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Posted

Hi, can anyone give me some advice please,

 

The 2 brake lights on our C3 have stopped working, the high level one is fine.

 

I checked the fuse which was fine but replaced anyway, the bulbs are also fine.  I had read about the brake sensor on the passenger footwell so have replaced that.  Still we only have the light level one working.

 

Can anyone recommend what to check next?

 

Cheers

 

Mark

Posted

Do the other rear lights all work ?

 

If the high level light is working and you have checked the bulbs are ok and even tried a new one, then check the electrical connector at each light is not corroded, the bulb holders are not corroded, the bulbs are not corroded, there is 12 volts reaching the bulb holder when the brake pedal is pressed with the ignition on and that the earth is good from the bulb holder back to the body.

Posted

The wiring diagram in the Haynes manual shows the high level light and the left light have the same supply from fuse 21 15 amp and the right light is supplied from fuse 20 10 amp, both in the glove box fuses. The brake light switch supplies all the lights through the fuses. All 3 lights have different earth points but these are also used by the other rear lights so are probably ok. If you put the side lights on and also the hazard lights, if the tail lights also dim a bit as the indicators flash then this suggests a bad earth connection.

 

Is it possible one light stopped working and was not noticed until the other also stopped working ? When we had a 2003 C3 I replaced both rear lights due to damage but found that the old bulb holders were corroded (rusty) and that the foam seal was not that good at keeping water out. The new ones were from a dealer having tried used ones that were also not in good condition and new ones from eurocarparts did not fit the car well enough and on these the top slot for the nut was too narrow to be able to fit it. Also the dealer ones included the bulb holders and were not much different in price to the eurocarparts copy ones.

Posted

Thanks,

 

Tail lights are fine when hazards are on, tried cleaning the connections on the light also with no joy, just rang an auto electrician who said it will be the wiring and has quoted £60 - £80, does this sound reasonable?

 

Cheers

 

Mark

Posted
Hi it does sound like wiring I have a 2004 c3 and that ended up being a corroded earth in the rear light connector might be worth pulling it off and checking the connector see if it looks damaged at all
Posted

If you are not getting 12 volts at the bulb holder then it must be a wiring problem since the high level light works. Since the high level and left light share the same wiring until it splits, then you know the problem for the left light must occur after the split. The right light has a separate wire from the fusebox (bsi) so any breaks in its wire can occur after the fuse box. The wiring probably runs along the passenger side sill from the fusebox to the back and then possibly under the rear edge of the roof or along the back of the boot to reach the right light.

 

To do any checks needs a volt meter which I guess you do not have but they are only about £10 such as this from Maplins http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-domestic-multimeter-including-battery-bulb-and-fuse-tester-n20ax . Using a meter you would check for 12 volts at the fuse, at the bulb holder and then work back to the fuse to find where the wire has broken - or you could simply run a new wire from the fuse (or the battery) to the bulb holder to make sure the problem is the wire before spending too much time removing the sill covers and carpet to access the wires.

 

If you need to pay somebody to do the work then a couple of hours labour is probably reasonable.

Posted

Many thanks,

 

think I best leave it for the professional to have a look, hopefully get it sorted tomorrow and nowt else goes wrong with it seems to be one thing after another at the minute

 

Mark

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