brake light/defrost issue *video included*

[jza80king]

Hello guys, so I posted a thread back in December regarding my brake lights and 15 amp fuse blowing out. I thought I had fixed the issue after I took the tail lights and brake lights bulbs and replaced them all, I used dielectric grease, and I tightened all the grounds to make sure everything was good. Everything had been good up until about a week ago I started blowing the 15 amp fuse again thus my brake lights stopped working but if I push the defrost they work fine even if the 15amp brake light fuse is blown. After searching more I found several people had an issue similar to mine, where my defrost is triggering my brake lights to come on and off if I turn my defrost on or off. I have already removed the front left and right inner fenders plastics and made sure all the wiring was intact already as someone suggested. I have found the wiring coming from the hatch on the passenger side is causing the problem and I'm unsure as to how to get to those wires to check them out. I need help guys, check out my video below.

Brake light/Defrost switch issue: https://youtu.be/emvN6imJTxk

[kruked]

It's a hit or miss on breaking the clips. I've had instances where I used a panel popper and still breaking the the clips. You'll just have to try your luck and pull the panel off by hand.
Our cars are old enough to where the sun takes its toll. If that makes sense.

[jza80king]

It's a hit or miss on breaking the clips. I've had instances where I used a panel popper and still breaking the the clips. You'll just have to try your luck and pull the panel off by hand.
Our cars are old enough to where the sun takes its toll. If that makes sense.

Very true, I guess I'll have to be careful. I have installed speakers and such in door panels so I guess it should be about the same. Have you ever accessed these wires in this location? Any advice is welcome.

[kruked]

It's not like door panels. Those are a piece of cake. The interior plastics are a bit more difficult.
Just be gentle while pulling. Try to avoid pulling at an angle. If too many of them do break, you can use an epoxy to adhere the clips back to the panel.
It's been sooo long since I've had/worked on a hatch that I can't remember the routing of the wires for the hatch. I've been on a coupe binge for the past 4 years, so...
Check out the FSM for the diagram. I am pretty sure though that the headliner might have to come down. Or you could try pulling up the grommet on the main chassis side and see what's behind door # 1.

[jza80king]

anyone else have ideas? gonna have to wait until the weekend to start digging into it but i'm hoping someone has had this issue and can chime in.

[jza80king]

*Update*

Sorry for the late update but I just got around to digging into the issue. The wires inside the rear hatch grommet on the passenger side had some nasty exposure. Wires were shorting out causing sparks and shit but I found the problem and will be splicing some wire and heat shrinking the wires. Here's a video hopefully this helps others diagnose their issues.

https://youtu.be/09a-RahB3mc

[Agamemnon]

Good job on the update. Have you managed to take the interior panel without breaking anything?

[jza80king]

Good job on the update. Have you managed to take the interior panel without breaking anything?

So in my case the wires were exposed right at where that rubber grommet sits so luckily I didn't have to get into taking the interior panels off.