Oldsmobile/Buick Repair: 94 Buick Regal brake lights trouble, power door locks, amp fuses

Question
Hi,
We discovered that the brake lights were not working on our 94 Buick Regal Custom, with 3.8L engine.

We replaced the bulbs, still no brake lights. Also found the emergency flasher was not working.

Investigated, found a burned wire under the fuse panel up front under the hood on the passenger side. It is the wire that comes from one of the 60 amp fuses in that panel. Joined the wire back together and several things worked that hadn't been working, such as the power door locks, and the emergency flasher.

Also, the brake lights now partly work.

Here is what they now do:

1. With no directional signal on, only the upper brake light in the back window works.

2. With the left directional on, only the upper brake light in the back window works.

3. With the right directional on, the left brake lights and the upper brake light in the back window work.

4. The left and right directional signals seem to work correctly.

Your advice on how to untangle this confusing mystery will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Karen  

Answer
Hello Karen,
That wire is probably one of the fusible links, and should be replaced with a fusible link, or an inline fuse of the correct size, probably 30 Amp, but I'm not sure.

Then I would remove the rear turn signal bulbs, and make sure they are not installed backwards.

It is also possible that you need one or both flashers, the signal flasher, and the emergency flasher, but check the bulbs first. Look at the pins on the sides of the brass base of the bulb. If one pin is higher up the side of the base than the other, it needs to be correctly positioned in the socket, in order for things to work right. One of the grooves in the socket will be deeper, to accomodate the pin closest to the tip.

Van