Slow-LG4

Id like to start off by thanking all you guys who have helped me already.
I have since fixed the one brighter tail light, and the non blinking driver side tail light. Everything is now working as should except for: the brake lights still.

I now know that the harness I was referring to in my previous post has nothing to do with the brake lights and have pinpointed what each colored light is for. The rest of the problem goes as follows.

I know my brake light switch is good, I bought a new one and get the same test light results as the old one. There is a constant orange power wire (works) going into the switch and two white wires (works) coming out of the switch. I would assume the two white wires are for each tailight. where they go after the switch God only knows, they disappear into the upper dash. I know the wiring to the fuse box and the brake light fuse sections are both good. I would imagine then, that my problem lies between the fuse box and the sockets themselves. so far, I guess the next best plan of attack would be what Mr. Burgess mentioned, to actually connect each sockets ground to a chassis ground to see if one of the 4 socket grounds are not working? Also, once again, I notice that at each outer socket of both tailights, instead of a yellow, brown and black wire, there are two yellows. Why would one socket of each pair have an extra yellow? Would that be possibly for an extra function? Also, if one socket out of the 4 had a bad ground, could that cause all four to not function as far as the brake lights go?

I know I have bugged you guys alot so far, I really do appreciate your help.

BTW, my car is not an Fbody, it is a 1983 Pontiac Grand Prix. Hope this doesnt disqualify me from help...heh.. Its just that most Gbody or GrandPrix sites dont have enough decent people who can or are willing to help someone out.

Thanx Again Guys.....Joe

Vader

Slow,

The brake light circuit is wired through the turn signal switch assembly. The turn signals and four-way hazard flashers can interrupt the circuit. Do the hazard flashers operate correctly? If I recall correctly, the GP uses the same lamps for stop, turn, and hazard lighting, so there should be no yellow (separate) lamps on the rear of the car. A failed four-way/turn signal switch can affect the brake lights.

I hope this helps.

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Later,
Vader
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"Make Me Bad"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

Slow-LG4

Thanx for the help Vader. Both my hazard lights AND my turn signals are working as they should. I am at a total loss, I feel like just re-wiring new wires directly from the brake light switch output directly to the taillights themselves. Hmmm, I know I am close, just cant pinpoint it....oh well, back to the drawing board.

ChinoMoreno

I had the same problem with my 90 Cutlass. I changed the brake light switch(don't even start on how much of a ***** that was)checked all the wiring and that wasn't the problem. My turns and hazards worked fine, but the problem was indeed the switch inside the column that controls the turn/brake lights. I guess the switch bypasses your brake pedal to let the blinker go. The part was $160 for my car, hope yours is cheaper(if this is indeed your problem)

Slow-LG4

Well I called Autozone and Advance Auto Parts, and the cheapest I can get the part for is $22. So I guess it may be worthwhile to just buy the part and have my friend who "FIXED" the loose tilt steering open it up and just put in the new switch. Thanx for the new insight into my problem, hopefully this helps.

RB83L69

The 2 white wires you refer to that come off the brake light switch: one goes to the third brake light, and the other to the steering column.

You are probably right about the problem being in the steering column; there's not much else. The TS and hazard switches can cause the brake lights not to work. It's not too bad to get in there and work on that, all you need is a steering wheel puller and lots of patience to deal with the little ring that holds the lock plate in. You probably don't need the switch, more than likely it's just assembled wrong.

If we had known up front that someone had been into the steering column, we could have zeroed in on that much more quickly... it always helps to know if something has been disturbed, since that's usually the first place to go look for a malfunction.

Hope you can get it straightened out!

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

Slow-LG4

Thanx RB, So much I learn from you guys. One thing though, I dont have a third brake light, this is a 1983 Pontiac Grand Prix, so where would you assume the second white wire is going to?

RB83L69

One other thing that needs to know about the brakes, is the cruise control. I'm not sure how that's hooked up in that car; it may go there.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

Slow-LG4

On my brake light switch, there are two posts for connectors. One is for the brake lights, the other is for the cruise control. The cruise is a green and grey wire combo. That is hooked up and working fine.

8Mike9

Don't run a wire from the switch directly to the brake lights, otherwise you'll bypass the turnsignals...i/e they won't flash when you apply the brakes.

Slow-LG4

Thanx Mike for that advice. I would have been pulling my hair out over a whole new problem.