get juice when your key is in a certain position. Hopefully that's not what's causing the problem, but you should still rule it out. It's usually a blue wire, I think, no bigger than most of the other wires in the amp...

Good point... I didn't think of that. I'll ask them to give it a look tomorrow.:)
 

fleabus

Member
Dec 2, 2005
15
0
Los Angeles, CA
Made some progress today... if we hook up just the leads for the shift interlock and remove the other wires from the harness by the shifter, the truck starts fine, brake lights work, and the shift interlock disengages. All other lights function as expected as well and the fuse doesn't blow so I suspect these leads are for some other solenoid(s) in the shifter unit.

The question is what do these other leads do? Neutral safety switch perhaps? Does anyone have a wiring diagram for a 97 Auto?

At least I can drive it now :)

-Dan

P.S. The amp remote lead was hooked up to the deck, not tapped into any factory wiring.
 
R

ryan-san

Guest
same exact problem here. id blow every fuse i stuck in there. im going to buy the brake switch soon but in the event that doesnt solve it what should i look to next? and if it is the solenoid for me how to i check/replace it?