Please Help...
I have MAzda rx8 2004 Manual 231hrs... I bought 6 months ago, everything was just fine and then few days ago without any reason inside the wires that connect accelerator pedal and brake switch pedal start burning in 2 min i could not accelerate i stop and turn off the battery cable....and i safe my car of burning in fire...
What i realized on the part where the burning start there is one plastic box kind of noise filter and 4 wires colors G/R, G/B, Y/R, W/G...
Can any one help me with this issue , wiring diagram or please picture of the installation from accelerator pedal to the brake pedal so i can see if owner before me install something that cause this problem?!
I saw here issue very similar to my issue, and i remember i change more then 6 fuses because after pressing brake sometimes lights of dsc/abs came On. I had broken wheel hub on right front wheel and i replace it i change fuse also and after that everything was just perfect then this melting wires and burning start after 300km driving...
To Everybody who want's to help me sorry for my English.
I can send also pictures i took if any one knows how to help me.
Thank's in Advance.

 

Had the same problem as everyone else.

My ABS and DSC lights came on one day, brake light fuse was blowing, so I checked the connection to the third brake light on the advice of this forum, and there it was. Frayed wire causing a short.
Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for taking the time to post, I don't want to think of all the time and money I could have spent trying to track down a solution. Thanks everyone.

 

I had the same problem and this thread saved me so much trouble.
noticed the lights on the dash, checked the forums... which lead me to the STOP fuse... which lead me here.

disconnected the harness, popped in a new fuse and the brake lights worked fine.
opened up the harness, found the frayed wire, applied electrical tape, put it all back together and now everything is dandy!
If it happens again, I'll buy the new harness.

These forums are fantastic.

 

Same here.. I just saved a bunch of money and actually schooled the steelership before they rip me off. Saved a lot of time, efforts and money I praise everyone who took time to share these precious informations. I'll drink a nice cold beer for y'all!

 

Thanks to everyone who shared theinr info/stories.

I started having the exact same problem last night out of nowhere after getting gas and starting the car again to drive. As soon as i pressed the brake pedal, boom, both ABS and DSC came on. After reading this thread, i checked and of course my stop fuse was blown. Changed it twice and kept blowing.

Removed the carpet lining from the trunk lid, removed the light centre brake light blub abd tried again. This time things seemed to work. No blown fuse Got very excited. Drove for a good 30 min to get some stuff from the store and all was fine. Put the items i purchased in the trunk (so opened and close the trunk again) and as soon as i started the car and it the brake pedal. boom, the light came back and nor brake light again and a blown fuse f course

Today i tried to diagnose the issue and find out where the short is but unfortunately for me, it seems like the short comes and goes so it doesnt hppen all the time. Im guessing the wires are sometimes connected and sometimes loos their connection when the runk is opened and closed.So i disconnected the third brake light harness from where is connects right by the driver sides rear tal light and changed the fuse. Drove for 20 mins and so far no issues. Will be driving to work and back tomorrow so i will update if any changes.

p.s as someone else mentioned here, i also had a cruise control issue while the ABS and DSC lights were not. The yellow cruise control light would get activated but the 'set' green light wouldnt come on and so i didnt have cruise control. Just something that seems to be associated with this issue.


Update1:

So far ive ben driving for two days with many starts/shut offs with no issues to report. As i mentioned the thirs brake light harness is disconnected but i opened and closed the trunk a few times to make sure the short is not in one of the other side brake lights. Fingers crossed, if the issue does not return, i will take out the wiring for the thir brake light and start investigating for the short. I will update again.

Update 2:

So after driving for almost a week with the third brake light disconnected from the harness, i finally got around to taking out the wiring that gros from the trunk to the trunk lid and sure enough the wires were clamped and cut right where they exit the trunk (by the driver side tail light) and enter the plastic cover. Hope this helps.

 

Hey guys....went through this myself a few days ago, stop fuse kept blowing and I had no brake lights as well as had the abs lights on the dash along with the tcs and dsc lights, the fuse would blow as soon as I pushed the brake the pedal....I replaced the stop light bulb and still a blown fuse....thanks to another thread on here I found the problem.....will try and find the link.

I took out the trunk lining to expose all the wires....and disconnected the third brake light (stop light) at the main harness, not the light itself....and pressed the brake pedal and no blown fuse! The short had to be in the third brake light wire somewhere, no continuity....so I took the entire wiring harness out of the car to begin stripping the plastic sheathing to expose the individual wires.....

After removing the rubber sheathing running to the top brake light, seen in photo 1, I could not find any issues at all.....
Photo 2 is the removal of the wires from the car

As it turns out, the wires had not split not inside the rubber sheathing seen in photo 1, but rather inside the plastic sheathing seen in photo 3, the sheathing that is actually outside the trunk, or on top of the trunk beside the hinge.....

The black wire was totally split and the black and yellow wire was split as well, causing the short....seen in photo 4....

Once I soldered it back together and taped it up real nice, (picture 5) I ran it back through the plastic sheathing (big time pain in that ****) re-connected the harness and bam! no blown fuse, brake lights and the stop light are working fine and no more daunting lights on the dash!!

Thanks RX8-CLUB! Merry Christmas, hope this helps somebody!

 

Great work on troubleshooting that, and a nice repair!




....and a large Thank You for sharing the fix!

Merry etc.,


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