Really weird electrical problem

My trusty 323F (1992) has developed a really weird electrical problem. One day I was driving along and the light failure warning light came on in the dash. I then noticed that my rear break lights were permanently on (irrelevant of the pedal position). I disconnected the break pedal switch hoping that it was stuck in the "on" position but nothing changed. I checked the bulbs and everything was OK with the brake and rear light filaments.

The rear brake lights stay on even when the key is removed from the ignition and the only way I can get the lights to go off is to remove the fuse controlling the electrics for the inside of the car. When I remove the fuse covering the internal electronics the brake lights work as normal but the central locking and radio now (obviously) do not work. However, I then noticed that when I put my foot on the brake pedal both the radio and the central locking miraculously started working again and stopped working when I took my foot off the break pedal (even thought the fuse was still removed). I removed the radio hoping it was causing the problem but nothing changed.

I would be very grateful to hear any suggestions, exorcism techniques, links to other forums/pages etc.

Many thanks

Roland.

LOL!!! That's one of the funniest electrical gremlins I've heard about in a long time.

It sounds like you have a short between the accessory power wire and the brake light power wire after the brake light switch. The brake light switch appears to be working fine.

What is a "central locking"? Do you mean power door locks?

What other interior components besides the radio do not work?

I would follow the brake light cable through the car and inspect it every inch of the way. This may require removing interior panels. Somewhere you will find an exposed portion of the wire.

Thanks for the info. The central locking is the power door locks. The dashboard and other instrument lights and heater/fan are OK but the radio/locks/internal lights on the inside roof are all dead (apart from when you push the pedal). Everything outside apart from the brake lights are OK too. Sounds like a lot of work to remove the panels, I will start at the front and work back. Is is ok to presume that the fault lies between the fuse box and the accessories, somewhere where the brake wire leaving the switch comes close to the accessory wire coming out of the fuse box? If you think this is a reasonable deduction then I will start ripping the dash covers off......

Since you know where the brake light switch is, I would start there and follow it as far as you can go.