Shift interlock solenoid and stop lights

Howdy friends,

Back again with another electrical puzzle and I'm looking for validation of my approach. Jumped in the truck the other day and couldn't get it to shift out of park. Had to use the interlock release mechanism and noted my stop lights weren't working, but my running brake lights worked just fine. Checked the 15A Stop fuse and sure enough was blown. replaced it and found no issue with the shift interlock solenoid and the brake lights. Fuse blew again after driving it around a bit- bummer.

In approaching this troubleshoot- my thought it to disconnect the wiring harness for both lights and see if I can provoke another circuit overload, then systematically introduce lightbulbs back in to see if I can ID the short.

Does this approach seem rational? Any other advice y'all can give me would be stellar.

 

this is a start... my money is on an issue with the shift interlock itself. You didnt mention if it was floor or column shift so I uploaded both schematics

 

Carefully inspect the brake light bulb sockets for melted contacts or loose wires. Check the bulbs for melted contacts. These contact areas can melt like solder and cause a short between positive and negative.

 

Thank you both! I'll do that as well.