I though I had a few bulbs burnt out on my third brake light (up high on hatch and mounted exterior if you didnt know already). Opened up the case and found the bulbs were good. 2 worked so I knew it was getting juice. My buddy smacked the light housing while I hit the brake and all the light went out....smaked it again and some came back on...and so on.. cant get but 1 or 2 bulbs on at a time ( in ranomly differnt spots) if any at all. WTF. Has anyone had an issue with this on thier '86 and how can I fix it so women in their obnoxiously oversized SUV's, riding my *** while screaming at thier kids in the back while talking on their cell phones, can SEE THAT I'M BRAKING!

 

Make sure the bulbs are making contact. If I'm correct (I replaced my hatch and don't have the 3rd light anymore) the bulbs are "push in and turn". The bottom contact then comes into contact with the bottom of your light and closes the circuit.

 

Yeah, I had the same problem. My mechanic would fiddle with it to get the contacts to work, but a few days later it would go out again.

I guess the contacts eventually go bad on either the brake unit or the glass. I bought a new brake unit on Ebay for about $20, and it worked like a charm. Like new.

 

I saw some 3rd brake lights in the boneyard today. Looked like they were in good condition.

 

i would take it apart, clean all the contacts, put some di-electric grease on all of them, and put it back together (dont forget the contacts on the bulbs)

then see if it works...

it just sounds like the classic bad connection...

the di-electric grease should stop the new fresh metal you exposed from corrosion while still allowing a good elec contact.

 

right on...I'll try to try that and see what happens