Hi, I’m new to this forum. I have 2016 2ltr xe and am having problems with the nearside brake light. For some reason I have no brake live to the plug at the nearside rear light cluster, I have looked in the book and checked the fuses but there only seems to be one fuse for the whole brake system? Could anyone tell me if there are any more fuses for the brake lights and if not where to go next? I.e brake light switch or a module. Thanks for reading and the help.

 

Sam, what you describe is most likely an issue with the plug at the tail light itself. What I would say to do is to remove the plug and look at both sides. You are looking for plastic that looks melted or the silver pins not silver in color. That would a sign that you have located the problem. After that, if you can get me a set of drawings for your car, I will look at the drawings and give you some electrical checks to narrow things down.

 

Thanks for the advice. I have had a look at what you said and there is no live in the wire coming to the plug for the brake, also thinking about it the stop start no longer works. Don’t know if it’s related. I have Kano the wire from the off side to near side for now to keep me going. Do you think plugging it in at a garage would tell me anything. Also I’ll try and get some drawings for you tomorrow. Thanks for your help.

 

You can get the codes read at any local auto parts store. So, I would save the money and just let the local store read them for you. With no power coming to the plug, then this is telling me that you either have a plug that has come undone (can follow the harness through the trunk area to see if you can find the next plug to see if it is undone or partially undone) or the module that drives the tail lights has given up the ghost. Because of the start/stop function not working, I would be leaning towards the plug. Have you had any repair work done on the back half of the car recently?

 

Just a thought.....
Are the brake lights in the trunk lid or the light assemblies on the wings ? Sometimes the wires can get damaged by the trunk lid action causing them to fret. Other question to ask is - does the high level brake light above the rear screen still work ?

 

That is for the replies. The high level is working just the nearside and stop start that isn’t. The lights are in the wings. Looks like I’ll have to start tracing the wire back fingers crossed the next plug or module isn’t too far back. Thanks for your help. I’ll keep you all updates on what I find.

 

Sam Henryd, you may want to spend around $20 on a circuit tracer. They are normally used for tracing ethernet cables, but they have attachments for following normal wires. It is a two part tool. You connect a transmitter to one end of the wire and then you have an antenna that you put near the wire and it will pick up the signal put on the wire. You simply move down the wire and when the signal stops, you are a few inches past the problem area. If you connect the transmitter on the failed side and you can pick up the signal on he other side of the car, then we know that all the wiring inside the car is good and your problem lies in the tail light.

Speaking of this. Just a silly thought. Have you recently replaced the bulb on that side of the car. As silly as this may sound, if you do not install this bulb just so, it can cause all sorts of grief. I want to say that this bulb has 2 pins on the side that are at different heights. If you put the bulb in "backwards" (ie, the high pin on the low side and the low pin on the high side), it may not make contact like it should and give you funny indications. Something to ponder and look at.