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Driver's side brake light not getting any power.

Tiny
JNIEBORG
  • MEMBER
  • 2003 SATURN L200
  • 68,000 MILES
The driver's side brake light on my 2003 L200 is not working. I checked the bulb & fuse and they were both fine.
Next, I removed the driver's side brake switch and used a tester to confirm that the circuit is closing when I press in the plunger. That was working.

So I went to the wiring socket and checked power there using the tester. On the driver's side socket, the pink wire is only showing.03 volts.
Same test on the passenger side wiring socket gets 12 volts.

I got under the dash and followed the pink wire from the wiring harness all the way to the wall to the engine compartment and there were no breaks or tears in the wire.

So, is there a fusible link somewhere between the fuse and the brake light switch socket that I can check? I'm at my wits end with this one.

The only other option I can think of is to try and jump the hotwire from the passenger-side switch to the driver's side switch to get the brake light working.

Thanks.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 3:21 AM

12 Replies

Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,192 POSTS
No fuseable links. You need to continue following the wire to see where the power loss is. Since one side works, chances are the power loss is in the rear.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 3:23 AM
Tiny
JNIEBORG
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Oops, correction above:
"I removed the driver's side brake switch and used a tester to confirm that the circuit is closing when I press in the plunger"
Should say
"I removed the driver's side brake switch and used a tester to confirm that the circuit is open when I press in the plunger & closed when I release it"
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 3:24 AM
Tiny
JACOBANDNICKOLAS
  • MECHANIC
  • 108,192 POSTS
Is it working?
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 3:43 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
Just to add to this one that wouldnt be a bad idea to jump the power from the right side output of the brake switch to left that would test the wire all the back. Also have you checked for power to the left side brake light wire coming out of the brake switch while pushing the brake pedal down?Thats the first thing I would check. Also was the car ever towed behind a motor home?I have seen those cars towed and they wire them to the motor homes and put in diodes in the brake light circuits of thr car. The diodes fail over time leaving the brake lights inop.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 6:21 PM
Tiny
JNIEBORG
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
@ Jacobandnickolas
- The brake switch is working fine. First using the tester, then as a second test, I swapped the left switch with the right switch and the right brake lights worked, but left still didn't when I used the switch from the right side.

@ saturntech9
- For that test, it sounds like I'd be checking that the switch is working properly, is that correct? If so, then I think that the switch works as you can see in my response to Jacobandnickolas. As for towing, I bought it new and never had it towed or wired for different brake lights.

However, I do recall that my wife backed into* our trash can last summer and broke the tail light cover.

*'backed into' as in: gunned it out of the driveway, completely ran that sucker over, knocked it down and got it stuck under the car between the left rear wheel well and left quarter panel.

So, I'm thinking maybe a short is happening at the tail light. Any thoughts on how I'd test for that?
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 7:15 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
You only have one brake switch the other switch is for the cruise control. Also there is a orange wire coming into the brake switch that is the power feed from the fuse. Then when when stepping on the brake you should have power on the light blue wire coming out of the brake switch. Check that and let me know what you find.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 7:30 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
Also check and see if you have power to the left brake light blub light blue wire at the tail light socket while stepping on the brake.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 7:33 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
Take a look where that pink wire you were chasing goes to the cruise brake switch not the actual brake switch that turns your brake lights on while stepping on the brake.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 7:40 PM
Tiny
JNIEBORG
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Thanks for that diagram. I wasn't thinking about the cruise control brake switch. I'll double check when I get home tonight.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 9:17 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
Your welcome please get me the answers to the questions I just asked you.
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Wednesday, December 21st, 2011 AT 9:20 PM
Tiny
JNIEBORG
  • MEMBER
  • 5 POSTS
Checked last night. I was following the wire for the cruise control brake switch. I tested for power at the tail light light blue wire and was getting 12v. But still no brake light. So I pulled the bulb again and tested the contacts. It turns out when my wife & son replaced the light bulb, they used the wrong size bulb and bent one of the contacts in the socket. So when I used the correct bulb, no contact was made. I bent the contact back into place and it's all good now

Thanks everyone for your help.
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 2:48 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
Your welcome thats what were here for. Alright thats why I wanted you to see if there was power at the socket I have seen a lot of those terminals at the socket on the L and ion saturns.
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Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 AT 6:30 PM

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