Brake light malfunctioning
05-22-2003, 05:00 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 964
Brake light malfunctioning
Hey fellas, my friend has an 89 GXE Maxima for some reason one of the 2 driver side brake lights will not light up. We have replaced the bulbs but nothing. What should we do now? Does the wiring harness need to be replaced? One one else have this problem I have seen quite a few 3rd gens with the same problem. Help us out thanks!!!
05-23-2003, 04:59 AM
#4
Junior Member
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 25
You are right I looked at the wiring diagram. I thought they might have been wired separately from the switch out, but they are not.
The wiring diagram shows that the power (+) line first goes to one bulb then the other, the power (+) goes through the bulb filament then goes to ground, the ground (-) is the socket that holds the bulb. There is either a damaged spring loaded contact in the bottom of bulb socket, or you got a bad new bulb, or the wire leading to that bulb is broken somewhere, after, where it splits to power the other bulb, Or the ground line, the steel socket that the bulb is held on with in not grounded (-). Sometimes tailights fill with rain water and the bulb sockets or contacts at the base get oxidized or rusty. You can test the wiring without cutting any wires. A simple test light with 2 contacts should help you find the break in the circuit. There are either one or 2 contacts at the base inside the socket which power that bulb. If the brake is on and there is power to that contact then your problem is the grounding of that socket. Good Luck
The wiring diagram shows that the power (+) line first goes to one bulb then the other, the power (+) goes through the bulb filament then goes to ground, the ground (-) is the socket that holds the bulb. There is either a damaged spring loaded contact in the bottom of bulb socket, or you got a bad new bulb, or the wire leading to that bulb is broken somewhere, after, where it splits to power the other bulb, Or the ground line, the steel socket that the bulb is held on with in not grounded (-). Sometimes tailights fill with rain water and the bulb sockets or contacts at the base get oxidized or rusty. You can test the wiring without cutting any wires. A simple test light with 2 contacts should help you find the break in the circuit. There are either one or 2 contacts at the base inside the socket which power that bulb. If the brake is on and there is power to that contact then your problem is the grounding of that socket. Good Luck
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