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! atriot:
-Dan
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! atriot:
-Dan