[ragajungle]

I am new to the world of Chevys. 99 Malibu anyways it is a nice enough car accept this weird tail light issue. The passenger side rear brake light will not work. When you turn the passenger directional on WITHOUT applying brakes all is well. When brake and blinker are on it blinks fast and dim?? Anyone have this issue? if so what was the resolution. I am sorry if this is a repost I couldn't find it on any of the pages...

 

[DrivenDaily]

Check the ground wire at the socket and at the body.

Also turn on the blinker and parking lights. Does it blink fast this way also, or is the parking light blinking off instead of the signal blinking on? That's quite indicative of a bad ground.

Most of the issues I've seen with bad grounds on lights were on Japanese cars and trucks, but that was the older ones. The newer ones have gotten way better.

 

[Starship]

What DrivenDaily said. It's also possible that one of the filaments inside the brake light bulb is broken or not getting power (12V or ground).

 

[ragajungle]

I pulled the assy from the body of the car and it looked like only one harness leads into the assy. I want to try bulbs first (obviously cheapest remedy), but it almost looks like the assy is composite. (on my Taurus - you remove it the same way, but there are twist off plugs/sockets for each bulb) Does it split open via the tabs surrounding the housing? I dont wanna force and break it. Also when the parking lights are on and the directionals are activated they seem to work fine, only when the brake is depressed does it act up. Thanks again for the help!

 

[DrivenDaily]

If it acts fine until the brake lights turn on then, with what all else you're saying, I'd suspect the MFS (multifunction switch) has an issue or a wire that's crossed with the turn signals.

Do you have a trailer light harness wired in? If so, is there any kind of module that is part of the harness, such as one that converts separate brakes/turns into a combined light (like most American cars). If no convertor then maybe there's damaged wire on the harness.

What you want to do to diagnose is to isolate sections of the wiring. Remove all brake light bulbs (keeping them organized so you know which one was installed where) and run the turn signals on each side. They should flash fast (fronts only), indicating either a missing load (burned out bulb) or overload (too many bulbs). Now, while the signal is on, install the bulb(s) on the side with the issue, not the other side. Based on your post it will flash normally. Now step on the brake pedal. Does it flash fast or normally? Fast indicates an issue with the wiring or MFS. Normal suggests an issue with the bulb(s) on the other brake light.

Let's see what this does and go from there.

 

[Starship]

You all know that the owner's manual in PDF is available at http://content.gmownercenter.yahoo.com/docs/manuals/chevrolet/1999_chevrolet_malibu_owners.pdf? It shows how to change the bulb.

 

[ragajungle]

Thanks for the link to the owners manual! Very helpful! I did figure out how to remove the bulb housing from the assy - pretty straight forward after the 2nd time I looked at it. I found that the NEG ground terminal was melted and the prong that plugs into the harness from the assy was very corroded. I used some emery paper on the prong followed with a tiny dab of conductive grease on it and viola it works again! I CAN see how it malfunctioned though - all the water from under the decklid channels empties right out on both tail lights - I am definitely gonna have to add some RTV around it. Thanks for all the pointers - Mike

 

[Starship]

Congrats. So, it went, moisture (probably salt-laden), corrosion, poor contact, and then heating/melting? Wow. Thanks for the update.

 

[DrivenDaily]

Glad it was the easy ground issue and not something more involved!

You know, if you want to channel that water away from your lights you could just borrow the downspout from your house...

 

[ragajungle]

Glad it was the easy ground issue and not something more involved!

You know, if you want to channel that water away from your lights you could just borrow the downspout from your house...

Do you know where I live! how did you know all my down spouts were jacked! LOL Actually I drove that car all day yesterday after getting the exhaust sytem replaced and It is a nice car - accept the terrible shaking between 60-70 mph. I am sure its just crap front tires (they are bald) so hopefully I wont have to post something about the shimmy after I get new tires on the 'Bu.

 

[DrivenDaily]

It's good to see that the issue seems to be resolved, and that you get the humor and send some back!

If you need a cheap tire my uncle in Virginia has a tire swing...

 

[RalphP]

I started losing lights on the back, and ended up with the fuse blowing every time I hit the brakes.

Turns out that PC board the lamps plug into is a known problem.

Dorman makes replacement PC boards.

923-005 and 923-006, info at http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-10889-923-005.aspx?pymmeid=4401467 and http://www.dormanproducts.com/p-29199-923-006.aspx?pymmeid=4401466 respectively.

So far I've had no problems out of the tail lights on my 2000 Malibu.

RwP