My Brake Lights are Out

[Thmstec]

Ok, so tonight I when I was leaving my place and I stepped on the brakes, I didn't notice the usual red glow from behind. Used an umbrella to hold the brake and check. All three are out :(

I checked my fuse, its fine. Checked my wiring to the third brake light (I have a flasher installed) and it was fine, not that it would effect the other two sense they're all in parallel anyway, right?

So whats next? Tomorrow I'll see what I can find the in pdfs. Isn't there a control box under the hood?

[Ldub]

Ok, so tonight I when I was leaving my place and I stepped on the brakes, I didn't notice the usual red glow from behind. Used an umbrella to hold the brake and check. All three are out :(

I checked my fuse, its fine. Checked my wiring to the third brake light (I have a flasher installed) and it was fine, not that it would effect the other two sense they're all in parallel anyway, right?

So whats next? Tomorrow I'll see what I can find the in pdfs. Isn't there a control box under the hood?

I'd check the switch up under the dash. Look at where (or if) the plunger makes contact with the brake pedal control.
Sounds like it may have come out of adjustment or fried.
The plunger could also be stuck, you may be able to free it up with some WD-40.

[etlsport]

do you have dashboard lights? if they are out too, you probably have a short behind the drivers side headlight thats causing you to blow the fuse

[Riff Raff]

Used an umbrella to hold the brake and check.

Hope you find the culprit causing your delima. One of the best (and safest) ways to check-out all rear facing lights is back-up to a big picture window at a shopping center. Look in your rear view mirror(s) and check the "reflection" in the big window. You can confirm every light (L&R turn signals, brake lights, running lights, back-up lights, 3rd Brake light), all at one time and even in bad weather without ever getting out of the vehicle. This simple method eliminates the need for a second person to seperately observe.:fyi:

[crotchrocket]

if it was that switch on the brake pedal it wouldnt go from Park into gear, mine was faulty before and the brake lights wouldn't work and the gear lever wouldn't release

[Y33TREKker]

Ok, so tonight I when I was leaving my place and I stepped on the brakes, I didn't notice the usual red glow from behind. Used an umbrella to hold the brake and check. All three are out :(

I checked my fuse, its fine. Checked my wiring to the third brake light (I have a flasher installed) and it was fine, not that it would effect the other two sense they're all in parallel anyway, right?

So whats next? Tomorrow I'll see what I can find the in pdfs. Isn't there a control box under the hood?
Whic fuse was it that you checked, the 15A STOP LIGHT or the 15A TAIL/ILLUMI?

The 15A STOP LIGHT fuse works with the switch on the brake pedal. The 15A TAIL/ILLUMI fuse works with the taillight relay (which is behind the left kick panel of the drivers' side footwell).

If the STOP LIGHT fuse is ok, you might then check the TAIL/ILLUMI fuse, and if that's ok, move on to the taillight relay. In pics, it appears as if there are three rectangular relays mounted one above the next (and one square one mounted above those) behind the left kick panel of the drivers' side footwell, with the rectangular one in the middle being the taillight relay. If the part #'s of the rectangular relays are all the same, maybe you could swap two of them to see if your taillights start working again?

For troubleshooting purposes, and if the relays are the same part #'s, the bottom rectangular relay is for your power windows, and the top rectangular relay is for your rear window defogger. If for example you know that your power windows and rear defogger work, either of those relays swapped with your taillight relay should get your taillights working again if the taillight relay is the problem.

That's some easy stuff to begin checking anyway.

[Thmstec]

Worked on it some more. Still doesn't work, here is the checklist.

I went ahead and check ALL the fuses. All good.

The switch near the brake pedal is good, I can easily move the transmission around. The vx still drives just fine.

Rear lights and turn signals work just fine. Including right/left signals, back up lights, and night time lights. Its literally all three braking lights that won't light up.

There was one interesting discovery though
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/2/noname1.jpg

What does this do?!?!? Plugged it back in, didn't fix anything that I knew was broken :confused:

[Y33TREKker]

Any chance you've been doing any other work near that left kick panel in the drivers' foot well? There are a couple of wiring connectors, a seperate ground connector, and a noise supression filter in that area that, if unplugged, could be interrupting your taillight circuit.

Other than that area, a few connectors that could cause problems if not connected properly are located in the left and right rear cargo area behind the trim panels, and at the center of the rear roof panel behind the trim panel. (There's also a second noise supression filter and an additional ground connection behind the center of the rear roof panel trim panel that both play a part in the brake light circuit).

