The third brake light that is up on your hatch, how is that connected? Mine doesn't light up when I press in the brake, so I want to check the connections to see if that could be a problem... a lot of things on my car were disconnected when I bought it.

 

anyone?

 

On an '87 Camaro there is a "hatch contact assembly" that makes contact when you close the hatch. The lower portion is close to the hatch pull-down/striker. The other portion is on the hatch and mates with the lower portion. Maybe your bird has a similar setup.

 

'86 was the only year with the light at the top of the hatch. My Chilton's manual says how to replace the bulb, maybe you could try that. You pretty much just remove the outside cover to do that (one screw). I'm wondering if the wiring doesn't run above the headliner.