This comes out of the same wiring harness as the large cable that runs from the engine compartment fuse box to the positive pole on the battery. I don't see where it would connect to but I'm thinking it may have something to do with the fact that my lights are now acting up.

Basically whenever I hit the brake, half of my climate control buttons light up, my radio display dims, and all 4 sidemarkers turn on. If my headlights are on everything operates normally but that may just be because everything is already illumainated. This just started after I changed my transmission fluid and I removed the battery to get to the fill port. When putting the battery back in I accidentally arced it when my wrench became grounded.

If anyone knows what this is/where it connects to the car I would like to know. The dealer wants $100/hr. to diagnose the electrical issue so I'm hoping to solve it myself before my appointment on Wednesday.

 

i think you will find that connector is not used, it plugs into a dummy plug on the backside of the battery box...it was for something to do with shipping the vechilcle if memory is correct. Sorry not to have answered your wiring issue...of course i may be wrong about what that plug is for...but i think i'm right

 

+1

I think you're right too.

It looks like the connector to the Battery Transit Relay fitted for storage and shipping.



This is never seen by an owner because it's removed by the Dealer during PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection) and the lead should be tucked away behind the trim.

Graham

 

Ah, ok thanks guys. I think you guys are right and this cable was probably just tucked underneath the battery box so I never saw it until I removed the box from the car.

Any idea of what could be causing my brake issue? I was thinking I may have fried something when I arced the battery connection, but I don't know what controls those lights. Maybe the switch on the brake pedal or the light switch assembly itself. I guess I'd like to know where the "brains" of the lighting reside, meaning when I turn on or off the lights what tells the interior buttons to illuminate or turn off?

 

Evan, from what you are describing, I would venture to guess that you have pinched a wiring harness under the battery tray or right in that area and you have shorted 2 wires together, leading to what you are seeing. I bet you will find that your glove box light will come on too. If this is true, then that confirms two wires being shorted together.

I know you will hate to hear this, but you will need to pull the battery back out and as you are pulling things apart, look for any wiring that may be damaged. if you do find damaged wires, at a minimum, wrap them with electrical tape and make sure that they are tucked out of the way when you reassemble.

If you can not find it yourself, then your best bet will be the shop. Tell them what you told us and see what they say. All the side marker light wiring is not controlled by any computer. So, the odds of that being your issue is pretty slim.

 

Thermo, thanks for helping out. I'm in the middle of a lot of crap with this car right now, I took off of work tomorrow to hopefully get everything done. I had my transfer case fluid changed last week and there has been a slow leak so now that shop will have to repair or replace my t-case tomorrow morning.

I'm also dealing with this electrical issue. I appreciate you guys helping me narrow it down. After my t-case appointment tomorrow, I'm stopping over to the dealership my mechanic friend works at so that one of their electrical specialists can take a look. I will pass on the info you guys shared and hopefully we get it ironed out before my appointment with the Jag dealer on Wednesday.

 

there is a dummy plug on the back of the battery box where that wire "plugs" into.

sounds like you may have pinched the brake light wire..or killed the the brake pedal switch

 

I don't have a dummy plug on my battery box so it must have broken off at some point. If that wire is useless I'll just tuck it underneath the battery box.

Now you say I might have fried the brake pedal switch. That's what I was thinking but I didn't know what that switch had control over, meaning whether or not it's responsible for turning on the dash lights, side markers, etc. which it doesn't seem like it would control. There has to be some sort of controller somewhere that tells the dash lights/side markers/lower brake light intensity to turn on and off. If someone has a detailed diagram of the lighting system or knows what I'm referring to that would be great. I will check the wires today when I go to my friend as thermo suggested, but I was thinking maybe a relay/controller/switch somewhere was fried

 

Ok guys, I'm back from getting help from my friend. We discovered something interesting about this issue: it only happens when the car is running. So now I'm wondering why my brake lights operate normally when the car is off and when the key is turned so that the radio and dash lights are on. As soon as you turn the car on it starts acting up.

