Brake light not working

chabsey

I'm not really clued up on cars so this may seem obvious but...I have an old Opel Corsa with a brake light that refuses to light, despite the fact that the same bulb lights fine when the car's lights are turned on.

So basically, turn on the car's lights and bingo the back two red lights are fine. Hit the brake and only the right hand red light gets brighter to indicate braking.
I've checked the bulb (which is fine) and as much of the connection as possible.


Any ideas?

Lucifer

what year is the corsa?

Alun

Depending on the car, the brake lights are serviced by either a separate bulb entirely, or a dual filament bulb, with one filament for the sidelights and another for the brake light. It's quite possible for the one filament to go and for the other to be perfectly OK.

Skyuser

Is the car running when you check this?

Lucifer

if its a corsa b model, the brake lights are a different bulb to the side lights. when you remove the bulb holder from the back of the lamp it is the top too bulbs. top is a 5w or 10w and the second is a 21w single filament bulb. as far as i can remember it is the 21w. if you have checked both of these, check the block connector going on to the bulb holder. on the corsa b alot of the time you will find this is not connected right and is connected diagonnally (sp?) downwards rather than at a right angle and can cause some lights to work and others not.

Hope this helps

Hagar

You have the bulb in backwards. Have you noticed that the "faulty" bulb is brighter than the other bulb as soon as you switch on the lights?
Have a close look at the two locating pins on the bulb and you will see that they are not level. This is so you can correctly fit a twin filament bulb. Remove the bulb, rotate it one half turn and replace. It should work. HTH

Lex Luthor

swap the bulbs from one side to the other and see if the problem moves. if it does its the bulb, if it doesn't, it could be something else...maybe the bulb holder.
I would guess its the bulb

chabsey

Thanks for all the replies guys. The car is a 92 Corsa GL and it is running when we check it. I've taken out the bulb and it's a dual filament one alright. I will try the whole swapping from one side to the other thing, i think that'll sort out where the problem lies. I'd already tried to swap the bulb with the other two below it but the fitting was slightly different and they wouldn't click into place so I didn't force it.

I'll also look into having possibly fitted it wrongly also, although I've tried so many different ways I'd have thought I would have got it right once, but I'll check again.

Thanks again for all tips, will let you know how I get on.

Hagar

Click this link.
The reason the other bulbs (indicators / fog lights) wouldn't easily fit is because the pins are off-set.

Look really carefully at the pins. 1157 vs 1156. Save yourself some cash.