'Brake Lamp' light comes on in my 87 GL Wagon. Driver's side brake light works. Passenger side brake light does NOT work. Both bulbs, both sides, are good, both elements light up. (I switched the bulbs to check them) Both parking lights work, too. Just the passenger brake light is out.

 

Pulling the bulb on the 'bad' side...I notice two little round connections inside the socket where they touch the bulb. One of them, the one connected to the green wire, looks small and sunken. I'm thinking the bulb housing is no good.

 

On the driver's side, both these connections look good.

 

What do you think? I already checked the brake light switch for movement and operation. Seems fine.

 

Just for Fun: A couple of pictures. The first one is of Sara Watson, our newest staff member at Adventure Books of Seattle. If you remember her picture about how she made that car vanish, you may have seen it at Boing Boing. It was viewed more than 3 million times. (We do have license for the picture. It's her official Meet the Staff image at AB.) She created that illusion by PAINTING the car that way, believe it or not. She's an art student from Manchester, England.

 

The second picture is just me and my frozen Subie in last winter's Seattle snowstorm. The cord hanging out the bottom of the tarp goes to an electric blanket. It was frickin' COLD.

 

 

Edited September 25, 200916 yr by Robert M

try shoving the green wire out into the socket while holding the bulb and having a helper push the pedal. Likely a bad socket housing

Makes sense to me. Thanks! Luckily we have a Subie-only wrecking yard around here. I think most of you know where it is already...the one near White Center in Seattle.

Luckily we have a Subie-only wrecking yard around here.

 

Lucky Chumps! No such thing here in TX.

To verify that the socket pin connection is the trouble you could use a test light probe and touch the tip to the suspected pin while someone is pressing on the brake pedal. If you do that I suggest you tape over most of the probe tip so you can't short it to ground while testing inside the socket. Replacing the socket will most likely take care of the trouble.

 

Thanks for the picture of the car that Sara did. That is very impressive. She has a lot of very good talent to be able do that.

Edited September 25, 200916 yr by Cougar

if you think its the connectors in the bottom of the socket why dont you take a soldering iron and bulid them up a little bit