So I think we've eliminated a grounding issue. We tested all the fuses and eliminated those. He also doesn't think it's a brake pedal switch issue.

The electrical guy says it seems like a fried body control module. My question is how difficult/expensive is it to replace this? I'll try to take a look at JTIS.

 

Evan, humor me and pull fuse F47 from the passenger footwell area and then retest the car. Are things better or are they the same (minus the left front marker light not working)? If they are better, then that confirms your issue with a shorted wiring under the fuse box. If that doesn't help, then I would say to next put back in fuse F47 and then pull out relay R1 (high beam/fog light relay) and try things again. If they are better, then your problem lies with the fog lights/high beams giving you issues or the relay is causing stuff to act funny (which would also explain why it only does things with the key in the RUN position and not when the car is off).

I am not seeing how it is a body control module since the brake lights are powered directly off of the switch under the dash and then have a wire that runs all the way back to the stop lights and 3rd brake lights. There are no computers associated with that circuit. With that being said, if you have reached this point, I want you to pull fuse F55 from the passenger side fuse box and see if the problems continue. If they do, then it is looking like you have damaged the instrument cluster. Granted, I am still trying to figure out how that could possibly affect the stop lights.

A few more things to check that are easy to do.

 

surely, if it only happens when the brake pedal is pushed, then something from the electrical side of the brake circuit must be causing it?...or am i missing something?

Does the parking brake warning lamp light up when you engage the parking brake (try with engine off and engine running)... does any of the weird stuff happen when you do this



Thermo, do you have a wiring diagram pdf you can send me?

 

Thermo, the car's away at the shop right now for the t case. I will test what you would like me to test as soon as I get it back and I'll let you guys know.

It seems I may have been a little off on when it happens. I'm not sure about other x types but when my car is off and the key is not in the ignition the brakes do not light up if I press the pedal, they do on my Camry though. So it looks like whenever my brake lights actually light up they cause other things to light up to, whether the car is started or the key is just turned.

 

Evan, what part of NY are you in? I am going to be heading up to Rochester here in a few weeks and if you are still having issues, I should be able to help you out. I will not have a lot of time, but I should have some time. Gotta love 12 hour days, 6 days a week. If you want to play, you gotta pay somehow.

 

Gotta love work, I actually took the whole day off today to try to get things worked out with the car.

I saw in the regional forum that you were coming to Rochester at some point, I'm near Buffalo, but that's only about an hour away and I'd be willing to meet up with you for your expertise or just to talk cars.

Oh, and I found the dummy connector on the battery box. (...yay )

 

Evan, let me figure out my schedule while I am up there and then I will get in touch with you. I am wanting to get back to Buffalo anyways to do another walk through of Niagara. We will see what happens and then we can do from there. I will hopefully have K'Re Ann (my X-Type) up there.

 

Thermo, just wanted to update you on this thread. I finally got the car back after it being in the shop for over a week. After several parts came in either blatantly wrong or a different size, the correct seal finally and the saga was over.

I have a busy day tomorrow but I want to try the steps you suggested either later or Wednesday at the latest. I'll let you know what I find

 

emaraszek, just to let you know, I will be getting up to your area on the 15th. That week is fairly easy since i will only be doing a 40 hour week then. But, starting the next week, I am on 12 hour days with either Thursdays or Fridays off. I am planning on running to Buffalo one day anyways to go up to Niagara. HOpefully we can meet then.

 

Sounds good, thanks for everything so far.

I'm hoping it's something easy to find/replace and that I'll figure it out when I start pulling fuses later today

 

Ok thermo, just checked and none of that fixed the issue. Any other ideas?

Also, the check engine light is now on after pulling the instrument cluster fuse. Is that something related that just needs to be reset or how can I determine the cause?

EDIT: The check engine light decided to turn itself off after about 10 minutes and hasn't come back on. Works for me...