Brake light problem!!!

[Bossman429]

The other day someone told me I had a taillight out on the STE. They said the left brake light wasn't coming on.

So I took the ol' ice scraper out today and wedged it onto the brake to checked to be sure. Sure enough, none of the left side brake lights are coming on. The right side works fine, and so does the 3rd brake, and I switched bulbs around to make sure I didn't have the unlikely coincidence of 3 burnt out bulbs. The weird thing is that all of the tail lights work all the way across. So I know at least SOME power is making it to the bulb, just not for the brake lights on the left.

So I started checking fuses, the STOP TL1 and TL2 were not blown out. I pulled the STOP fuse to make sure that the right side brake light shut off, and it did.

So now I am stumped. I checked the wiring diagram, and it looks like the tail lights connect into the DIC at some point for the bulb checker feature. All through this process the DIC never told me the left lights were burnt out. So my last idea is that maybe the DIC is causing the left brake light to not come on.

Anyone else have some ideas????

how do you remedy this problem if it is the DIC? Surely you don't have to replace the whole unit?

[1990lumina]

Have you checked to make sure there isn't a break in the brake light wiring somewhere?? Most likely right where it pulls into the bulb there might be a short.

I personally would find the wiring under the car, find which wire goes to the left rear brake light and stick a test light on that wire, then hit the brakes. If the test light turns on that rules out the DIC

 

- Jeff L.

[Bossman429]

UPDATE:

I went out and swapped out my DIC for a spare I had in the closet ( I knew I'd get my money's worth out of this some day!). WIth the other DIC it did the exact same as before. No indicator of a light failure, but when I pulled a bulb out it gave me a tail light out indicator.

There are 3 brake lights on this left side, and none of them light up. So, I might have to trace the wires at work on Monday. Hopefully it's just a break or short somewhere.

Any other input is appreciated though.

[1990lumina]

I'd say there is probably only two main brake light wires (correct me if I'm wrong) and there is one for the left, and one for the right.

The left one most likely has a break in it somewhere...again, I'd say a test light is your best friend - especially when trying to located an internal short in the wire.

Good luck

 

- Jeff L.

[Prospeeder]

if u look, theres a Recall on brake light failure thing, its similar to that

[DiscoStudd]

It could be your turn signal switch, although both left and right brake lights being out (with the 3rd brake light lighting up) are the usual symptoms...

[Bossman429]

It has seemed to have fixed itself. I drove around for a while to get some diner, and when I got home, I hit the brake and all lights came on. Goody, maybe it's intermittent, or hopefully fixed. I'll have to put the test light to it at work Monday, hopefully it'll act up then.

Disco-

I don't think it's the T/S switch, I put a new one in a few weeks ago because the old one had to be tweaked to get the signal to come on.

Thanks for the input everybody.

[terryk2003]

...i think w's have electrical issues...my license plate light wasnt working last night...so i went to get a new one and looked and it was working...the same thing happens with one of my map lights on the rear view mirror...it goes out, i get ready to replace it and it'll be working again... ...oh well...

[1990lumina]

I haven't had anything electrial happen like that.

Only electricial things that have happened were a few days leading up to my alternator failure.

Signals would stay on solid, or click very slowly. My instrument cluster speedo while decreasing on an offramp on the freeway with the signal on, the speedo would sort of click up and down with the signal light lol....then I was driving around and no engine lol....

 

- Jeff L.

[mfewtrail]

Check out the TGP section and look for TGPilot's post. I believe he had a similar problem with only one side not working. :wink:j

 

 

EDIT: Found it for ya'.

 

http://www.w-body.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26897

 

Might help, might not...at least it gives you another idea of something to check though.

[Lee]

...i think w's have electrical issues...my license plate light wasnt working last night...so i went to get a new one and looked and it was working...the same thing happens with one of my map lights on the rear view mirror...it goes out, i get ready to replace it and it'll be working again... ...oh well...

 

 

here's a true electrical issue. You drive all night towards Kansas City. You stop at a rest stop. When you come out of the can, your car has an engine fire. You empty the car of all contents after emptying a trucker's fire extinguisher into the the engine compartment.....you've given up.

 

The horn starts beeping, the headlights come on, the car, which is a manual, is in 1st gear parked against the curb. The starter kicks in and drives your car up over the curb and down the hillside.....you jump in front of the car kicking the bumper telling it to stop....not!!.....It continues down the hill until it hits a picnic table under a cement shelter. Now it happily burns to death, taking out the corner of the picnic table and smoking up the shelter. One of the guys standing around says, "it had a good battery."

 

Now you are 500 miles from home and your tires are blowing up one at a time because the fool who had the car before you put rubberized undercoating from the engine compartment firewall all the way back to the rear. Sad? Yep at the time.

 

But to lighten this burden for you readers.......it was a 78 Honda Accord.

 

Just one of my several car fire truths.

[supreme_style21]

Car fires produce some odd effects on the car. I've got a few on vid, if I could get 'em off the camcorder to the pc. The horn almost always goes... I've always kinda thought of it as the car's last cry. Eerie.

[Brian P]

I'm willing to bet your signal switch is at fault. Do the ice-scraper trick again, this time push the signal stalk forward (opposite the way you'd turn on the hi-beams) see if the left side brake lights shut off again. If they do, pull the stalk towards you (hi-beam direction) see if they come back on.

[jeremy]

i love electrical gremlins.........

[slick]

i love electrical gremlins.........

 

I don't, my car is full of them. Lets see here:

 

SES light doesn't work.

ALDL connector doesn't work.

At times, the tach and volt guage do not work unless I smack my dashpad.

Cigarette lighter doesn't work.

And the dumbass alternator is in need of a fixin. Again.

 

So this is what I want. A good, fully functional, dash wiring harness. The whole damn thing, I want.

[GnatGoSplat]

I'm willing to bet your signal switch is at fault.