Brake light problem

IDI_AMIN

Hey everyone i seem to have a problem with brake lights they are not working . i have checked all fuses possible inside there are a few big ones under the bonnet but they all seem fine.the only other possibility i can think of is it could be the brake light switch under the pedal or a relay ,would i be correct or if anyone else knows what it could be you can let me know

IDI_AMIN

Have i answered this question myself

evocarlos

did you check the bulbs ? to make sure the filaments are intact
you could always multy meter the bulb socket with some one pressing the pedal that way you would know if the bulbs were getting power

IDI_AMIN

I checked the bulbs carlos they looked intact but i have not tried multimeter yet its worth a try before shelling out 20 quid on a brakelight switch. But i think they are double filament bulbs that do regular lights and brakes together so im sure they are getting power to them but will double check all that again

evocarlos

in the rear cluster only the earth is shared between all the bulbs the side and brake v+ will be separate circuits so even if the side bulb works in the same stop/tail bulb the stop filament could still be gone if you know what i mean 🙂

IDI_AMIN

oki doki will need to check it tomorrow in the daylight cheers anyway

MikeS

multimeter with someone pressing brake pedal, also provide it a separate earth rather than the loom when testing

IDI_AMIN

Cheers mike all tips gratefully received

evocarlos

heres the bulb layout
the top 2 pins on the socket are the stop/tail
the 4th is the earth you can see in the pic its connected to all bulbs

the cluster is upside down in the pic so bottom 2 in the pic and top 2 in the car 🙂

IDI_AMIN

ok thanks carlos i need to analyze the fitments more maybe one of these earths has burnt away or something causing the brake lights to fail

jwalker

What car is it?

IDI_AMIN

vectra b sri . i was just thinking this brake cluster carlos is showing looks different from mine i think he is showing an astra one

evocarlos

ahh yeah its an astra one but will be of similar design on the vectra
it was only really so you can see the layout of the cluster to better understand the wire connections for putting the multi meter on

IDI_AMIN

suppose it will be same principles just need to check they strips are intact i suspect maybe one of them has burnt away or rusted something like that

jwalker

The wire to the brake lights is black/yellow, check for voltage with someone pressing the pedal. If still no luck there is a connector in the passenger footwell you can check as the brake switch wiring runs to it

IDI_AMIN

I will check that also but do you know of symptoms if the brake light switch under the brake pedal is faulty can you also check that with a volt meter

evocarlos

you could check the switch with it removed and then putting the probes on the terminals
the multi meter would have to be set on the resistance setting
it will give _ _ _ _ with the switch not pressed and 0000 - 0001 with it pressed
if its broken you would only get _ _ _ _ from both positions of the switch

IDI_AMIN

This has been sorted turns out some dirty mother f****er took the fuse out while it was in the garage no brake light switch or voltmeter needed

MikeS

hmm and you didn't check this first 🙂

IDI_AMIN

I know seems a bit daft but i only checked all available fuses and none were broken i never suspected malicious foul play it was in my uncles garage after all must have been some other shifty cunt that goes in there jealous of my wheels

Jealousy is the tribute mediocrity pays to genius.
Fulton J. Sheen