Broken Third Brake Light.

[slomach03]

To begin with sorry if this should be in a different section didn't know where else to put it. My third brake light is out. Both tail lights work great but the 3rd won't come on. My OEM one worked fine. I switched to a smoked LED which worked for a few weeks then stoppped. Took the harness off tried to clean it and untangle any wires and it still didn't come on. However the trunk bulb still worked so it was getting power. I got fed up and switched over to a used oem piece. This one won't come on either although the trunk bulb works still. Any ideas on what my problem is? Thanks.

[01yellerCobra]

Are you getting power at the connector? Have you checked the fuses?

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[slomach03]

Originally Posted by 01yellerCobra

Are you getting power at the connector? Have you checked the fuses?

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I don't know anything about the fuses so I haven't looked at them yet. As for the connector, if my trunk bulb is working then wouldn't I be receiving power since all 5 bulbs from the third brake light operate off the same power supply?

[01yellerCobra]

Originally Posted by slomach03

I don't know anything about the fuses so I haven't looked at them yet. As for the connector, if my trunk bulb is working then wouldn't I be receiving power since all 5 bulbs from the third brake light operate off the same power supply?

I would imagine the brake light is on a different circuit than the trunk light. It's not something I've had to look into yet. That's why I asked if you're getting power at the connector. If there's no power it's time to start looking at the harness.

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[slomach03]

Originally Posted by 01yellerCobra

I would imagine the brake light is on a different circuit than the trunk light. It's not something I've had to look into yet. That's why I asked if you're getting power at the connector. If there's no power it's time to start looking at the harness.

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I see what you mean. This may be a stupid question but what is my best bet for checking the power? I'm an electrical idiot.

[slomach03]

I guess I'm baffled as to why it won't work. Is there a possibility I have a bad fuse? Or maybe a splice is damaged? How hard is the electrical on these cars?

[01yellerCobra]

You need some kind of meter. Even a Harbor Freight special would work. Unplug the light and stick the leads in the plug that's on the car side of the harness. Then have someone step on the brake. You should see 12vdc. Give or a take a half a volt or so. If you do, then something is up with the lights you have. Check the pins to make sure they're not pushed back into the plastic housing.

If there is no voltage check the fuses. I'm not sure if that fuse would be under the dash or under the hood. The manual should tell you that.

If the other brake lights are working I'm going to guess your LED light blew the fuse.

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-func...ter-98025.html

[slomach03]

Originally Posted by 01yellerCobra

You need some kind of meter. Even a Harbor Freight special would work. Unplug the light and stick the leads in the plug that's on the car side of the harness. Then have someone step on the brake. You should see 12vdc. Give or a take a half a volt or so. If you do, then something is up with the lights you have. Check the pins to make sure they're not pushed back into the plastic housing.

If there is no voltage check the fuses. I'm not sure if that fuse would be under the dash or under the hood. The manual should tell you that.

If the other brake lights are working I'm going to guess your LED light blew the fuse.

https://www.harborfreight.com/7-func...ter-98025.html

Thank you that clarifies a lot for me. When you say the pins do you mean the little wires that are bent over the sides of the bulb? When it comes to fuses I've been doing my resaearch and as far as I can tell, the fuses that control the tail lights control the third brake light as well and the tail lights work great. After two brake lights not working in a row I'm wondering if I either have a bad connection at the third brake light or if I've got some bent/tangled wiring closer to the wiring harness. Either way I'll update after I check everything out again.

[01yellerCobra]

When you unplug the connector for the light look inside the plug itself. You'll see metal pins inside there. That's where you want to touch the leads to.