So im pulling my 97 GSR 4dr (DB8) in my garage last night and noticed that my brake lights werent working so i get out and check and find out that my license plate light isnt working either...so i got up early today and im scratching my head trying to figure out why.....well my parking lights work, my signals work, my reverse lights work just not the plate or brake light hmm

so i checked all the bulbs, their good...checked all my fuses, their good...unplugged and plugged in the taillight harness...unrapped all the wiring in the trunk and checked for shorts or bad grounds...nothing...used my test lamp on the brake pedal switch and the plug is getting power...checked all connections in the trunk and figured out the pigtail for the license plate lights was no good so i replaced it and plate light now works....so i figured maybe the taillight harness's were bad so i replaced both if them and still no brake lights.....i was gonna do a voltage drop test but i dont have a volt meter and i couldnt find the wiring diagram online so im stuck

is their anybody else that has had this problem? and any ideas what the problem could be?

 

I want to say dimmer circuit but then the front parkings wouldn't work either. I think the only possible thing is the wires after the fuse box but before the rear tailight harness are some how creating an open circuit.

 

hmmm thats what i was afraid of...i really dont wanna remove all the panels and go through the whole wiring harness but it seems like ima have to

 

i was also thinking maybe it could be that the brake pedal switch itself could have gone bad??? i kinda ruled that out because i have never heard or seen one of those go bad so idk

 

You said you checked the brake light switch and it had power going to it, did you check to see if there was power coming out of it?

I replace 3-4 brake light switches a month, not that uncommon a problem. 94

 

no i didnt check if it had power coming out of it....mainly cuz i couldnt fit my test lamp up there and i was kinda aggravated so i didnt wanna keep trying but ill check that later

 

Just unplug it and jump the plug, if the lights work, replace the switch. 94

 

switch got replaced and brake lights now work!!!! sweet

 

This happened to me as well. Ended up being the tail light harness hope that helps

 

how much of a pain in the *** is it to replace the switch? my 99 ls is having the same problem. noticed it on my wedding night. it works sometimes then a split second later it doesnt. checked fuses, bulbs etc. so figure its gotta be the switch on the pedal. how much do they cost on average?