help with brake lights

[D.Adams]

ok so the other day my brake lights stoped working out of nowhere. I need help i have done most everything that i can do to diagnose the isue.

checked all the fuses ( all were good )

checked all the bulbs ( all where good i even replaced them with new ones )

checked the brake pedal switches ( all were also good and worked fine )

my next thought would be a wire short but when i conected my volt tester to the wires in the trunk they worked.

so im at my whits end with this.

the car is a 92 coupe with sr20 . im good with wires but everything checks out so SOMEONE HELP PLEASE .

[Jhester]

I had similar issues. You def. have a short. Pull the wiring diagrams and find the wires running over the steering column. There is a common issue when the steering wheel moves over time it wears down the insulation on wiring, causing the short.

[SoguRacing]

are you sure it's not causing an open?

[Jhester]

a wire with voltage (+) that makes contact with ground (-) is a short not an open.

[D.Adams]

well ill try what you posted. i am pulling the whole dash and interior out of my car tomorrow. i have had nothing but bad wiring issue's with this car. i dont know who decided to use radio wire for allot of the wiring in this car but im starting to get really pissed. i have only had this car for a lil over a month and had the dash out 2 times to fix the wiring.

[s13 @ fullboost]

its a short I would look for any frayed wire test for voltage drops in the circuit DVOM is your best friend best of luck.

[M11's]

take out your light stem switch on steering column and clean the relay connections.

[Jhester]

im telling you that my issue was almost identical man. Even down to the speaker wire. Before you do anything i would invest in a couple spools of auto grade wire and a soldering iron. ill locate the wiring diagrams i used tho to help man.

[D.Adams]

im telling you that my issue was almost identical man. Even down to the speaker wire. Before you do anything i would invest in a couple spools of auto grade wire and a soldering iron. ill locate the wiring diagrams i used tho to help man.



thank you. i have the wire and the iron and heat shrink. yea please locate the diagram that will be allot of help . im going to pull my car apart tomorrow the sun roof also has a issue. this sucks ass .

[projectRDM]

take out your light stem switch on steering column and clean the relay connections.

The lighting switch has nothing to do with the brake lights. Nothing.

The brake light circuit is super simple, power feeds the brake switch from a fuse in the interior box, then triggers the lights when depressed. There is nothing else in the circuit.

So if you have power at the fuse and at the switch, and power coming from the switch when depressed, there's a problem in the harness going to the rear of the car.

[g6civcx]

Open up the FSM. EL section.

There is a 15A fuse in the underdash fusebox. This fuse has constant power.

Power goes to the stop lamp switch under the brake pedal bracket. When you hit the brakes, the switch closes the circuit and sends power to the brake lights.

It's simple. Check all your fuses and wires. Then check the switch.

[D.Adams]

well got it fixed. thank you guys for your post's they did help on locating the issue.

i had to re wire the brake fuse on the fuse block. when the last owner of the car put the seats in it he decided to bolt the seat on top of the harness. This caused 3 wires to get cut and short out. but all is well and i have brake lights again.

thank you

[Jhester]

good work man. always a fight....

[D.Adams]

good work man. always a fight....


thank you for the help . took a good part of my day to get it done ..

[g6civcx]

In the future, learn how to use a multimeter.

Unplug both terminals of the battery.

Pull the 15A fuse for the brake lights from the underdash fusebox.

Use the multimeter to measure continuity between the battery terminal ring and the 15A fuse terminal. If no continuity, then the wire is broken.

Do the same for the other side of the terminal and the brake switch terminal. Check the switch for continuity between the 2 poles when you hit the switch.

Then check the other terminal of the switch to the taillight bulb terminal. Check both pins of the bulb itself. Then bulb terminal to ground.

Any broken continuity means that wire is broken. Fix the broken wire or run a new wire.

[D.Adams]

In the future, learn how to use a multimeter.

Unplug both terminals of the battery.

Pull the 15A fuse for the brake lights from the underdash fusebox.

Use the multimeter to measure continuity between the battery terminal ring and the 15A fuse terminal. If no continuity, then the wire is broken.

Do the same for the other side of the terminal and the brake switch terminal. Check the switch for continuity between the 2 poles when you hit the switch.

Then check the other terminal of the switch to the taillight bulb terminal. Check both pins of the bulb itself. Then bulb terminal to ground.

Any broken continuity means that wire is broken. Fix the broken wire or run a new wire.

i did use a multimeter this is how i found out that it was broken wires and not the switch itself. thanks for the help though .

this is what i get for buying someone else's project car but hay what can you do when you bought the car for way under what its worth .