Brake lights not working....help

[Sbgeorge87]

Howdy. New member. I have a 2004 jeep liberty CRD. The other day my daughter was driving it and got pulled over for no brake lights, (they were working a few months ago for sure). We have tail lights, turn signals and emergency flashers. Bulbs are brand new, all contacts are clean and corrosion free. Fuses are all good. But none of the brake lights are working. I replaced the brake light switch (since it is a common issue), but that was not it.

I confirmed I have 12v power at the brake light switch, working correctly when the brakes are applied. HOWEVER I have no power to any of the 3 brake lights during the same test. My simple mind tells me its 1 of 2 things, a break in the brake light wiring between the brake switch and the brake lights OR a bad/ faulty ground connection for the brake lights.

My question is where do I begin to look on how to trace these wires from the switch to the tail light (without physically pulling dash apart, etc.). And does anyone know where the grounds are specifically?

Any helps greatly appreciated so I can get this thing back on the road.

 

[KJowner]

Have you tested directly on the rear wiring?
The manuals with all the wiring diagrams are available to download here -

Index of /manuals/Jeep/KJ

I think your probably right about a broken wire.

 

[Sbgeorge87]

Yes I jested directly ont he wore at rear of vehicle. Still nothing on any brake light. Thanks for the link. I’ll sift through those and find the right section on the wiring

 

[Johnny O]

Yes I jested directly ont he wore at rear of vehicle. Still nothing on any brake light. Thanks for the link. I’ll sift through those and find the right section on the wiring

Disassemble the brake light housing from the vehicle and look inside at the bulb contacts. I had this problem on mine. Took me months to figure it out.

Turned out the plastic had melted a bit and was preventing connections. Found the previous owner had put the wrong bulbs in and they generated too much heat. Five minutes with a pocket knife to remove the melt and the lights work fine to this day.