it's dark and I'm not going to poke around 'til the morning, but I figure I should ask to see if this is a known problem. as the title says, the backup and brake light are coming on together. both when the brake pedal is pushed as well as when shifting into reverse. It has the factory tow package so that's where I'll be starting the investigation tomorrow. also a taillight is out. not sure if that could be related but I'll fix that too obviously.

thoughts?

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Jeep on!
--Pete

1 Diesel Liberty and 2 and a half Comanches

Yeah I would start with the tow package first....pull the tow package relays out! You get strange problems like this if a ground goes missing in the bulb holder....try add a piece of wire from a clean chassis point direct to one of the rear bulb grounds.


Otherwise you have the two wires...backup and brake....joining together somewhere.

Also replace your tail light bulb, check for voltage there at the bulb and check the ground there as well.

You can download the Relevant Year Service Manual here..includes circuit diagrams:

http://www.colorado4wheel.com/manuals/Jeep/KJ

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2002 Export CRD 2.5 Sport

Start with the bulbs before you tear it apart. I'm not sure how the circuits are run but it may be possible that there are filamants crossed in a bulb somewhere. That'll cause wierd stuff to happen too.

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2010 KK Deep Water Blue,OME Liftplus 1",JBA 5.5 UCA ,Dynaflow cat back exhaust, Weathertech VV & mats,Mopar skids,Atthehelm front bumper, Smittybilt XRC 10, Rigid LED's,RL Skink Supersliders,Gecko Safari Basket Detroit Truetrac rear, E-Locker front, G2, Dana 4.10's

one mystery solved. a new one has popped up. what the hell is this? mouse damage? this is the harness right behind the pass tail light housing.

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Jeep on!
--Pete

1 Diesel Liberty and 2 and a half Comanches

Sure looks like rodent/squirrel damage depending on the ease of access. It's been known to happen.

Disconnect battery; splice in new wire ideally sealing with heat shrink tubing; rewrap with quality electrical tape. Should solve your problem.

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Sold to LOST member my 05 Ltd, GDE Stg II turbo + TCM tune, SunCoast TC w. Transgo kit, Steiger window regulators, Samcos, Fumoto valve, 2nd gen filter head with Lub. Spec. bleeder, Hayden clutch & 11 blade fan, inverted spare, P-1 battery, BF Goodrich Long Trail TAs, Etecno1 glow plugs, timing belt at 50K miles/8 yrs

Yep what papaindigo said^^^^

There have been several case of mice or squirrels chewing up wiring on the Jeeps or making a home inside the air filter housing...I had this happen to me!

I saw on one of the Jeep sites that apparently to be "green" Chrysler decided to use peanut oil instead of crude oil base products to make up their insulation for the wiring in the KJ.

Don't know if this is true but could explain why the little critters love chewing these wires.

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2002 Export CRD 2.5 Sport