Brake lights not working

[NMviperguy]

Hello everyone!

Been awhile since I've posted. I did a search for brake lights not working and couldn't find anything specifically for this issue. I was told about 9 months ago my brake lights weren't working by someone in traffic. I drove her home and completely forgot about it. I've driven her a hand full of times since then, but shes mostly been in hibernation due to the pandemic and me not driving much. I finally remembered yesterday and have been working to resolve the issue. It is all 3 brake lights so I figured it was the brake light switch. Swapped it out today and no luck. I checked the fuse which looked good so to make sure swapped it with the same size known good a/c fuse and still nada. So I got some bulbs and swapped them out to no avail. I don't know where to go next. Any ideas or direction would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Jesse K.

[Florida04]

Hi,
Had a similar issue in another car and found it to be a bad ground. I don’t have a wiring diagram in front of me but with the battery in the trunk I would use a test light to see if you are getting power at the bulb by using the negative battery post to positive tail bulb connection. Then test if you are getting power at the new switch.

Also are any of the tail lights working while the headlights are on ?
Hope this helps
Ralph

[NMviperguy]

Hi,
Had a similar issue in another car and found it to be a bad ground. I don’t have a wiring diagram in front of me but with the battery in the trunk I would use a test light to see if you are getting power at the bulb by using the negative battery post to positive tail bulb connection. Then test if you are getting power at the new switch.

Also are any of the tail lights working while the headlights are on ?
Hope this helps
Ralph

Tail lights work and so do turn signals. I figured it might be a random ground or something but was hoping it was something easier... I will test the bulb today and see what I can find out. Thanks!

[NMviperguy]

Well... Update, I checked the full undercarriage of the car for any loose or frayed wires. Everything checked out. Checked under the hood, all good. Went back to the brake light switch itself and disconnected the wire harness. It has 4 wires going to it. I connected a test light to the ground on the wire harness and checked the other 3 wires to see if it was getting power. It is, so I then used 2 test wires to connect the remaining 2 wires in the harness to the hot wire and poof my brake lights are on... This tells me that the culprit has to be the brake light switch right? Nope. I just warranty swapped the brake light switch and still no brake lights when pressing the pedal... I'm at a loss at this point. I can verify ground and hot are good and if I connect the other to to the hot the brake lights work. This tells me wiring after the switch is also good. Where do I go from here?

[SRT_BluByU]

Maybe the adjustment for the switch is off.. brake light switches need to have the position set.

[Florida04]

Seems to be a problem with the connection at the switch or an adjustment issue as stated previously. Any way of plugging the switch and manually pushing the switch to see if the lights work? Is the locking pin pushed correctly ?
This is the pin that holds the connection in place. If it’s pushed in your not making a good connection. It’s not the easiest to get there, have to be a contortionist!
Hope this helps

[AZTVR]

Maybe the adjustment for the switch is off.. brake light switches need to have the position set.

In reference to the comment above, here are the instructions from the 2005 service manual, in case the OP was not aware of them.
Brake lamp switch install.jpg

[Ramtuff]

This info was also posted for him on another site.

[NMviperguy]

Seems to be a problem with the connection at the switch or an adjustment issue as stated previously. Any way of plugging the switch and manually pushing the switch to see if the lights work? Is the locking pin pushed correctly ?
This is the pin that holds the connection in place. If it’s pushed in your not making a good connection. It’s not the easiest to get there, have to be a contortionist!
Hope this helps

I definitely think its a connection issue. I was able to get ahold of a 3rd switch and tried it not connected to the car with no change. A buddy of mine suggested I replace the wire plug for the switch since we can make the brake lights go on when we bypass the switch. I ordered it yesterday. It should arrive today. I hope this works!

- - - Updated - - -

In reference to the comment above, here are the instructions from the 2005 service manual, in case the OP was not aware of them.
Brake lamp switch install.jpg

Thank you!

[NMviperguy]

New plug did not work. I still don't have brake lights.

[FrankBarba]

When this happened in my 95 we could not find the problem of no brake lights.
A guy stopped by so I could continue racing. He ran a wire from the brake switch to the Light.
It's a great fit for the track but on the street you'd have to remove all panels

Contact Tom Sessions or The Viper Wizard (Chuck Tator), unless someone else chimes in.

[SRT_BluByU]

Just hit 4up the dealer.. youve probably spend more throwing parts at it than the actual repair cost. It sounds an awful lot like switch not adjusted correctly.