3rd brake light issues.

Hello, the 87IROCZ I picked up has the 3rd brake light in the spoiler. Anyway, I've replaced all the bulbs, NAPA says they are the right ones, but they differ slightly from the originals. Despite having power coming into the 5 bulb assembly, it does not light. With the lights out, it has power, but not with them in. Would I be correct in assuming that the bulbs are wrong?

(Does anyone know what the correct number would be?)

The fog lights do not work either. With the switch turned on, there is no power at the connector. What is the next thing to test? The switch? Is there a common point of failure in that circuit?

is there ground present at the third brake light?

Originally posted by 2camaros
Hello, the 87IROCZ I picked up has the 3rd brake light in the spoiler. Anyway, I've replaced all the bulbs, NAPA says they are the right ones, but they differ slightly from the originals. Despite having power coming into the 5 bulb assembly, it does not light. With the lights out, it has power, but not with them in. Would I be correct in assuming that the bulbs are wrong?

(Does anyone know what the correct number would be?)

The fog lights do not work either. With the switch turned on, there is no power at the connector. What is the next thing to test? The switch? Is there a common point of failure in that circuit?

I don't think your problem is the bulbs,as I have been useing 20wAC bulbs in mine for eight years and they work just fine and don't burn out as fast and are like half the price. I would check for a bad ground and make sure your deck is closed when you check it for power.
As for you fog lights you do know that the parking lights have to be on before they will work,right? If they don't then check the connection at the head-light switch,and then look for broken or disconneted wires ,and burned-out bulbs/fuses. Also one last thing don't handle any of these bulbs with your bare hands ,that is almost instant death for them. Good Luck ! :)

You most likely spent what? $50 bucks on bulbs as well right?

Well go to Radio shack & pay $2 for a pack of 2 bulbs.
p/n 272-1177 12V 20watt 2 pin base halogen

The spoiler bulb sockets didn't have the corrosion preventing grease in them and the sockets sometimes corroded up, try cleaning them...also clean the contact on the hatch and the pads where they contact on the trunk edge. If the hatch has been "slammed" alot, the hatch spring loaded contact might have broken the plastic and needs replaced..

Originally posted by Dave89IROC
is there ground present at the third brake light?

There are two wires, a hot wire and a ground wire.

Originally posted by IROC-T
I don't think your problem is the bulbs,as I have been useing 20wAC bulbs in mine for eight years and they work just fine and don't burn out as fast and are like half the price. I would check for a bad ground and make sure your deck is closed when you check it for power.
As for you fog lights you do know that the parking lights have to be on before they will work,right? If they don't then check the connection at the head-light switch,and then look for broken or disconneted wires ,and burned-out bulbs/fuses. Also one last thing don't handle any of these bulbs with your bare hands ,that is almost instant death for them. Good Luck ! :)

Yes I know the back has to be closed, it gets power at the actual connector for the lights, but the lights dont come on. I picked up the replacement bulbs at NAPA, 90 cents/each. (GM wanted to sell me halogen replacements @ $15/each! :mad:

According to me and a guy that has been a mechanic for 6 years there is absolutely no reason why it should not work

As for the fog lights, yes I know the parking lights need to be on. I really have done only the most basic troubleshooting on them so far because of the rear brake light issue.

If all else fails, I think I'm going to buy another middle spoiler section, bondo that light in, and paint it to pass the inspection. This state is just retarded, if you have the 2 required functional brake lights, why do you need a 3rd?

Originally posted by 90rocz
The spoiler bulb sockets didn't have the corrosion preventing grease in them and the sockets sometimes corroded up, try cleaning them...also clean the contact on the hatch and the pads where they contact on the trunk edge. If the hatch has been "slammed" alot, the hatch spring loaded contact might have broken the plastic and needs replaced..

I was thinking of looking for a replacement brake light assembly, there are spoilers for sale on ebay, but despite showing it in the picture, it doesnt come with it. :confused: Oh well, like I said, if all else fails, I'll buy another one and bondo the damn thing in and paint it. Hopefully that will pass the inspection, what they dont know wont hurt me.

I pass inspection with the 3rd light burnt out. I don't think most places will notice it missing.

If you remove the bulbs and can measure voltage with a volt meter but it won't light the bulbs, it sounds like a "high resistance" contact. Meaning, a volt meter wont draw much current so the voltage tests as good. But a bulb draws much more current and somewhere there is resistance that is limiting the current it will handle (which causes a voltage drop and no light). I'd suspect the contacts on the hatch are dirty or not making a real good connection (oxidized, etc).

My thoughts.

I took the light assembly and jumped it to a battery, all lights worked. Aparently I have a bad ground somewhere. Yes most states dont care about that 3rd light, but Delaware is a whole differant bag of apples, trust me.

