How can I change the type of light fixture (third brake)? I am tired of changing the tiny expensive bulbs and I would like to install something like a long tubular bulb instead. Any ideas?

 

I had the same Problem and got sick of it also, What I did was buy a 194 socket and bulb (standard marker light bulb and socket) and removed the original and wired in the 194 bulb and socket.It works fine for me. You can do it with a bigger type bulb as well such as a 1156 bulb and socket but I went with the smaller one because it doesnt get as hot and it is plenty bright enough. Hope this helps

 

thanks Blue91'!!!
I am going to do exactly as you said tomorrow. One more of life's small irritations solved! Have the leaves changed up there? Do you have a local camaro club?

 

Im glad I was of some help to you. The leaves are starting to change now.I dont know of many Camaro/Firebird clubs in this area, most of them are for the older first generation Camaro/Firebird , our third gens arent viewed as important enough yet by some clubs and organizations.What year and drivetrain is in yours?

 

I have a 90 camarors stock. I have been doing alot of body work on it and now I sure appreciate the amount of labor and love that goes into our cars.
I really love my car!!! Sometimes I get fed up with it but that does'nt last for long.
I think 3rd gen's are really important and special. They are part of a line of really sexy sportscars. wouldn't change it for anything!
where are you at in NC? My e-mail: elizabethterral@webtv.com

 

Im just outside of Greensboro.Your Car wouldnt happen to be a V8 5-speed would it?

 

Nope, I have a little teeny, tiny, v6 auto. Seeing me drive a stick is just not a pretty sight! My ex husband scared me to death teaching me when he started yelling "Stop you are going to hit that house!" Now when you are teaching someone how to drive a stick, would you do it in an housing area? No, I honestly know it was my fault and I guess with a house I can't say it ran in front of me!!! LOL LOL LOL

 

Elizabeth, don't replace the unit. But DO go to Radio Shack for the bulbs. They are only around $2 from them. Also DON'T touch the bulb with your fingers when installing them. The oils from your skin will get on the bulb creating a hot spot and kill the bulb in short order. Use a cloth to hold the bulb while changing them. The bulb is a 12v, 20 watt halogen bi-pin. They are also available at Home Depot in the electric section. These are the same as the replacement bulbs for the Malibu Lights. Slightly higher than at RS though. Good luck, Lon.

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90 RS Convertible
Owner: Top-Down Solutions
(626)369-0040

http://www.sc3gfb.org/members/lonsal.html
http://www.taskerinc.com/gs3/profiles/Lon_profile.htm

 

I agree, RADIO SHACK is the place for the
third brake light bulbs only 1.99 ea the Dealer 13.00+

 

Thank you so much! That sure is a whole lot cheaper; now is my thinking right that the oil from fingers can cause the hot spot on the bulb?

 

I'm guessing they don't sell the third brake bulbs at auto stores? anyways, there is a club down here carolinafbody club, but I've heard they're kinda stuck up(this is what a buddy told me, I'm just going off of what I've heard). I'd love to join a local club but there's really nothing that I've found either.

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'86 IROC 5-speed
305 LG4
edelbrock performer rpm intake
edelbrock 600 cfm carb
msd pro billet hei distributer
'95 3.23 rearend
hotchkis rear suspension
PST front polygraphite suspension
"speed kills. buy a f@&d, live forever."

 

Your thinking is about right, the oil from
your skin will cause hot spot on the bulb and
burn it out in a short time. The Halogen bulb burns hotter and brighter.

 

Yes these bulbs are available from an auto parts store (for a LOT more money). Radio Shack is the bargain place to get these bulbs (don't let on that they are a bargain or they might raise their price). The first time I went to replace mine I walked into the dealer's parts counter with a few dollars in change in my pocket. I didn't buy any at their price. A friend worked at an auto parts store and got me a few with his employee discount, but they were STILL very expensive. These bulbs will last a good amont of time if installed correctly.

 

around here I've gotton all my bulbs cheap from auto zone, the third brake light must be a special order or something...even the fog light bulbs were only a few bucks for a pair.

