Silverado P/U brake light problem

69427

The Artist formerly known as Turbo84
Joined
Mar 30, 2008
Messages
2,972
Location
Clinging to my guns and religion in KCMO.
Hey Guys,

Got a problem with my brake lights on my '05 Chevy pickup. The brake lights on the sides of the tailgate don't work, but the CHMIL (?) third brake light above the rear window works. I checked the fuse (okay) and the bulbs (even swapped them for the hazard lights), but the issue is with the two brake lights. I looked under the dash at the brake switch, and it's quite different from the old style plunger switch. This switch is solidly mounted to the brake pedal arm, and has several wires going to it. I assume that confirms that the center light is on a separate circuit from the lower lamps. I'm going to dig around more with the switch tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone had any insight about this issue.

thanks,
Mike
 
Thanks for the info and suggestions, guys. It's appreciated. I'm hoping to spend some time this weekend tracking down the problem. I can use the wife's car for the weekend, but come Monday it's either ride the cycle or use the truck and risk getting a ticket. I'll let you know what I find out with the wiring.

Thanks again,
Mike
 
I have blown the fuse for my trailer harness lights before without affecting other rear lights. Double check under the hood for more than 1 fuse. Check the bulbs just to be on the safe side. Hopefully it will be something simple.
 
Got by cheap!

Well, got things running. I checked the brake circuit fuses (plural). There was one under the hood, and one in the dash. Both were okay. I checked the bulbs in the left rear (brake) lights. Looked okay, but swapped it for the flasher light, and the problem stayed with the brake circuit (bulb okay). I then traced the wires under the bed, and pulled the connector apart. Things looked okay, but I wiggled the crap out of it to wear through any oxidation. I tried the brakes again, and had the left brake light working. So okay, halfway there. I pulled the right tailight section apart, and looked at the lights (brake and emergency flasher). The brake bulb looked somewhat dark, so I thought I found the other problem. I swapped the bulbs, and tried out both functions. To my surprise, both functions worked. Apparently the right brake bulb had a bad connection (and may have been out for a while), while I'm guessing the connector issue may have been more recent. Just a guess, as I wasn't aware there was a problem at all until a guy in a top down Miata signalled me to roll down my window and informed me while we were driving down a four lane road here.
Thanks for all the encouragement and suggestions. I'm just darn glad it didn't cost me any money! LOL
 
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