Brake light on one side stays lit at night
 

I have sought after different solutions myself, but dealing with electrical problems is the bane of my existence :fuuuuu:

Recently, I discovered that when I turn on my lights in the evening, my brake light (which also serve as the nighttime running lights for the rear) on one side is half-lit (which is normal), and the other side stays fully lit, as if I was stepping on the brakes. It doesn't stay lit when the lights are off during the daytime.

I replaced the bulbs, checked the fuses and relays, and checked the condition of the wires near the connection, but everything seems fine. Could it be a short, or an open circuit somewhere? Maybe the brake switch? It's bugging me to no end, and input is appreciated :tears:

Some pictures in case my explanation sucks

http://filesmelt.com/dl/IMG_20131103_170303.jpg

http://filesmelt.com/dl/IMG_20131102_194324.jpg

You contemplated changing the bulbs......but didnt? Why not try the cheapest and easiest first.....change the damn bulb.

I changed it first, sorry I forgot to make that clear

Likely isn't the case, but do you have fog lights on your car? Many cars have a single rear brake light set up to come on when your fog lights are running. It's mostly a Euro only thing but sometimes you'll find it on an NA car.

nah my car doesn't have fog lights either...

Check your other bulbs in the tail light, they may be on the same circuit. One grounds out and it opens the brake light circuit.

you put the blub in properly?

It was doing it before I put in the new bulb, and it was still doing it after I put in the new bulb.. there's only one way to put the bulb in as far as I'm concerned :suspicious:

I'll check to see if there's a ground anywhere tomorrow

oh, some bulbs have a separate prongs for the brake and the running portion of the light. when installed wrong the brake light portion now acts as the running light.... think i had that happen on my xj or the s12....

Did you take a close look at the socket, when you had the bulb out?

I didn't think twice about the socket, I just promptly replaced the bulb. The socket's like a push and twist kind of an install, but I'll keep that in mind when I take a look at it tomorrow.

Interesting, I've never heard of that before. The thing is, this just started to happen recently and now I'm starting to think it may have grounded out someplace.

Looks like a double filament bulb has broken and has crossed the 2 filaments together causing a short. If the bulbs are ok, then as mentioned above, a socket issue. Maybe corrosion in the socket, causing the brake and tail light circuits to short. I doubt its a ground issue. The tail/brake lights have constant ground.

Yeah alright, I checked out the socket and turns out there was a slight bit of wear and corrosion going on inside. I cleaned it up, reinstalled the bulb and I got a normal taillight again. Thanks for the help :thumbs:

good to hear it was a simple fix