Land Rover Repair: LR Discovery brake lights, land rover discovery, dashboard lights

Question
Hi John,
I've got a 95 Land Rover Discovery with brake light problems.  I've replaced the bulbs, the fuses are intact, and the switch at the pedal looks to be in working order but I still have no brake lights when I hit the pedal!  My tail light work when the lights are on, but not the brake lights.  


I poked around the internet and I found a article that described this problem as a "conection issue".  I was hoping you could shed some light on this, no pun intended.

Thanks,

Florian


Answer
Hi Florian,

its true that our older Disco's are seeing more trouble with various light connections.  I've had to replace the bulb holder on two lights in the rear, one of the the brake light on the bumper.  

I would say the wire connections and the metal inside the holder become rusted and coupled with the vibrations over time, a short circuit causes all sorts of trouble within the vehicle.  I've seen my entire dashboard lights not function due to a turn signal holder failure.

Last summer, I replaced the left-hand brake bumper bulb holder.  With the help of my son, I was able to locate the problem and by lightly touching the wire, I could see the brake light come on and off.

A new blub holder solved my trouble.   

Recently, a Disco owner informed me of a problem where a bulb holder fault was preventing his Disco from starting and even changing gears.  I belive it was on a Disco series II - electrics are almost the same as ours.

If you have a automotive light tester or a multimeter - 12 volt setting - have someone press the brake as you probe the wire or connectors. If you see 12volts (on a multimeter) or the tester light goes on, you know that power is getting to the bulb holder.  Either the holder is failing or the bulb is not connecting or faulty.

IF you probe and no volts are registered, you know that it could be the either the brake switch or something worse (immobiliser "spider").

I suspect its a bulb connector.  Check them all.  Lucas electrics is mystifying and you never know where the problem source is unless you check all the connectors. Example, I could not use my turn signals...problem was a faulty sidemarker holder.  The wires had shorted out due to rusting solder.

Best of luck,

JohnMc