I failed DMV inspection today because my passenger side stop/brake light does not work when the headlights are on. I have been driving around for who knows how long blissfully ignorant of the situation. With the headlights off, the brake lights work fine. With the headlights on, the driver brake light and the third brake light both work fine, but the driver side does not.
On the passenger side, there is a white ground wire. I suspected it was not properly grounded, so I ground down a part of the frame to bare metal and made sure that connection is good. I think it is good now.....but I'm no electrician. I've been in the garage much of the afternoon trying to troubleshoot this thing, but I'm getting nowhere.
My back is against the wall -- my registration is about to expire. Can anyone assist? 302-270-4884 cell.
Stop Light Problem....Help!
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Sounds like a ground issue.
Don't know what the white wire would be.
The tail lights are grounded thru the studs into the tub.
Did you remove the lights to have it painted?
Make sure they are making good contact to bare metal.
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Just thinking out loud but is it possible someone put a single filament bulb in there?
I forget what bulbs TJ's use (maybe 1157's or something similar) but if you put a single filament bulb in place of a double, things like what you are describing can happen. -
Bill and Keith, both are good thoughts and I will investigate both ideas. Frankly, the passenger side ground wire did look very suspect, so I think I've now got that sucker properly hooked up. Will now go out and check the driver side ground, then look under the dash at the brake switch. Not quite sure what I'm looking for there, but seems like a good idea. Will also compare the driver side and passenger side bulbs very closely.
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I'd put my money on the ground as previously mentioned but also could be the multifunction switch in the steering column. It does all kinds of weird stuff when it goes.
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