Hey Gang,

I literally joined this forum to hopefully get some advice from more experienced crossfire owners. Recently bought a ’04 Crossfire coupe with a bad driver side brake light. Had one when I was a younger. Best car ever.


Issue with the brake light seemed similar to some of the other posts on here. The running light works fine but when I press the brake pedal the brake light bulb goes from being on (from the running light) to not illuminating. This only happens on the driver side light. But the brake light actually will come on when pressing the brake pedal if the headlights aren’t on, just a bit dimly. The passenger side and third brake light all work fine.

Tried replacing the bulb a few times and even with different bulbs but no luck. Is this a bad ground issue?

 

Off the top of my head (careful, LOL) are you sure the bulb is in the socket correctly? Many have had problems with a bulb being in 180 degrees off (and even the wrong bulb!). Make sure the bulb replacement MATCHES the correct spec AND is inserted correctly. A ground 'might' be eliminated by making sure the correct wire is the ground AND simply providing that 'ground'. Get the correct coded wire from the forum provided link for the wiring diagram and research it. You have a 50/50 chance of 'guessing' but I don't like guessing when it comes to electrical stuff. Hope this helped! Good luck!


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Thanks for the quick reply!! I found the wiring diagram and will test the voltage and ground this week and report back.

Hopefully it is just the wrong bulb that would be the easiest fix. This is where it gets a bit tricky, so when I bought the car the person I got it from neglected to mention that the driver side brake light socket had been replaced! A completely new (and different socket) has been wired in with the old socket being removed. The wires were cut and rewired just before the harness clip part (Between the socket and where the wire from the socket clips into the harness). A bit hard to explain but I've included pictures of the driver and passenger sides for reference.

The bulb I am using could be the wrong one for the replaced socket is my thought. Not sure how to find the correct bulb for that socket besides trial and error. Have been thinking of maybe replacing the driver side brake light assembly with a new one. Will I able to put a replacement in and connect it to the harness? Thanks again!



Replaced socket, black tape is where it has been rewired (before the clip into the harness)

 

You MUST verify the OEM bulb socket WIRING before you put in the CORRECT bulb listed for the CROSSFIRE! VERIFY that hack (splice) is either the wrong socket or the right socket with correct color coding that matches the OEM colors (already I see the wrong colors of wiring), before going any further. Otherwise you will continue to chase 'this or that' without a firm basis for the solution. Seriously, start with a correct wired socket before 'guessing' what bulb is needed. No mater what is there you must make sure your going through the sequential steps for a solution..


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Just thought I would give a follow up. Ordered a new Tail Light Assembly and swapped out the old one. Good as new!! Back on the road.

Thanks to DTMenace and Red Dog for putting me on the right path and to everyone for their help.

 

Bluegreenred,
Quick question. WHERE was "a new Tail Light Assembly" available from????