Hello. This is my first post here so I hope I don't do anything to offend anyone or that I'm posting this in the wrong place.

I have a 1999 LR Discovery Series I Automatic that sat all summer (its my winter snow vehicle). I forgot to disconnect the battery, so when I went a couple weeks ago to get it going, it was dead. I had a battery jump starter, but it wasn't fully charged and while it would give me some interior lights it wasn't quite enough to turn it over. At that point, I shifted it into neutral and roll it back a few feet so I could get to it better. It shifted into gear, but the car wouldn't budge, could be because it was on gravel and its so damn heavy, but there were 2 of us pushing on it. I returned the next day with a fully charger jump starter and it started right up, but now the shifter was stuck in park.

I read through the forums and found the info on the brake switch. I replaced the battery, started the Disco and sure enough no brake lights. I removed the switch used a wire(piece of a coat hanger) to jump the connection. The green/orange and green/purple wires didn't work but 2 other wires did. (I blew the fuse a few times in the trial and error process.) Once I overrode the switch, I drove it a couple of blocks from my storage spot to my house. ( side note: Did I mention that the Rear Diff shifter was unintentionally in neutral so there a few minutes of panic when even in gear the car wouldn't? Fun Times!)

So, I get it to my house. I call AutoZone, yes they have the part. I get it home and its not the right part. Remove the original switch take it back to the store and get another switch that looks identical. (It was listed as the brake switch for the manual not the automatic). I install it and plug it in. Start the car AND..still won't shift. Anything special about the install? I tried messing with the slider and the plunger to see if it would fix it, but nothing seemed to help.

So, NOW What?! Couple of side notes. My indicators aren't working either, they don't light of interior or exterior or make the indicator noise.

I removed the new switch, replaced the wire jumper and it shifts and brake lights turn on, still no blinkers.

ANY IDEAS?

 

What fuse did you blow? Fuses only blow with an overcurrent condition, usually caused by a short. The blinkers are independent of the brake switch, so you may have two separte problems. Blowing the fuse repeatedly makes me think you may have a short somewhere.

Do you have a multimeter to check for continuity? If not Lowes sells a good one made by GreenLee for about 30 bucks. Get one, you will need it to t/s problems with a Discovery. The brake switch can become dislodged from where it should be causing it to give you this problem even with a good switch. Ensure it is completely seated behind the brake pedal.

I had a problem where the tail lights and the console lights both failed. They worked in the parking light position, but when you switched on the headlights, the tail lights and console lights went off. This was caused by the turn signal stalk going bad. Actually the switch element is internal to the stalk. Replacement of the turn signal stalk resolved the problem. Paul Grant is a good source for a used one at a good price. Before I replaced my turn signal stalk, I discovered if I twisted it really hard, the dash and tail lights would work for one cycle, but when you cut them off, you had to force it again.

Hope this helps you. Also, instead of letting it sit for months, start it up occasionally or go ahead and rmove the battery, or put a trickle charger also called a battery conditioner on it. This will keep the battery charged up.

 

The fuse that blew while I was trying to get the right jumper was the 5 amp Anti-Lock brake fuse. (Sat 1 Fuse 4).

I'm curious to know where each of 4 different wires leading into the brake switch connect to. I read somewhere that the braking system has dual circuits. So are the 2 pairs of wires just redundancy?

I'll check everything for continuity tomorrow.

 

99 D1 or D2 ? different wiring....

For D1, here pix of brake switch - note there is a switch for some versions of cruise control that dumps the vacuum to shut down cruise when brake pedal pused. Also shown on left picture. X112 for cruise, x168 for stop light switch

 

Its a 1999 D1.

 

Then photos sent are correct. Here are more pages from the RAVE electrical troubleshooting manual. The ETM is your friend, be sure to have your downloaded copy of RAVE available.

 

Any results? Have a similar problem. Car DOES go into gear (though did not once just BEFORE discovering this new issue) but BRAKE LIGHTS STAY ILLUMINATED no matter if lights on or off. As long as key on position, brake lights ON HARD. 96 Disco with 217K miles. Transfer case also just recently replaced but drove several 100 miles with no issue so.... ???

 

In addition to the brake light switch, there is a parallel connected device called a stop lamp switch suppressor (it is probably a capacitor, to filter some of the electronic surge associated with the lights being switched on/off from all the other things the brake lights are routed to). Try disconnecting it and meter for ohms. Lights should go out. Needs to be working or damage / weird operation could come from other modules.

 

Will report once the "weird stuff" is fixed. After fooling around with the brake switch, I think it IS defective so will replace asap (probably original) - Disco has 217K miles (all but first 70K mine).

 

Well 2 nights ago it left me stranded in a drive through at the window! cars honking and there was NO EXIT for them besides backing up! lol was there 1 hr!OOPSY! lol I for some odd reason turned off Disco and put it in park they were really busy... then when putting it back into drive um... DIDNT GO! lol After accessing issue and realizing no brake lights I call tow truck.. while waiting I looked here found the way to get it out of park and BAM! went home and ordered the part! I have it now! hope it works! lol

[UPDATE] 5 minutes and BAM all working great! it was my switch as well... I see there is a "newer switch that is more costly, is this a better part or just the older manufacturer stopped making the previous part XBR100170 or something like that.. thats the one I bought from amazon overnight shipping for 19 bucks