Chevy brake light short
Where do I start looking for a short? All of the rear lights on my 1997 Chevy Express van work correctly individually. But when the running lights are on and the brake pedal is applied, the bottom ri...
Forum Discussion
Wgander,
Yep, as has been suggested, it's most likely a bad ground on that side of the vehicle. On most domestic cars/trucks, the ground is the socket housing that touches the outside of each bulb. And, that ground can be connected to the main chassis or frame via a wire or, simply direct connections of metal to metal. A good test would be to piggy back a wire along side the brake light bulb as you insert the bulb back into the socket. But, make sure the tip of the wire does not touch the contact points on the bottom of the bulb/socket.
Then, connect that other end of the wire to a good ground. Then, try your lights and see what kind of results you have. If your lights now work correctly, then it's a matter of correcting the ground problem with that particular socket.
Scott
Yep, as has been suggested, it's most likely a bad ground on that side of the vehicle. On most domestic cars/trucks, the ground is the socket housing that touches the outside of each bulb. And, that ground can be connected to the main chassis or frame via a wire or, simply direct connections of metal to metal. A good test would be to piggy back a wire along side the brake light bulb as you insert the bulb back into the socket. But, make sure the tip of the wire does not touch the contact points on the bottom of the bulb/socket.
Then, connect that other end of the wire to a good ground. Then, try your lights and see what kind of results you have. If your lights now work correctly, then it's a matter of correcting the ground problem with that particular socket.
Scott
