97 Venture brake and ABS fuse blows

Hi all. My van keeps blowing the fuse to the rear brakes and ABS. This is a common fuse. Sometimes I get the ABS light right away, sometimes not. The dealer wants the failure light on for troubleshooting, but it never happens at a convenient time. Any ideas?

I just bought a 97 Venture a few weeks ago, and had a similar problem. The left turn signals didn't work and I tried replacing bulbs, and wierd things happend like the back-up lights flashed and the ABS light came on frequently, etc. I was really worried as I thought I'd have to pay a fortune to fix the ABS. While trying to figure out the light problem, I noticed that when I wiggled the black wire on the socket to the lamp assembly, the lights worked properly. I removed the socket from the lights, and noticed that the prong for the black (GROUND) wire was broken and corroded. Rather than replace the socket, I carefully inserted 2 straightend paper clips in both sides of the socket and crimped and taped it. Believe it or not, this fixed the ABS and Light problem! The ABS light hasn't come on since (except when supposed to at start up briefly) and all lights work. And I know the ABS works as they have kicked in on a few occasions.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the input. One of the first things I did was replace the brake bulbs, but I did not see anything loose or corroded. I will dig a little deeper looking for similar problems like you had. Thanks. By the way did your fuse blow also?

I didn't have any problems with the fuse, just the harness to the lights. Ma ke sure you double check the wiring and harness, it sounds very much like a grounding or short circuit problem. The wires from the van to the tail lights are exposed to the elements, so check the wires from the lights right up to the gromet that they go into the van for any abraded insulation on the wires. I really think the problems lies back there.

I found the short. The harness located to the left of the brake pedal under the carpet was pressed against a bolt. Placing my foot on the carpet wore a hole in the wire by the bolt and eventually sheered in half. I would recommend a 30 second peek at your own harness under the carpet to fix this before something fails. Thanks.