I fixed the emmissions issues, I might try to get it reinspected today and hope they dont notice/care. Failing that, I might just run a ground wire to the light to pass inspection and solve the problem later.

Originally posted by 2camaros
I took the light assembly and jumped it to a battery, all lights worked. Aparently I have a bad ground somewhere. Yes most states dont care about that 3rd light, but Delaware is a whole differant bag of apples, trust me.

I fixed the emmissions issues, I might try to get it reinspected today and hope they dont notice/care. Failing that, I might just run a ground wire to the light to pass inspection and solve the problem later.

Now, do you measure 12 V and ground at the contact plate in the rear? If so, I'd suspect dirty contacts. They are touching, but not making a good connection.

Originally posted by trackbird
Now, do you measure 12 V and ground at the contact plate in the rear? If so, I'd suspect dirty contacts. They are touching, but not making a good connection.

I'll have to look into that when I actually fix it. Right now I'm probably going to rig it with a new ground wire to pass inspection.

You should be able to re-ground the wire from the plate in the rear just by removing the back panel and hooking it to the chassis somewhere. You may fix it that way and save having to do anything temporary.

Good luck!

Originally posted by trackbird
You should be able to re-ground the wire from the plate in the rear just by removing the back panel and hooking it to the chassis somewhere. You may fix it that way and save having to do anything temporary.

Good luck!

You mean the part below the hatch? It looks like that section gets its ground from the hatch pull down motor.

I think it is bolted to the hatch pulldown motor. You could remove and reconnect it (may be oxidized and not making a good connection) or move it, or tie a ground to it if you had to and connect it to the body back there as well.


Also, try cleaning the contacts on the hatch "plate" with a pencil eraser. If those are dirty, that may be all you need.

Originally posted by trackbird
Also, try cleaning the contacts on the hatch "plate" with a pencil eraser. If those are dirty, that may be all you need.

i HAD TO USE A SCREWDRIVER AND SCRATCH IT UP GOOD ON MINE, I THEN WIPED ON SOME DIELECTRIC GREASE TO TRYU AND KEEP IN FROM CORRODING AGAIN




sorry for the caps, didn't see it till too late

Thanks guys I'm going to try to work on it today or tomorrow.

Well Im at a total loss. I ran another ground from maybe 3 inches away from the brake light connector to the power latch ground. (going to rig it to pass the inspection) Anyway, the damn light still doesnt work, I know I got the correct wire because a test light indicates power at the correct wire when the brake pedal is depressed and the other lights on. Im out of ideas.

Originally posted by 2camaros
Well Im at a total loss. I ran another ground from maybe 3 inches away from the brake light connector to the power latch ground. (going to rig it to pass the inspection) Anyway, the damn light still doesnt work, I know I got the correct wire because a test light indicates power at the correct wire when the brake pedal is depressed and the other lights on. Im out of ideas.

Only idea I can think of is make sure the pins on the bulb are making contact in the socket holes, some times bulbs may look the same,but are differant. If the pins on the new bulbs are thinner than the old ones or spaced differantly they may not be making contact. Try putting a slight bend in the pin to make it a tighter fit. Also try resoldering the wires at the light block ,some times they may look good to the naked eye but are corroded in the solder. :confused:

Foglights was a bad relay, $10 later I'm back in business. (Thanks to GK from 3rdgen.org for help with the location) After 2 hrs or so of troubleshooting, splicing wires and the like, keep it simple stupid rang true. Apparently the bulbs (brakelight) are wrong.

Well 1 of 2 isnt bad, hopefully with some new bulbs it will be back to 100% asap.

i really didnt read that whole thread cause i just... well i didnt feel like it. but i had the same problem. i didnt replace any of the bulbs. I pulled them out and ran an ohms check on the whole assembly and came back with a possitive reading, so that told me that at least one light should come on if it has power. well, I started lookin around and it took me about 10 minutes or so of using a test light till i finally figured it out. on the rear piece of the trunk where the back panel is (where the hatch motor is mounted) is also where the rear light gets its power (you'll notice a 4 section panel that transfers power from the body of the car to the trunk hatch) well it was dirty and using a test light it showed good, but inside the trunk hatch there was no power, so i got some rubbing alcohol and a Q tip and scrubbed it for about 1 minute and it worked great from then on out. make sure you dont overlook that.

If the bulb change doesn't fix it put a new brakelight switch in it. The 3rd brakelight has it's own dedicated contact inside the switch (seperate from the contact for the regular brakelights) and that may be corroded or dirty.

If new bulbs doesn't fix the damn thing, I'm going to put a 3rd brake light-less spoiler on it to pass inspection. :o