 

at least your third light works. Im still working to get mine working. all the bulbs are fine... Dont know what it is.

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No License, No Hope.
http://z28.crushed.org

 

Bawls, So what do you think is wrong with your light? Need more info so someone can help you figure it out.
Good Luck new friend

 

Well, Ive read on many other posts that its there is a plate that touches the bottom of the hatch, when the hatch is closed. Ive sanded / roughed that plate as much as possible. Light still doesnt work. Ive checked the two wires that go from the hatch shocks to each side of the light, all good there.. *sigh*

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No License, No Hope.
http://z28.crushed.org

 

Bawls, I'm a little confused on what your talking about. The only wires to my shocks are from the rear window defroster. My third light doesn't work either. Just found out last night. My hatch pull down is screwed too. Just found that out last night also. How are the third brake lights wired? Are they connected to the rear brake lights at all? I checked the bulb, its good. I ran 12V to it, it works. I didn't check for voltage at the socket, but I would guess there is none. Anyone have ideas?

Thanks,


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Joshua Johnston
1991 Z-28
350, T-5, K&N, Ported Vortec heads, Edelbrock RPM, Holley 750 D.P., HEI, 11.07:1 CR, Comp Cams Roller-.510"/.520"-282*/288* dur., Shorty Headers, Dual 2.5 Exhaust, Dynomax Bullet Mufflers, T&R Motorsports custom air intake, Bald tires

 

There shouldn't be a wire running down the hatch strut for the HMSL (high mount stop light). It IS powered by the spring loaded contact pins connecting to the pad that is to the left of the latch. The exception to this is the '92 convertibles. They indeed have a wire running down the gas charged trunk lid strut. The coupes may as well, I just haven't verified it yet.

 

The pad to the left of the latch? I'm not familiar with that. The only contact that I saw was the one to the rear of the latch itself that was for the interior light below the latch. Is there another one that I am missing?

Thanks,


------------------
Joshua Johnston
1991 Z-28
350, T-5, K&N, Ported Vortec heads, Edelbrock RPM, Holley 750 D.P., HEI, 11.07:1 CR, Comp Cams Roller-.510"/.520"-282*/288* dur., Shorty Headers, Dual 2.5 Exhaust, Dynomax Bullet Mufflers, T&R Motorsports custom air intake, Bald tires

 

For those of you with '86 cars (and maybe other years)... I had that EXACT same third brake light problem on my car. After much confusion and troubleshooting, I determined what the problem was:

For some reason, the rear hatch shocks lose their electrical continuity when the hatch is closed. When the hatch was up, it worked fine (believe me, that was a PITA to figure out). This means that not only did the third brake light lose its power, the rear defrosters also failed to work.

To fix this, I rewired the metal plate on the car to provide ground to one of the contacts. GM, for some reason, only used one of the contacts -- I believe it was the far right contact, and it provided +12V. The far left contact wasn't even connected on my car. I spliced a ground wire in there. Now you've got the left contact grounded and the right contact supplied with +12V. Good so far...

Next, I had to rewire the light on the hatch. When you take off that plastic cover, you'll notice that one of the little contact tabs is not used, even though it may be wired to something. You'll also see that the ground wire for the third brake light is connected to one of the outer stranded wires for the defroster -- this wire is attached to the hatch glass. I removed the plug from that and wired it into the unused contact tab.

Now, the light should be wired up to the contact tabs on that hatch. When you shut the hatch, one side should be getting ground and the other side should be getting positive power.

I'm sure that the construction of this varies by model and year, but that's how my '86 was wired up and that's how I went about fixing it. If you have any questions (or want to yell at me for missing something; I'm surprised I remembered all that ) just send me an email. Hope this helps.

