Brake lights stopped working

[bjackson]

My brake lights and general rear lights recently stopped working. I have checked and replaced the fuse in the fuse box as a precaution, even though it does the fuse was not blown. It is possible that a wire in the rear may have shorted out, but I am not sure. How can I troubleshoot and fix this?

Bruce

[mr ilia]

Have you changed bulbs in the rear lights recently?
If so, you may have put wrong bulb and created a short.

[bjackson]

Never changed the bulbs. I did look at them after the lights started working and they appear ok. For context I went on the track and they worked and then at some point on the track they stopped. Coincidentally the tach stopped working during that session as well. Not sure if they failed at the same time. The tach works again. The previous owner added some AA batteries to power the cluster. I rotated the batteries and the tach started working again. The lights are still dead. The front lights still work though.

[bjackson]

Still looking for help.

Bruce

[ELVA164]

The two things that come to mind for me would be a problem with the ground for the rear lights or a problem with the wiring running to the light assemblies themselves.

[BMWerke]

Before I changed anything I would have checked the actual switch under the brake pedal itself. It can be adjusted if the pedal is not making contact with the button on the switch. My switch had too much room and the brake lights stopped working so I adjusted it and its fine now. You should hear a "click" sound every time you press the pedal

Part #6

[Victor_PR]

^This. I replaced ,mine last week. You can get a Durolast switch for under $10 at Autozone.
To remove the one on your car, pull the white piece first with some long nose pliers the remove the red piece. Now you can press the clipe that are holding it in place.