I have an 02 TL-P and have an issue with my brake lights.

Recently I had my windows tinted and the person who tinted it left the top brake light bulbs dangling in the trunk. I popped them back into the casing without a problem and didnt notice a problem at this time. (not sure if this has anything to do with anything but was the last thing I had done to my car prior to the oil change today)

I was informed by a shop today that the rear brake lights no longer illuminate and to my dismay that is indeed the issue and I have checked all the basics. The top brake light in the window still works its just the rears that no longer function.

Fuse appears to be good (under hood labeled Stop). Filament looks good on bulbs. Switch by brake pedal works fine. The guy who tinted disassembled the casing in the back window to tint all the way down and I am not sure if there may a harness or something that had gotten disconnected?

I am still under warrantly but the dealership is 1.5 hours away so I would like to avoid a trip if possible.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

 

go back to the tint guy and tell him to put it together right

replace the fuse with a spare fuse of same color- looks can be wrong
then check for power at the brake switch at the pedal and at the sockets

If something dangling was a hot wire and hit metal ground- it will pop a fuse

 

If it were a fuse issue wouldnt the top light be out as well or is that a seperate fuse? From searching the forum it looks to be the same fuse for the 3 lights

 

I dont know for sure- but I do know that starting with a known good fuse will help- you did not indicate you had run a continuity test on the current one- only - looks ok

then start testing for power at each location- since it does come out of park and 1 brake light works- the switch at the pedal is good,
so from there you want power at the bulb connector. and good bulbs. Again- something swinging loose could have caused a ground/short and popped who knows what- just work thru the system

 

Thanks for the feedback....it is really appreciated.

I am not sure how to run continuity tests and confirm power at the tail. Can you guide me?

 

requires use of 12volt test light and basic electrical test meter

I am guessing you dont have either and really need profesional help
This is not a dealer job - private shop that does auto electrics
And search here for other with similar prob- I have heard of it before but not the fix

 

Make sure that any connectors that connect to the third light are all good.
If that doesn't do it, and you want to troubleshoot it yourself, here's some basics.
A 12 volt test light looks like a screwdriver, except with a a sharp point and a wire out the other end of the handle. You attach the alligator clip at the end of the wire to a good ground (use a bolt into the body that does not have paint on it). When you touch the tip to a source that has 12V, the light in the handle illuminates. They are like $5.00 for a cheap one at Autozone or Harbor Freight or Cragen/Checker/etc; A cheap one is all you need.
Try clipping the lead to some non-painted metal on the engine, and the tip to the + battery connection to make sure it works, and to know what to expect.
Usually, taillight bulbs have 2 filaments, one for running lights and one for brake lights; they both work through the same ground, which is the outside metal base of the bulb. (this is the old school ones, I don't know if the TL uses them, but it should be similar)
Now, the lights.
Connect the clip to a good ground in the trunk.
Remove the bulb from the brake light housing.
Have someone press on the brake.
Touch the tip to the contacts in the bottom of the brake light socket. With the parking lights off, one should make the test light bulb shine. With the parking lights on and the brake depressed, both should make it shine.
If it shines, it's the bulb or the way the bulb was seated in the socket, or a bad ground.
If it doesn't shine, then power is not getting to the contacts (fuse, switch, wires between, etc).
If the test light shows power at the contacts, but a known good bulb doesn't work, then the ground for the brake light housing is bad; I'm not quite sure how it's done on these cars, but the part of the socket that contacts the metal base of the bulb has to be connected to the body somehow.
Be careful with the test light when probing the contacts, if you short the contact(s) to the metal part of the bulb socket with the metal probe of the light, it'll blow the fuse.
If none of this makes sense, then off to the shop you go.
Good Luck and let us know what happens.

 

Thanks Sandy it makes perfect sense. I will give it a go and will let you know how it goes and if I find anything. Great instructions and I now know where to go from here.

 

Pretty much every thing that every one said is what i would try. Have you inspected the bulbs themselves to see that they are good. There arent any harnesses that should have been disconnected.Every thing is in the trunk, make sure every thing is plugged in. There shouldnt be a reason its not working

 

Well I swapped fuses....still no good.

