Brake Lights Not Working Properly

[Dvas_Romeo]

Hi gals and guys, wanted to see if anybody can help me out here. I had re-installed my factory tail lights last night and after getting home, put the car in \"park\" (including hand brake) and noticed only the left tail light was on. I took the bulbs out to look over them, even switched them (left to right and vice versa) and whanot, and after re-installing again, neither bulb turned on. However, both brake lights do work properly when I actually press the brake pedal.

Any clues? Is it pssibly a coincidence that both bulbs don\'t work and just need to be replaced? Or...?

[Chuckie]

Im sure thats under warranty, as long as they don\'t know that you did something to the tails.

[Dvas_Romeo]

tks chuckie for your input!

as i want to try to fix this myself and only take to the dealer as a last resort, i have a friend who is pretty knowledgeable about cars and he mentioned that the brake lights have 2 separate \"beams\" (i can\'t remember the exact term he used), and it\'s possible that the ones that usually turn on while driving with your headlights on could be broken - in which case a bulb replacement would fix the problem.

it\'s just kind of strange to me that this happened to both bulbs on the same night (albeit one light did disappear before the other as described in my previous post). does anyone know if the above is possible, and if so, what\'s the likelihood of a bulb replacement fixing this problem?

[FLIPDADY]

You can try swapping in new bulbs. Check all the wiring connections.

[McGuyver_3]

probably wont be my suggestion but i would guess and say check your fuses. If im not mistaken the brakelights work on a different fuse as the ones when you turn on your lights. I could be wrong though but its worth a check

[Skarbro]

Sounds like a fuse or the switch.

Although once in my Z24, both headlights blew at the exact same time, which is a hell of a coincidence since they are on separate circuits/fuses.

[Dvas_Romeo]

hi all,

tks for yr suggestions! i replaced both bulbs and everything works fine now! a simple answer to a confusing problem! :)

[Xenon]

I'm going to assume that your taillights are NOT LED.

The rear red taillight bulbs are dual filament. One filament being the taillight, and the other, larger filament being the brake light. It is very possible for only ONE of the two filaments to be burnt out. In this case, it sounds like your right, taillight filament might have been burnt.

[vblanche]

I'm going to assume that your taillights are NOT LED.

The rear red taillight bulbs are dual filament. One filament being the taillight, and the other, larger filament being the brake light. It is very possible for only ONE of the two filaments to be burnt out. In this case, it sounds like your right, taillight filament might have been burnt.
So, you can just swap the bulbs (if same bulb doing taillight and brake light) with LED bulbs?

[Xenon]

You could do that, but be forwarned that LED bulbs are NOT as bright as filiment bulbs in out housings. Your may want to purchase the bulbs from either Myk or Devin, so that you can put in the bulbs and see the light output before you buy it.

In my previous post, when I mentioned I assumed your taillights are not LED, I meant either aftermarket (like Mine) or OEM LED taillights (like the 06+ hatches or 07+ Sedan GT's)

In my opinion, LED bulbs put into the non-LED housing does not provide enough light to be considered safe.

[Wild Weasel]

I tried those LED bulbs once, years ago in the Sunfire. Put them in for a minute, and then promptly took them back out for just this reason.

I'm not sure whether they've improved much since then. With the housing meant to hold a bright white incandescant bulb, the diffusion and translucency pretty much killed the light output of the LED's to the point of being dangerous in the daytime sun.

[vblanche]

Thanks for your comments, that's really helpful...

last question: what about these LED bulbs SMT tower (http://autolumination.com/7443_7440.htm)?