Chevrolet Repair: brake control module

Question
QUESTION: Hi. have been chasing the problem causing a brake light on my 1989 chevy astro van (v6). all brakes, wheel cyl. etc. are good and have been insp. by a mech. his recommendation was to change brake switch (I did, no joy) and the brake module. my question is this. I installed the mod. with no change in brake light status....but another chevy guy told me that some of these mods. need flashed or coded. I have searched my book and the net with no info on whether my van module requires coding--some do, some not--do you know? would really appreciate the help :)

ANSWER: HI LAURA,,OK YOUR YEAR VAN WOULD NOT NEED TO BE RE-FLASHED..THIS IS FOR NEWER CARS AND TRUCKS TO RELEARN THE COMPUTER TO WORK WITH EACH CAR OR TRUCK IT GOES INTO....I WILL ASSUME THIS IS THE RED BRAKE LIGHT ON THE DASH THAT SAYS BRAKE !!! WHY YOU WERE TOLD TO REPLACE THE BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH I DO NOT KNOW ?? THIS WILL ONLY CONTROL THE BRAKE LIGHTS IN THE REAR OF YOUR VAN..NOT YOUR DASH LIGHTS. UNLESS YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT THE BRAKE LIGHTS OUTSIDE THE VAN ??? HAVE YOU CHECKED TO MAKE SURE THE PARKING BRAKE SWITCH ON THE PEDAL IS OK AND NOT SHORTED OUT CAUSING THE LIGHT TO LIGHT ON THE DASH ?? THE OTHER POSSIBLE PROBLEM IS THERE IS NOT ENOUGH HYDRAULIC PRESSURE IN THE BRAKE SYSTEM TO TURN OFF THIS LIGHT FROM THE PROPORTIONING VALVE ?? LET ME KNOW WHAT LIGHT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT AND I AM SURE WE CAN GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS...GOOD LUCK TO YOU,,,TOM

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tom-sorry for being vague, really just meant to ask about the brake mod.--my problem has become a little convoluted--it started with the dash brake light being on-I changed the rear brakes and one bad wheel cyl--light did not go out. I am only a fairweather mech so I passed the problem on to real mech down the street who said rear brake lights were also out (hence the brake switch) and said that the brake mod was bad and he could t/s no further till it was replaced. so I brought van home and replaced switch and ordered mod. in the meantime, I started looking at my radio (which wasn't working either) and rechecking fuses. found hazard/turn signals and horn suddenly didn't work either. hmmm. started poking around under dash to find flasher and just looksee. got frustrated cuz I'm dumb and cant find flashers. picked up mod and installed and now horn/hazard/turnsig are all working and radio too--so--a short I assume. wires around e brake all look fine. will probably poke around some more under dash as I figure all that wire moving must have done something. As a final question--when r and r'ing hazard/turn signal fuse in panel, I keep getting sparks at that point on the fuse panel. heard this can sometimes happen and still be ok. what do you think?

Answer
HI LAURA,,AS FAR A SPARKS IN THE FUSE BOX [THIS SHOULD NOT BE] I WOULD THINK A BAD CONNECTION WHERE THE FUSE GOES INTO THE CONNECTION OR THE PROBLEM IS BEHIND THE FUSE BOX ITSELF.BARE WIRES...TRY TO LOCATE WHERE THIS IS ARCHING. THIS WILL ONLY WORSEN IN TIME AND MAY CAUSE BIG PROBLEMS.. IF IT IS WHERE THE FUSE GOES INTO THE OUTSIDE OF THE BOX IT IS A DIRTY CONNECTION..CLEAN IT REAL GOOD.. THIS COULD ALSO EXPLAIN WHY THE RADIO,HORN ETC WAS NOT WORKING..THE NEXT QUESTION IS WHAT DOES WHEN R AND R'ING MEAN..SORRY I AM NOT INTO TEXT LINGO..LET ME KNOW IF I CAN HELP YOU ANY FURTHER..GOOD LUCK,,,TOM..