Cheacked filament in all 4 bulbs and that are all fine.

I pulled apart the covers in the trunk to look at how things are set up and test the wires and it would appear that there is no power making it to the brake lights in the back. However the running lights work fine.

I noticed there are two extra connectors in the drivers side lighting assembly. One I would presume is for towing but does anyone know what the other is for?

One is green and one is gray and neither are connected. They split off from the same point.

Any ideas?

 

should be 4 wires there - possibly in a squre/block configuration for the trailer lights to hook in to

When you say it appears ther is no power---Did you get the 12v test light and there is no power at the sockets when friend pushed brake pedal?
Buy 1 set of bulbs to be sure- they come in a 2 pack

 

Yep I did just as Sandy suggested. Tests were good from running lights but brakes gave me nothing.

There are two plastic blocks not attached to anything. One labelled for trailer and the other not labeled but no obvious place to put them. Wish I had a place to upload a pic I would show you.

 

I just looked a little closer and the two block type plastic harnesses have 6 pins on them. One is blue and is labelled for towing and one is gray and has only 5 wires on it.

I do not see any place to put the gray one. Could both these be for towing or for towing different types of wiring harnesses?

This is how both harnesses look aside from the colow and one has 6 wires and one has 5 connected to it.

|X X X X|
|X ---- X|

 

I think you are missing something in plain sight-
no one was inside the light area to disconnect anything recently so lets lets focus on the path of electricty to the brake lights

You do have 3rd brake light function still correct? And what wires were you thinking got cut during tint install?

and when you turned on the running lights they work and you can see which wire has power for them with 12 volt test light
then, when you have the tester on the other wire to the socket- and friend pushes brakes- you see the 3rd light brake light works but nothing on your tester for the regular lights- correct?

For uploading pics go to http://www.imageshack.us/
after upload from your computer- go down the page of links it makes to - post to forums and uncheck the size info box- then copy the link and past on your post like any cut and past you would do in Word

 

Agree. Your looking too far. There is NO reason the tint guy would have had the covers off back there. I dont believe there are any wires that he could have cut. All the wires run from in the trunk area.

 

I would stick NEW bulbs in just to try it
Had one side go out on my car- then a week later the other side!
Who would have thought the brake lights got equal wear!!!!

 

Yes brake light in back window works. I didnt think any wires got cut but I know he had the housing for the light and the sub cover removed and thought something could have come loose. I had him come over today and dismantle the housing over again as he did during the tint job and I dont think there is anything that could have happened there.

This is correct

Thanks for the info and I will work on the pics.

One thing that had slipped my mind is that 3-4 months ago I had been parked and the rear quarter panel was damaged as was the tail. They replaced the tail and fixed the damage (Cars Collision centers). I inspected the car for damage unfixed and they did a good job with blending the paint, etc. I never did check the brakes though.

It would be amazing to me if I have been drivingit for months with my rear brake lights out. I got back by the bulbs and that is where I saw the two harnesses that arent attached to anything. I will try and post some pics up soon for you to check out.

Thanks for staying with me and offering advice.

Edit: here are the pics

 

Just an update.

Went to Cars Collision and the manager took a look and doesnt think it was anything to do with their service. Contacted local repair shop and barring some breakthrough today will have them look into it.

I do have an extended warranty so if its corrosion I am screwed otherwise it should be covered.

We will see......sigh

 

Post up what it was...

 

Yes sir

OK so I took the Car to a local shop and after a half hour I get a call and they ask "Have you had any work done on the rear passenger taillight recently."

Just as I expected. The mystery gray harness is supposed to be attached to something. That something I couldnt find because it wasnt there. When they put the new tail light in my car they didnt remember to remove the Brake fault sensor and put it in the new assembly. So no brake lights for me.

Cars repaired the work free of charge and covered the diagnosis fee as well as provided me an 07 Mustang as a rental. So they did take care of the situation although they didnt wash the car before returning it.

After all that, I just cant believe that I drove without rear brake lights for 4-5 months and didnt notice and noone told me.

Alls well that ends well I guess....thanks to everyone who tried to help me through this.