And now it's my turn to ask a stupid question

[the Nefyn cat]

Well, maybe not that stupid. Just recently I've seen the brake lights flash on as I've unlocked the car with the remote, I've had this car well over five years now and I'm sure it never used to do it. And can't lay my hands on the owners handbook that came with it, so I can't see what that says. So, is this normal and I've just never noticed, or is the car trying to tell me something?
Really annoying knowing roughly where the handbook was last time I saw it, but not being able to find the thing now.

 

[Mazza]

Its possible that the earth for the indicators needs attention/cleaning. Try checking the indicators and brake lights to see if they are working normally.
If you get a bad earth connection you can get odd anomolies with the lights. You often see this when people brake and tail lights go dim or the indicator light glows.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

All lights working normally, indicators flash on when locking/setting the alarm with the remote, and flash when unlocking if the alarm gets triggered (damn them noisy motorbikes). Just never seen the brake lights flash before.

 

[mrscalex]

NOT A STUPID QUESTION!!

Be sure to check this out. Hopefully nothing to worry about but you might have a damaged connection from the indicator lights that is now touching the brake lights wiring.

Unpleasant things can happen to the boot wiring loom.

And #1 advice. If a fuse blows investigate it. And definitely do not replace the fuse with anything but a quality fuse. Do not use 1 from a pack of 300 from Poundland.

The previous owner of 1 of my projects cars did just that after the courtesy light short circuited. And he melted the entire loom in the process when the cheap and nasty Chinese fuse failed to blow. In fact the replacement loom has arrived today. I will explain more in a future post as it will be a project in it's own right.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Doesn't seem to be any crossing between the lights, if you see what I mean. Still all functioning properly, just that the brake lights are doing something I'm sure they never did until recently, and can't find the handbook to see if there's anything in there about it being a warning of something else going on.
Hopefully a lifetime spent bodging professionally will stop me doing anything too stupid, but you never know.

 

[gookah]

Loom of doom? shorting out across the 3rd brake light with the boot unlock voltage?

 

[t-tony]

That seems like a possibility Pete. A good place to start looking.

Tony.

 

[Mint]

Yep, agree loom of doom would be the first place to look

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Shame I've got time now to have a look, just as it starts chucking down that soft Welsh rain. Guess summer's over. Will get out there if/when it stops.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Well, thanks for all the suggestions so far.Now that the rain's backed off a bit I've been out for a fiddle, and also found the manual.
So, press the big round button ( '02 car, three button fob), doors lock and alarm sets, and hazard flashers (erm) flash.
Press another button, doors unlock, alarm un-sets, brake lights flash.
All lights working properly, hazards/indicators not shorting through the brake lights (seen enough of that sort of thing in the past), no false alarms or unexplained lights flashing. Nothing in the manual about it being a warning of some problem in the system somewhere.
Just to save me having to unplug bonnet and boot switches in the drizzle, does anyone know if these switches are closed circuit when the bonnet/boot are shut, or open circuit? Just don't want to stand there in the rain with wiring unplugged and my £15.99 Amazon-bought multimeter getting damp.

 

[t-tony]

Have you checked the boot loom where it passes through into the body mate ?

Tony.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Can't see/feel anything wrong, and all the lights are working properly, none of the normal effects you get when things are shorting inside. Brake lights are only flashing on unlock, hazards flashing when locking. Got the feeling it's some kind of warning built in by BMW, switch or something not working, but haven't found any confirmation anywhere.

 

[Mazza]

Just found this on a search........
Dont know if it will help



[Z3] Should brake lights flash when remotely locking/unlocking the car?
I recently had a problem with my brake lights (https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=283526), and while the fuse was blown, I noticed that remotely unlocking the car would flash the brake lights. I don't think it had ever done that before, and after the problem was fixed, it doesn't.

Usually I can hear the door lock motors well enough to know the car is locked, but I was wondering if the lights are supposed to flash, or if this is a programmable option...

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Just found this on a search........
Dont know if it will help



[Z3] Should brake lights flash when remotely locking/unlocking the car?
I recently had a problem with my brake lights (https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=283526), and while the fuse was blown, I noticed that remotely unlocking the car would flash the brake lights. I don't think it had ever done that before, and after the problem was fixed, it doesn't.

Usually I can hear the door lock motors well enough to know the car is locked, but I was wondering if the lights are supposed to flash, or if this is a programmable option...

Well, thank you, I've had a look at that, and it doesn't seem to answer the question. Could very easily spend hours looking at what our colonial friends do to their Zees, but am trying to resist the temptation.

 

[gookah]

"Brake lights are only flashing on unlock, hazards flashing when locking"

That may still be voltage from unlock signal wire shorting. Lock signal goes down a different wire.
try it with the boot open, and/or wiggle the wires, If it doesn't do it anymore, it will indicate the loom of doom.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Well, hangs sorry head in shame. All those who said "loom of doom" may now feel smug for a short while. Just not for too long, right? Now that it's finally stopped raining I've been out there stripping the loom back, and just where the clip that holds it to the boot hinge is there's three chafed wires. Sorted them out and, would you believe it, all is fine again. Just got it in my head that brake lights flashing means something, perhaps it was on another car, but glad to have sorted it out. Yesterday the brake lights were working properly, today they weren't, and neither was the cruise control, turns out they're on the same fuse. Learn something new every day, they say, and I sure have today.
So, thanks to all for the suggestions, the time for smugness is over, back to normal.

 

[t-tony]

I don't do smug mate cos nobody likes a smart arse. Every day is a school day on here.

Tony.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

Nowt wrong with smugness when justified. It's when it ain't justified it gets a bit annoying.

 

[mrscalex]

The important thing is you fixed the source and didn’t ignore it.

 

[the Nefyn cat]

If it hadn't been for the rain I'd have fixed it a bit quicker. It's my own fault for choosing to live in Wales, but if it weren't for the rain it wouldn't be so green and pretty. Swings and roundabouts, eh? Still, as you say, it's sorted. Now to wait for something else to go wrong.