Hey, I have an 88 Cutlass and my brake lights stop working yesterday. My tailights work and my turn signals work so I figured it was probably my brake light switch so I bought a new one and put it on but they still dont work. The one I got for autozone looked a little different but the two wires plugged into it like they should. But the new switch was a little bigger so in the process of putting it in I maybe have been rotating the little while thing above it (has an end that kind of looks like the brake light switch too). So what could be my problem? Did I maybe not install it right?
Brake lights not working
- Thread starter J.Rod22
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ok first try having someone stand in back to watch for the brake lights then by hand press the brake light switch(switch itself not the brake pedal). if it lights up then you are good to go just might not have put it close enough to the pedal. if you still dont have anything check all the fuses. i know some cars have a fuse for the tail lights and another fuse for the brake lights even though they go to the samething and run off the samething. my cutlass cruiser has 2 fuses while my grandmas delta 88 has 1 (go figure 
) if all the fuses are good and still not getting anything i would reture that switch and get 1 more just to make sure that switch wasnt bad that you bought. if it still doesnt work then you have a wiring problem. also want to add this if you put the switch too close to the pedal it will set it off and your brake lights will stay on and you think its your tail lights when its really your brake lights lol figured that out the other day when i was changing my brake booster and hit my switch and didnt know it, pushed it all the way up to the padel lol kept trying to figure out why the hell my tail lights were on and not my head lights and why they wouldnt go off lol then i realized i need to check my switch and sure enough had hit it and pushed it all the way up 
.hope this helps
) if all the fuses are good and still not getting anything i would reture that switch and get 1 more just to make sure that switch wasnt bad that you bought. if it still doesnt work then you have a wiring problem. also want to add this if you put the switch too close to the pedal it will set it off and your brake lights will stay on and you think its your tail lights when its really your brake lights lol figured that out the other day when i was changing my brake booster and hit my switch and didnt know it, pushed it all the way up to the padel lol kept trying to figure out why the hell my tail lights were on and not my head lights and why they wouldnt go off lol then i realized i need to check my switch and sure enough had hit it and pushed it all the way up .hope this helps
The turn signals and brake lights use the same wiring and filaments, so if the turn signals work, the brake lights are good from the turn signal switch back to the bulbs. That leaves the turn signal switch, brake light switch, wiring between them, and the power source as the only possible problems. Start by disconnecting the wires to the brake light switch and jumper across the two terminals in the connector. Be sure you get the connector for the brake lights and not the cruise control. If the lights come on, the switch is either bad or out of adjustment. If the lights still do not come on, the switch is fine. Assuming you have power to the brake light switch, the problem is then almost certainly the turn signal switch.
According to the factory schematics this should be the reason why they don't work. Return that crap switch to auto prone. I'm having a similar problem but with the third brake light only. I jumped the wires to the battery. So All I know is it might be a break somewhere along the wiring from the dash to the trunk.Jeezycol said:
Bringin this one back. What was the out come? I own a 87 Regal Limited, has the 307 (for now) w/cruise control, and was almost rear ended the other day. Turns out my brake lights have quit. I know they were working earlier in the morning as it is 4 am when I leave to go to work, and the six or so brake lights really light anything behind me 
so I have tried a new switch with no luck, I did some multimeter testing and I am pretty sure the brake light switch is fine, I tested the one from Autozone, the one that I thought was bad, and the one that is similar, that I pulled out of my 81 bu' wagon. They all were zero's ohms when depressed, or vise versa. I also checked the wires on the column, mine don't seem to be pulled out or any thing either. I was wondering if any one has a good write up, or a picture or two of the "turn signal switch" I do have power at the orange wire, and have jumped to the white wire with no luck. I guess I am confussed as to what is being said is the turn signal switch. Is it the whole combo switch? (the one that does your blinkers, wipers, and cruise?)
Thanks, hope that I can figure this out soon, It is serving daily driver duties right now, and soon will be the wagons replacement. The wagon was my street strip, freeway on ramp bad boy, but I have owned it for so many motors, trannys, rear diffs, and other Hi po parts, that when the latest engine had a minor hicup, I figured I would start over with a Regal. I almost got a Regal before the bu', and now 12 years latter, its time to swap out.
so I have tried a new switch with no luck, I did some multimeter testing and I am pretty sure the brake light switch is fine, I tested the one from Autozone, the one that I thought was bad, and the one that is similar, that I pulled out of my 81 bu' wagon. They all were zero's ohms when depressed, or vise versa. I also checked the wires on the column, mine don't seem to be pulled out or any thing either. I was wondering if any one has a good write up, or a picture or two of the "turn signal switch" I do have power at the orange wire, and have jumped to the white wire with no luck. I guess I am confussed as to what is being said is the turn signal switch. Is it the whole combo switch? (the one that does your blinkers, wipers, and cruise?) Thanks, hope that I can figure this out soon, It is serving daily driver duties right now, and soon will be the wagons replacement. The wagon was my street strip, freeway on ramp bad boy, but I have owned it for so many motors, trannys, rear diffs, and other Hi po parts, that when the latest engine had a minor hicup, I figured I would start over with a Regal. I almost got a Regal before the bu', and now 12 years latter, its time to swap out.
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