Hey guys,

I have an '86 IROC with the third brake light on the window. It is working opposite of my brake lights. It's on when they are off and it's off when they go on. The car is stock original so I'm not sure what is happening. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

It's not grounded properly anymore. Ground wire is broken or something like that.

Check the little "contact plate" thing down near the hatch latch, and all the wiring around it.

 

Thanks man.

I checked and cleaned the contacts there. It didn't fix it but I did get more info to share now.

When I start the car, the upper brake light is not on. The tail lights that I described as being on dimmed, are not on either. It doesn't happen until I hit the brakes for the first time. Once I then release the brake, the upper brake light comes on and the tail lights are then on dimmed. The tail light that is on is not the corner one that works as a side light also. It is only the red tail light next to the amber turn signal light. If I have the hatch open so the upper brake light doesn't function at all, the tail light functions properly. When I apply brake the brake lights are on then off. The tail light that is on dimmed with upper light is not on at all unless the hatch is closed. Then it comes on dim when the upper brake light is on. I hope this makes sense. Please let me know if I need to explain it differently/better.

Thanks for your help.

 

Sounds like the grounding problem is on the chassis side then, rather than on the hatch side.

 

Ok, so here is the latest find with it. I found a thread on here discussing the same issue I have but it didn't show a fix. When I hit the brakes, the rear defrost button light turns on. I release the brake and the upper brake light turns on and continues to run opposite of my normal brake lights. I can turn off the upper brake light by turning off the rear defrost. Everything then looks normal until I hit the brakes again and it all repeats. So I now have to turn off the rear defrost after releasing the brake pedal each time to turn off the upper brake light so that it isn't on while I am driving.

 

Check the grounding wires where the hatch struts meet the body of the car. I had the same problem on my 86’ years ago.