Brake light wont work

[oddbod]

Offside brake light doesnt function. The bulb is fine,I've swapped the bulbs over, I cleaned up the earth to the rear bumper bolt in the boot, taken off the bullet connectors and cleaned them up. When I checked the bulb holders for power with the engine running and side light and brakes on there was power to both terminals, but when I put a bulb in the same element lights up no matter what should be turned on.Any offers of ways to get my brake light working (a bodge would do as long as it won't short out my wiring) Cheers Sean

[MarkyB]

Compare the relationship between the contacts and slots in both holders and the contacts on the bulbs too.
I've had to build up the solder blobs on bulbs before now.

[bmcecosse]

The lamp unit is not earthed - hence the filament ON finds a path to earth back through the second filament... Since the BRAKE filament is lower resistance - that's the one you see glowing - but it will not be full brilliance.

[les]

Earth the bulb holder manually with a short wire to the bodywork as a test to see if that works. Can't think of a bodge!!

[oddbod]

Thanks for the replies, I think an earthing problem is most likely. I'm going away on Friday,so am busy getting ready 4 Wales, but I'll get a teenager to try this week Les with your idea of a temporary earth!!

[oddbod]

Its definately an earthing problem, which seems to have been solved for the moment by cleaning up the body earth again and applying a touch of copper slip to the mounting point. I'm sure the bad earthing will be a continual issue, but one thats fixable with a bit of elbow grease and some perseverance!