ChrisFrez

I'm stumped here, so i'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction. I took my 95 Z28 out for a show this past weekend, and discovered my brake lights aren't working.

The tail lights work when I turn the lights on, the hazards work, the blinkers work, the backup lights work - it's just the brakes. I did have my third brake light working this weekend, but when I went outside to start troubleshooting the problem this evening I can't even get my third brake light working either.

I checked all fuses, looked good. I started replacing some bulbs, but those looked good as well.

I'm stumped here. Any suggestions?

shoebox

First place I would look is the brake light switch on the pedal. Then check the long connector attached at the base of the steering column. Schematic.

JimMueller

I've got the same problem, except my center-mount brake light works OK - which makes me think the brake switch is fine on mine. Just odd that both went out simultaneously.

shoebox

There are two sets of contacts in the brake light switch. The CHMSL (Center High Mounted Stop Lamp) is on one set and the tail lamps on another. So one could work and the other not.

ChrisFrez

Thanks for the suggestion, i'll go ahead and check that next. Is the brake light switch something pretty obvious to check?

slowpoke96z28

do these cars have a elecronic brake control module? it may have lost its brake switch input. if it does have this type of setup. also make sure the ground for the lights themselves didn't come loose.

JimMueller

I believe the brake light switch is just like the clutch switch... that being a spring-loaded plastic switch which compresses when the pedals are that their normal height, and extends when they are depressed. If it is disconnected or not fully extending/compressing, it'll get confused. I've had that issue with my cruise control not working because it thought the clutch was always depressed :-)

shoebox

Yeah, it's pretty simple. Pic

JimMueller

Did you isolate your issue, Chris? I checked both my pedal switches and they seem to be OK.

ChrisFrez

I haven't had a chance to pull out my 95 Z to check it out. I plan on doing it this week as i'm on vacation.

MacPHYST

OK, so I'm bringing back an old thread. I'm having the same problem as mentioned above. My tail lights will come on, my flashers will work, my hazards will work and my third brakelight works. It's just that when I hit my brake pedal, my brake lights will not come on. Have any of you with these problems ever figure out what was wrong?