High mount, 3rd brake light is not working
#1
High mount, 3rd brake light is not working
My 3rd brake light is out, not sure if its a wiring issue or if the led's have gone bad. I read a thread on here before on how to track down the problem I just cant find the thread. How do I test the light itself to verify if its bad or test the wiring, and were is the wiring for the 3rd brake light. My car wont pass inspection without this being fixed.
Last edited by CWMcGonigal; 10-31-2016 at 12:18 PM.
#2
Join Date: May 2008
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CW, if your tail light stop lights are still working, then you have either a wiring issue or a bad LED assembly. This is where you would need to pull back on the headliner some to expose the plug for the 3rd brake light. Unplug it and then connect a multimeter or a 12VDC bulb between the 2 prongs of the plug. If you get 12VDC (or the light lights), then you have confirmed a bad 3rd brake light. If you don't get 12VDC or the light doesn't light, then set a multimeter to resistance and find the black wire side of the plug. do a resistance check between the plug and chassis ground. You should get a very low resistance (ie, under 5 ohms). if you are getting over 5 ohms, then this confirms a bad ground wire. If you are not getting 12VDC with a good ground wire, then the power wire (orange wire with a green stripe) is bad and you will have to hand over hand the wiring to find the bad spot. Now, if you have reached this point, has someone done some work inside the interior of the car (specifically in the headliner or down the left hand side of the car at the door sills? If so, they may have damaged a wire as they were putting things back together.
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CWMcGonigal (11-01-2016)