# Brake Light Gremlin!!!! HELP!!!!



## BlackedOutAltima (Mar 25, 2004)

I have a '95 Altima GXE. I bought it about a month ago and the brake lights were (all) out. I replaced the bulbs and nothing. Then I replaced the brake light switch. Worked for about a day and then out again. I then replaced the switch again and the same thing....worked for a few days and then intermittently, if at all. Next, I checked for power at the switch, which was present and the fuse is fine. This time I ran a new lead from the switch directly to the lights (my mechanic told me there could be a short in the lead, possibly from when the car was built and the harness pulled through....which I would never see). That worked great!!!....for a day and again they work intermittently if at all. One more thing, they seem to work great when the car is not running for some reason. What else can I possibly check? PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

hard to tell... electrical gremlins can be a royal pain. you can start with the basics - check all of your wiring with particular detail to the grounds... with them being intermittent, im thinking loose wire. check behind the in cab fusebox as well as the underhood fuse and relay boxes to see if there is a loose wire. you may even have an overheating relay... check your haynes to see which one it is and swap it out with another and see what happens. im also wondering, do your normal running lights work, or are they intermittent as well?

btw, the only reason i didnt mention multi meter is im trying to keep it basic and you already stated that it worked when you ran the extra wire. its the intermittentness after the extra wire thats making me think you have an overheating relay.


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## BlackedOutAltima (Mar 25, 2004)

Thanks for the info....the only problem is according to my Haynes manual, there is no relay for the brake light circuit, only the fuse. Is it possible though that a different relay could "affect" the brake light circuit somehow? I did check the grounds at the rear mounted to the body and they're fine. My guess now is it's somewhere from the main harness into the fuse box and out to the switch. Would it be possible to simply run a new lead directly from the battery (by-passing the fuse box) and into the switch? Although, I guess if it is a grounding problem that wouldn't solve anything either....any thoughts?? Oh yeah, the normal lights (all of them) work fine too, no intermittentness at all with them


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## Asleep (Jan 19, 2003)

what did the connectors on the brake light switch look like? were they in good condition? as far as you could tell? i wasnt aware of there not being a relay so thats actually a good thing. do you have anything else on your vehicle that is wired into the existing wires? im just trying to get an idea here of where you are at with this vehicle... check the wires going into the brake light switch and see what kind of voltage it is putting out. should be a strong 12volts. then while you are still checking that voltage, move around some of the wire bundles under the dash. i had an intermittent brake light switch problem about a month ago and i tried to change it out. i didnt realize that i was mistakenly trying to replace the clutch switch(cruise control off switch). once i replaced the actual switch, my problem was solved.


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## KA24Tech (Feb 2, 2004)

I have a few questions about your car; 
Is there a 15A fuse in the fuse panel? I higher it may be covering up for this problem. If it is a higher amperage fuse take it out and replace it with a 15A automotive circuit breaker. 
Have you tried to measure the resistance of the wire from the switch to ground? Try to remove all the bulbs, even the third brake light bulbs, since they have a low measured resistance.
Does it have a rear spoiler? An automatic transmission? These are tied into the same circuit.

Troy


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