thanks for the input
no water in mine and even if there was i should still have voltage at the end of the harness to the light
gee, didn't know i posted 539 questions so far...wow. as to alldata i am familiar with it (was a service mgr for 15 years). problem is i am on social security (lost my sizable pension in 911) so dollars are pretty tight that's why i purchased a gas mizer. i do search and when i can't find an answer that is appropriate to my problem then i ask the wisdom from the many.
oh, and if it were the brake lamp switch it would cause other problems too....shifting or not shifting problems, dash lite notification, not being able to start etc. that's why i asked for ideas. i read all 12 pages and no one had a problem like mine
You are not going to get too far without some kind of service info. The ALLDATAdiy.com subscription is $27 a year for one vehicle with each additional vehicle $17. If you can't afford $27 to be able to repair your car then I don't see how you can afford to run the car. But then I don't know everything. Well, I know everything but I can not remember everything. Same thing.
The power for the center brake lamp either comes from fuse 24 or fuse R2, a 7.5 amp fuse. Depends on which diagram you believe. The diagram that says fuse 24 looks wrong to me because it has separate stop and turn lamps, which is not consistent with USA model smarts. So, fuse R2 then. Maybe. Owner's manual should have illustrations of the fuses and fuse assignment list. The left and right stop lamps do not use the same fuse as the center stop lamp.
Power goes from the fuse to the stop lamp switch, then to a connector behind the center dash/console area where it splits off to the turn signal relays, the ESP/ABS control unit and the center stop lamp. The power wire to the center stop lamp should be BLK/RED and the ground wire is BRN, which is grounded in the left rear of the trunk area. Check for power and ground both at the socket when the brake is applied. It is not out of the realm of possibility to have a broken wire between the harness in the left rear of the trunk and the center stop lamp where the wiring goes from the body to the glass.
If you have no power at the center stop lamp socket you can pull off the left rear interior panel and find the BLK/RED wire in the harness coming from the front of the car. If you have power there then the open circuit is between there and the socket. If not, the fault is between the stop lamp switch and the left rear of the car.
