[sp4149]

Our 95 Cab has an intermittent rear brake light problem, the left rear light is not lighting at times when on the highway or street, but of course works flawlessly when checked in the driveway or garage. Anybody have a similar problem?

I have been told my two separate drivers who had been following me, that the one brake light was not coming on, but when I check everything is fine.

-sp4149

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[968workaholic]

Sounds like a loose connection. Check the connector harness as well as the socket that the bulb goes into. There may be some corrosion on the bulb socket, causing it not to work sometimes. Of course it is always working when you are checking it <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[unknown4u]

Must be a loose bulb....

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[oppositelock]

Generally this is a loose bulb. Use a small right angle pick and CAREFULLY pry up the positive (bottom tang) connection a small amount and also pry out the negative (metal sleeve surounding bulb) in one spot a small amount. The amounts are small, just enough to apply tension. Too much and bulb will not fit.

Mitch

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[Darryl]

[quote name='oppositelock' post='43714' date='Nov 17 2007, 02:28 PM']Generally this is a loose bulb. Use a small right angle pick and CAREFULLY pry up the positive (bottom tang) connection a small amount and also pry out the negative (metal sleeve surounding bulb) in one spot a small amount. The amounts are small, just enough to apply tension. Too much and bulb will not fit.

Mitch[/quote]



After you pry it up, take a pencil eraser to it and/or some electrical contact cleaner spray. If that is indeed the problem, all of these suggestions together will make it good as new!



- Darryl

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[sp4149]

[quote name='Darryl' post='43716' date='Nov 17 2007, 11:44 AM']After you pry it up, take a pencil eraser to it and/or some electrical contact cleaner spray. If that is indeed the problem, all of these suggestions together will make it good as new!



- Darryl[/quote]

When I checked the left rear again, all the lights are out, with the brake on, but the lights work when the turn signal and tail lights are on. Looking at the wiring it looks like the brake lights are wired in series, so that if one bulb fails, the series wiring is broken. One double filament bulb is loose in its base, so it could be that bulb has a broken lead and none of the bulbs in the series will light. It looks like there are 4 bulbs in each rear brake light package. On our Pontiacs the bulbs are wired in parallel so the brake lights work, although dimmer when one fails. Seems better to have 3 of the four bulbs work when one fails. All the sockets looked clean and bright, no corrosion. If a new bulk doesn't work, I'll do some continuity checks on the wiring between bulbs looking for a broken wire.



-sp4149 <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/sad.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[sp4149]

-sp4149 <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />



Replacing the bulb cured the problem, for now.

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[unknown4u]

So it was a cheap and easy repair after all. <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/biggrin.gif" class="smilie" alt="" />

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