Brake lights
 

Hi. I have a 240Z that the brake lights were working just fine yesterday, then all of a sudden, nothing. I have checked the bulbs, they are fine, besides why would both sides go out at the same time. I checked the fuse, no problem. I also checked to make sure there was power from side to side and that's fine. Last I thought it had to be the switch. I noticed that one wire was hand twisted on, so I put a spade connector on. Still nothing. I noticed it was the kind of switch that is a power interupt. So I checked for incoming power and there is nothing in the wires that I can tell. So, I don't think it is the switch. I have lost power somewhere between the fuse and the switch. I have no idea where to go from here or where the wire goes from the fuse block to get to the switch. Any help would be great.

Okay, so nobody has had any ideas. I decided to do this myself. I determined that the wiring harness from the brake switch to the lights is fine. If I add power, the brake lights come on just fine. So the problem is with power supply to the switch. I decided to just forget about trying to figure where the break is because the wire gets lost in the harness from the fuse block on until it comes out again to the switch. Rather than tear the whole dash apart and have to cut into the harness, I just ran a new power line from the fuse block to the switch. I added another 20A inline fuse, probably over kill, just to be safe. Brake lights work just fine now. So, I can safely drive again. Gotta love my car!!

Did you remove the original fuse now that you have a new power source to the switch? I wouldn't want any drains on the battery if it grounded out. But then again I suppose the fuse would blow and you'd be ok.

Check the back side of the fuse panel. The brake light terminal is famous for melting, usually from people putting a larger fuse to solve their connection/resistance overload.

Did you post this on HybridZ? I remember reading about someone else with the same problem who just ended up bypassing it or adding a new wire.

I had all kinds of trouble with my lights. Brake lights, turn signals, parking lights, etc. For me once I pulled apart and cleaned the hazard switch, turn signal stalk, replaced the old ruined fuse for the parking lights, and put new flashers in then everything worked properly.