Had a problem with wires shorting out doing something like this. The wire bundle where the trunk lid opens up was a bit tight, created wear that you couldn't see until it was opened up, put in approx. a 4" patch, cutting where the wires were rubbed through.

 

Had a problem with wires shorting out doing something like this.

Second vote for a dead short to ground somewhere along the routing of the wiring for the circuits connected to that fuse. The detective work begins!

 

Can you verify 15a tail or stop fuse?
My 2005 Camry shows 15a stop and 10a tail.

 

That is a very interesting and particular condition for a fuse to blow. Once the car is started, idling, and in park, replace the fuse and look for normal operation of your shift interlock and lights to return. If it doesn't pop, start turning the steering wheel lock to lock and shift the car in & out of park. A test drive on bumpy roads or in the doing random loops in far corner of a large parking lot wouldn't hurt either. You want to verify that starting is the only condition where the fuse is blowing. If you can prove that much, one place I'd maybe look for a short is in the steering column. Or even the ignition switch itself might be rubbing on a wire for the tail lights. I'm looking at a wiring diagram for your car. It suggests I might be barking up the wrong tree, but I don't have all the info I need in front of me either. If the steering column cover is easy for you to remove, it might be worth a look regardless.

If the fuses for the starting and tail light circuits are in the same box under the hood, I'd be inclined to look at connections under the fuse block for green crusty corrosion on connectors. I see three fuses directly tied to the starting circuits. 5A AM1, 30A AM2, and 5A ST. The wiring diagram doesn't show me where they're physically at, so you'd have to look to see if they're all in the same fuse box. If they are though, and they're under the hood, it's about the only other place where I could see where these circuits really being able to clash with each other.

The exception to that might be some aftermarket gizmo under the dash. Have you installed a car alarm or a remote start system recently?

One last thing: The wiring diagram shows your tail light fuse is supposed to be a 10A, not a 15. Check your fuse cover & see if it's got a chart to verify the correct fuse.

 

If tail light circuit fuse blows then there are three circuits, tail light/license light and parking light circuits.

 

Thank you for the responses and apologize for not having described things clearly and correctly in my original post.

It is the blue color 15AMP STOP fuse in the bottom left of the fuse box that blows. The 10AMP TAIL fuse on the right
side is of the third row is okay. This is updated information:

1) Turning on the engine (key in START position) blows the 15AMP STOP fuse every time.
2) Cannot shift out of park unless the shift interlock override button is pressed.
3) All rear brake lights work as expected when engine is OFF and brake pedal pressed (with an intact 15AMP STOP fuse).
4) All rear lights work as expected when engine is OFF and turning lights on using the light switch knob in steering column.
5) All rear lights work as expected when engine is OFF and key in OFF, ACC or ON position, all brake lights work when brake
pedal pressed (with an intact 15AMP STOP fuse).
6) Checked/replaced all tail light bulbs, brake light bulbs and license plate bulbs.
7) Replaced brake light switch.
8) Cannot see damaged/worn wiring or lamp sockets.
9) Temporarily installed a 20AMP fuse in the 15AMP STOP fuse location and the 20AMP fuse blew just like the 15AMP
when the engine was started.
10) With the 15AMP STOP fuse blown, the tail lights and license lights do come on when using the light switch knob in
steering column. Only the rear brake lights stop working with the 15AMP STOP fuse blown.
11) No gizmos or camera or alarm system or anything was modified/added/changed in the car that might have caused this.

If there was shorted wiring in the trunk, I would expect the brake lights to not work even when the engine is off?
Note that all the brake lights work as expected when pressing the brake pedal and the engine is off (with a new
15AMP STOP fuse). It is only when I turn the engine on that the 15AMP STOP fuse blows.

I have run out replacement 15AMP fuses investigating this issue, will get more fuses and try the other things mentioned
(replacing the 15AMP STOP fuse after the engine has been turned on).

Will certainly keep this group updated about what I find.

 

I will be curious what you find, but I'm still betting on a dead short in a circuit that is only powered when the car is started (which covers a lot of territory, but not when you've got all the other limiting information that you have).

 

You can still use some of my advice with a little modification. Before you even start the car, pull the STOP fuse, then start it up. Once car is running, reinstall fuse and check that normal shifting and brake light operation resumes. If you can prove the fuse ONLY blows during cranking, I would heavily suspect a correlation in which a starting circuit is affecting the power side of braking circuit. I'd look for a short between wiring from the steering column that would be traveling with or near the brake light switch. I'm not just talking about eyeballing harnesses. If you have goodies like a voltmeter, test light, or a power probe, and you know what you're doing with them, I can scare up a couple wiring diagrams.

