electrical issue: non-working upper rear hatch brake light; also lights on > hatch open > rear brake lights on > automatic door locks with hatch open

[landcruiser3DP]

revisiting an electrical issue or issues i have been circling around and found a new symptom and wondering if it rings a bell for anyone.
first off is can anyone verify for me how to get at the electrical for the rear brake light? i pull off the lower panel in the left rear quarter and i start fishing around in there - from the bottom - for a connection? then i unharness it and i can fish the other end of the connector out the upper rear hatch?
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on the problem: i currently have a non working upper rear brake light. i tested the light itself directly at the battery with alligator clips so i basically just assumed it is not getting power at the harness since if it was it would probably light up. that said i can test this.
on "symptom" 1: headlights on at the stalk (and on at the headlights obviously) will pretty reliably mean that when i open the upper rear hatch the rear taillights go on. i don't believe this is normal.
on "symptom" 2: when i close the front drivers door with the upper rear hatch open the automatic door locks will activate.
grateful for any leads here before i get the mojo to tear into this.
in the meantime i will find the electrical diagrams in my FSM or if anyone has these digitally i'd be happy to have them posted if you are up for it.
i shouid also say i did have a symptom where the headlights were staying on after i closed the drivers door but i pulled both dome light LED bulbs and that solved it. i now only have LED in the map light but i guess i will pull that as well now that i am troubleshooting again.

 

[NeverFinis]

EWDs are in the resource section here.

Yes, connectors in the left rear quarter panel area, most below the jack. There is at least one forward of the jack.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

i'm going to dig in here and try to find the upper rear brake light harness inside the pillar.
also i am going to take apart the rear dome light and see if anything doesn't look right.
here are rhe diagrams in case anyone good with this can follow along or sees something i don't.
THANKS

 

[NeverFinis]

1. Go to the resources section here,
2. Get the pdf of the EWDfor your year.
3. Use the EWD pdf for searching.
4. Print out selected pages needed.
5. Put your physical copy of the EWD away on a shelf and save it from greasy fingers.

 

[landcruiser3DP]

1. Go to the resources section here,
2. Get the pdf of the EWDfor your year.
3. Use the EWD pdf for searching.
4. Print out selected pages needed.
5. Put your physical copy of the EWD away on a shelf and save it from greasy fingers.

thanks. so any time i looked for 97 digital copies i haven't been able to find them. charm manuals are great online though.
anyway do you know what i am doing wrong here? i get into page 1 or resources but page 2 comes up blank.
and is there a good way to search the forum for these digital versions?

 

[NeverFinis]

1997 80 Series EWD Here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/1997-land-cruiser-ewd-rm282u.221/

1997 80 Series FSM Here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/1997-repair-manual-rm510u.222/

As far as your problem, you need to grab a multimeter and check all circuits involved. This is hard to problem solve via the internet.

 

[NeverFinis]

1997 LX450 EWD Here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/1997-lx450-ewd.86/

1997 LX450 FSM Here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/1997-lx450-fsm.85/

 

[landcruiser3DP]

1997 LX450 EWD Here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/1997-lx450-ewd.86/

1997 LX450 FSM Here: https://forum.ih8mud.com/resources/1997-lx450-fsm.85/

thanks a ton for this. i got them. i really appreciate that.
on the electrical issue i've read a honda manual and have read this EWD but never really tracked anything down beyond testing that upper rear brake light to see if it worked.
do i try to find the pins in the harness and basically stick probes in to make sure things are geting 12V when key is On?
part of the issue here is - well things are going on when you wouldn't expect them so is this a different issue than whether or not the pins are getting 12V i guess?

 

[NeverFinis]

You can test continuity at between electrical sockets, tracing back from the 3rd brake light.

This is called ringing out the harness.

You can also use a 12V probe to send power at each electrical socket, providing power for the 3rd brake light. When the light stops going on, then you have found your problem area.

The EWD will show wire colors and socket locations.

I think you need to watch a few YT videos on automotive electrical diagnostics.

 

[Irish Reiver]

@landcruiser3DP Where you ever able to check the connector which is located underneath the headliner just above the D-pillar on the drivers side? I had the exact same issue as you had and I posted what I found broken on the other thread you have on this issue. In essence I had a damaged terminal which intermittently disconnected the ground lead. I ended up bypassing the connector and jumpering a wire to connect the ground wire either side of the connector. Everything has been working perfectly since.