sorry to just jump straight into a problem without saying hello first,
So Hello Guys n girls.
after being stopped by traffic police tonight for brake light issues I have spent the last few hrs trying to solve them with no joy, I hope someone can help.
I have a 2.2 td4 freelander2 2010 which is just out of warranty.
with the landie ign on or running all my lights work perfectly.
when I press the brake my left tail light and brake light go out completely!!
this is the same with ign on or off.
the right side work and also does the tailgate high light.
I have so far checked the bulb and both filaments work.
I have cleaned the contacts for the bulb and pulled up the tabs as they were a tad loose.
I do not have a tow bar so no funny issues there.
any ideas? I see there is a large multiplug on the left rear cluster but I cant separate it to check contacts. but im guessing its alright as the bulbs all work.
I have checked fuses and everything I can think of.
the only mod I have done today was use the audio usb in the glove box to power my dash cam which is disconnected at, and used a live feed for reversing camera from the glove box light. I can only guess none of these would cause the issue.
I don't have a multimeter to do any testing

This sounds like a bad earth to me.
You need to trace back the loom to the EARTH POINT. No doubt this is corroded, clean it up and your problem should be solved.

Good Luck.

.

Thanks, I did initially think a bad earth but as the rest of the bulbs were working I dismissed it. I will have to strip the boot down tomorrow and see if I can find the earth point.

Have you changed any bulbs recently?
I've seen some drivers at work change bulbs and fit 24V ones instead of 12V and this causes these sort of problems as does fitting a twin filament instead of a single

trev74 wrote:

........ I have so far checked the bulb and both filaments work........

no I never changed any bulbs at all, I swapped the bulbs over with the other side and they worked fine

seen this a lot before, definitely a bad earth somewhere.

Classic bad earth problem. - As earth to unit is bad or missing, the lamps are using each others connection to complete the circuit. FL2 XS SD4 Auto 2010 2012-2017 (21k - 91k miles) (MY2011)
FL2 Metropolis SD4 Auto 2014 2017- (16k - 76k+ miles) (MY2015)

Agreed Earth. FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

thanks. I will be stripping the boot down this afternoon when I get home from work. will keep posted.

well after trying to take the boot apart I find that it more or less fell apart. the previous owner had broken nearly every tab inc the rear of the roof lining.
it wasn't hard to find the problem and possibly more as I counted 7 wires that were cut and twisted together and bodge taped up. after soldering them and shrink wrapping them the lights all work now.
I just have to go onto flea bay and buy some new clips.
thanks for your help and advice guys

A good thread.

Problem explained........

Possible solution given .......

Action by owner ........

All is well


.

What is the chance that car used to have a tow bar with 7-pin trailer socket wired in with a bypass relay?

Bob 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

Wired in Thrown in you mean Bob.  FL2 MY10 TD4 GS traded in at 2 years
FL2 MY13 TD4 GS Current

So right, YB! 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)