EDIT: After performing this fix, I the defrosters still don't work. I think this is because the defrosters need grounded as well -- you could probably splice their ground wire into the third brake light ground wire, but I don't know how much of a load is put on that... don't want any fires. Either that, or the defrosters rely on the hatch struts for power (one side should be ground, the other side should be power). If there's no continuity when the hatch is shut, there's no power for the defrosters. (That should make sense... it's hard to remember stuff when you're tired )

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1986 Camaro IROC-Z
Code 23 Paint ("IROC Blue")
305 TPI
B&M Megashifter
ZZ4 Engine Swap Planned

1967 Camaro SS-396 (Dad's)
Former drag car
Original paint
11,000 summer miles

View my website, a work-in-progress

[This message has been edited by blue86iroc (edited October 11, 2001).]

 

Thanks blue86iroc
Ill take a look at it tonight.

------------------
No License, No Hope.
http://z28.crushed.org

 

Fixed it, the spring loaded contacts just were not contacting

Is there supposed to be a plate of some sort on the car part of the hatch, where the spring loaded contacts are supposed to touch?

------------------
No License, No Hope.
http://z28.crushed.org

 

Ahhhhh... I see said the blind man. Blue, Im going to leech a pic from you for this one.



Im missing that plate!, pfft. and all this time, I thought we had to make it outta mt. dew can. (well thats at least what I did.) *sigh* now I have to get that piece.

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No License, No Hope.
http://z28.crushed.org

[This message has been edited by Bawls (edited October 17, 2001).]

 

I don't have that plate that is circled above. I don't even have a spot for that. My light is up by the roof on the glass. Does this help anyone? My bulb is good, it just doesn't turn on when I hit the brakes. The rear lights come on, but the third one doesn't.

Thanks,


------------------
Joshua Johnston
1991 Z-28
350, T-5, K&N, Ported Vortec heads, Edelbrock RPM, Holley 750 D.P., HEI, 11.07:1 CR, Comp Cams Roller-.510"/.520"-282*/288* dur., Shorty Headers, Dual 2.5 Exhaust, Dynomax Bullet Mufflers, T&R Motorsports custom air intake, Bald tires

 

You are correct. This applies to 86-90 coupes and 87-91 convertibles only. 91-92 coupes have the HMSL mounted high up in the hatch window. 92 'verts have a different type of pull-down latch and also wire the spoiler mounted HMSL directly along the pneumatic trunk strut.

 

So, can anyone help me? I don't know where to start looking. The wires go under the plastic panel above, and I have no idea where from there.

Thanks,


------------------
Joshua Johnston
1991 Z-28
350, T-5, K&N, Ported Vortec heads, Edelbrock RPM, Holley 750 D.P., HEI, 11.07:1 CR, Comp Cams Roller-.510"/.520"-282*/288* dur., Shorty Headers, Dual 2.5 Exhaust, Dynomax Bullet Mufflers, T&R Motorsports custom air intake, Bald tires

 

Here is my problem. I have an '83 with a hatch from an '86 I am guessing...since it has the third break light on the top of the hatch. I am pretty sure my old plastic interior panels had that piece on it...but I am not exactly sure. But the new black panels that I have now may not have it...since it was setup for the automatic hatch pulldown mechanism. It may possibly have it...but is there someway to do it w/o that piece? I just had most of my lights rewired...since none of my electrical was done. I was going to finish the rest myself..but I think it will be better off done professionally. Actually I only payed $100 to have all my lights reran...and it took 5 hours...he usually charges $70 an hour. I guess I got lucky...maybe I should just have him do the rest of my car while he is at it.

James

 

Okay, I have the Johnston Curse. We get to technical when looking for something. After much probing, pulling fuses, following wires, pulling interior panels down, I have found that my bulb was loose! Yes, it was loose in the socket, so I put some cardboard under the bulb, and it works now. Thanks for all the help.



------------------
Joshua Johnston
1991 Z-28
350, T-5, K&N, Ported Vortec heads, Edelbrock RPM, Holley 750 D.P., HEI, 11.07:1 CR, Comp Cams Roller-.510"/.520"-282*/288* dur., Shorty Headers, Dual 2.5 Exhaust, Dynomax Bullet Mufflers, T&R Motorsports custom air intake, Bald tires

 

someone post the radioshack part number for the bulb

 

do NOT run the radioshack bulbs!!!

see here for why:
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=295064

they overheat the housing....