all lights on side lights +brake lights

[tuxman]

when i turn on my side lights/headlights all my rear lights come on including my brake lights ,anybody got any ideas why ? simon

[steve_D]

You have an earth fault.
The reason other lights come on is that the circuit is being completed not by the current passing to earth through the body of the bulb but going through the other filament and finding earth probably at the front of the car.
My guess would be a broken wire around the connector.
Try just making a temporary new earth wire to the rear lights.

Steve

[tuxman]

Hi Steve , do you know were the earth point is for the rear clip ? bit strange because lights glow very brightly and do not dim when indicating or braking.simon

[davefiddes]

Pretty sure that the earth for all the rear lights goes back through the big connector and joins the bundle of earths that are attached near the LHS bulkhead earth point. My bet would be the connector is loose or has corroded in some way.

[andygtt]

spend some time cleaning the rear connecter plug as this is likelly to be causing the fault.

[steve_d]

When you put the connector back together put in plenty of peroleum gelly/vasoline which will keep corrosion at bay.

KY gelly (in this instance) is not a suitable alternative.

Steve