 

Jesus man that's f'd up!

Replace all bulbs in circuit(I said all), and check sockets for corrosion. Check body grounds for corrosion(look and ye shall find). Alternatively you can switch the circuit(with a switch you turn on after starting), or put it on a cycling circuit breaker.

Damn interesting, I'll give you that.

Cheers from Canada, I drink tooo much!

 

Thanks for the ideas and responses. I will check the bulbs/sockets/wiring in the back once again and try installing the 15AMP STOP fuse after I have started the car, have run out of good fuses and need to get more. Many more. Will keep this group updated about what I find.

Very annoying and unsafe to be driving around without working brake lights!

 

Could be a bad diode as well, unsure if there's one involved with the circuit; you'll need a schematic.

Best

 

ashokm1- test you can do to localize the circuit fault- with foot off the brake when starting does the fuse blow? Trying to get a direction for the apparent circuit short.

 

Got new fuses and ran a test now: started the car and while engine was on and in park position and without pressing the brake pedal or touching the shifter or doing anything else inserted a good 15AMP STOP fuse and it blew immediately.

 

Ok, thanks that should eliminate circuits off of the brake switches.
Looking for a way to isolate the remaining circuits off of the stop fuse.
Again, fuse doesn't blow if ignition switch not on correct?

 

Ok, thanks that should eliminate circuits off of the brake switches.
Looking for a way to isolate the remaining circuits off of the stop fuse.
Again, fuse doesn't blow if ignition switch not on correct?

Correct, all rear brake lights work fine when engine is off and brake pedal is pressed (with an intact 15AMP STOP fuse).

 

Key on - engine off, fuse is good.
Key on - engine cranking, fuse blows.
Key on - engine running, fuse blows.

If the above statements are true and consistent, this sounds like fun. You need a test light with some generous length of lead on it.. Do you have one and know how to make good use of it? If you can, you'd want to clamp the test light to battery positive, disconnect the brake switch, probe both terminals with the test light to see if either one lights up the test light. It's actually ok to leave the blown fuse alone for this. This will help figure out which direction the short is going. There should be a white wire and a green/white wire connected to the brake light switch. If the test light lights up the white wire, the problem is likely up under the dash somewhere. Or it might even migrate into the engine bay. If the other one lights up, the problem is likely between the switch and the tail lights.

This is really intriguing. I hope you find the root problem.

 

It appears that I have reached the limits of what I am comfortable checking and doing at home with the resources I have available. My wife wasn't too thrilled not having her car fully functional and with no end in sight of my puttering around inside it. Have described all these symptoms to a local mechanic and have left the car with him and made it his problem now!
Will keep this group updated about what he finds.

 

Happy to report that old Betsy is back on the road again $221 later )

The mechanic said it was an electrical short somewhere deep inside a wiring harness in the trunk behind the back seat and said he had to take a bunch of stuff out first to get at it. Not clear how a short like that would allow the brake lights to work normally when the engine was not on but that is a question for other experts to ponder over. This would have been far outside anything that I might have been able to diagnose or fix on my own at home.

Thanks to everyone who helped and provided suggestions and hope this helps someone else in the future who might run into a similar issue....

 

Happy to report that old Betsy is back on the road again $221 later )

The mechanic said it was an electrical short somewhere deep inside a wiring harness in the trunk behind the back seat and said he had to take a bunch of stuff out first to get at it. Not clear how a short like that would allow the brake lights to work normally when the engine was not on but that is a question for other experts to ponder over. This would have been far outside anything that I might have been able to diagnose or fix on my own at home.

Thanks to everyone who helped and provided suggestions and hope this helps someone else in the future who might run into a similar issue....

Glad to hear it's fixed and back on the road. From your description of where the problem was located I'd suspect there was a direct short to another wire for something like the fuel pump or other relay/component that would come on or be triggered when the car is started.

 

Yep, not a bad price, my buddy bought my ES300, when he had a problem arise, I suggested the harness in the trunk area like yours, common problem on years of flexing, vibration, rough roads, opening trunk, people stuffing stuff in there etc, and Toyota saving of a buck on the slightly tight harness in that area.
Happy wife...happy...mmm, well you know. Now take her out for dinner.