Then again, are all of the bulbs in your taillights good? Sometimes if you're lucky it's just something simple like that.

**Not sure about that plug in the picture. Is it one of the connectors that comes out of the transmission?**

[pbkid]

double check your grounds on your tail light flasher...

and x2 on the relay, they generally dont last much longer than 10 years..

[Thmstec]

I'm currently away from personal computer with the .pdfs, where can I find the relays?

[pbkid]

look at post 6....

drivers kick panel

[Thmstec]

Thanks for all the help guys.

Unfortunately moving the relays around didn't reveal a problem with any of them. There was also nothing visibly awry behind the kick panel.

Ldub, on a light hearted note, I did check the clicker fluid ;) Was A-OK.

[Ldub]

Thanks for all the help guys.

Ldub, on a light hearted note, I did check the clicker fluid ;) Was A-OK.

LOL...Up nort where I live, it's called blinker fluid...:laughing:

This is a long shot, with a limb in the way...but have you checked the bulbs?:confused:

That plug in the pic MAY be TOD related, not sure on that one.

[Thmstec]

LOL...Up nort where I live, it's called blinker fluid...:laughing:

This is a long shot, with a limb in the way...but have you checked the bulbs?:confused:

That plug in the pic MAY be TOD related, not sure on that one.


The only reason I haven't checked the bulbs is because they do light up when I turn on the lights... might as well though. My patience is running out... bout to give up and hand out some cash to a wrencher :_wrench:

[Greasemonkey]

You need to check you have a live feed to the brake light switch - the brake lights are a permanent live feed - and should always work key in the ignition or not
cheers
Steve

[etlsport]

those bulbs have two filaments, the brake light filament typically goes out first because its on off on off all the time, but the tail light will funtion properly just nothing will happen when you hit the brakes... but that doesnt explain the top brake light, that one is LED and im sure they havent all gone out

[Y33TREKker]

Just curious whether you ever got this resolved Thmstec. If not, something else you could try would be to disconnect each of the three lights one at a time to see if there might be a problem with one of them that is affecting all three, like maybe an individual grounding problem, or shorted portion of a circuit.

Building on what Greasmonkey was saying also, if you have a voltmeter, checking between a chassis ground and all of the Red wires in the connectors that go to the brake switch, both noise suppression filters, and all three of the light assemblies in question will tell you if you are getting power at all the places it's supposed to be.

And you never did say whether you had been doing any other work to the VX lately that might have in some way contributed to the brake lights stopping working; ie: a connector that might not have been snapped back together as well as it could have even though it felt like it did at the time, something simply not getting plugged back in at all, etc.

[Thmstec]

Thanks for all the help guys!

Turned out to be the brake light modulator having gone bad. The internal circuitry fried and the it wasn't grounding properly. Back to stock and all is good. :)

[pbkid]

phew.... i was starting to wonder if you were gonna get your horse back on the road....

[Riff Raff]

Thanks for all the help guys!

Turned out to be the brake light modulator having gone bad. The internal circuitry fried and the it wasn't grounding properly. Back to stock and all is good. :)

Just wondering-- did you discover the "Brake Light Modulator" was the culprit by yourself OR you end up taking your VX to a certified mechanic/auto repair shop?

In any event, I'm glad everything worked out in the end and your VX is back on the road. Your tale of brake light troubles & its resulting solution is of great help to the VX community should this same issue ever happen to one of us.:yeso:

[Thmstec]

Just wondering-- did you discover the "Brake Light Modulator" was the culprit by yourself OR you end up taking your VX to a certified mechanic/auto repair shop?

In any event, I'm glad everything worked out in the end and your VX is back on the road. Your tale of brake light troubles & its resulting solution is of great help to the VX community should this same issue ever happen to one of us.:yeso:

I was trying what Y33TREKker was saying, and when I removed the 3BL from the circuit, it worked. From there it was basic troubleshooting to determine the modulator was the culprit.

[Y33TREKker]

When you say 3BL, are you talking about the high mounted LED brake light in the spoiler (as in 3rd Brake Light)?

If so, was the modulator in the spoiler itself with the LED's?

Just curious as I hadn't seen anything similar in the circuit diagrams associated with the spoiler light, except for the noise suppression filter.

Whatever the case, good to hear the problem is solved. Definitely not a good thing to be without brake lights.

[Thmstec]

Yes, 3BL= 3rd brake light. The modulator was aftermarket, wired in just before the circuit gets to the light.