Volvo: 1985 240 lights, fuse box, wise idea

Question
I have always had problems with the break lights on my car; when I have my lights on, all lights work except for my left break light.  However,  I noticed yesterday that my left tail light does not turn on either.  The blinker works just fine.  What do I need to do to fix this?  Is it something that a person who knows nothing about cars can fix?

Answer
First check to make sure the lightbulbs themselves are not burnt out.  Next, check your fuse box to make sure no fuses are blown.  If both are ok, then you most likely have a bad ground somewhere in the system.  At each light, rather than run a ground wire all the way back to the light relays, they usually have a short wire going to a bolt which screws directly into the chasis.  A lot of times these bolts will get rusty in older Volvos and disrupt  the circuits enough to cause shorts, sometimes in very random fashions like you described.  It will be a matter of closely examining each light and its respective wiring to look for shorts, rust, and corrosion.  If all that seemed over your head, it's probably a wise idea to take it to a mechanic or skilled friend to have them hunt down the problem.  Good luck!