Two days ago, I changed two brake light bulbs on the passenger side. Now, when I press the brake pedal far enough for the brake lights to come on, the interior lights dim, the dash lights come on very dim, and the voltage drops. If the engine is off, the chime also rings. I'm trying to figure this out fast, I think it might be a bad ground, any suggestions?
Also I did not have this problem or anything like it before I changed the bulbs. Maybe I pinched a wire when I put the assemblies back in...?
then check bulb sockets... See my Cave, Sneak Path
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
Bad grounds always cause weird problems like that. Dash lights coming on "dim" has bad ground written all over it. Also, be sure they are the correct new bulbs.
well, It ended up being a faulty bulb. I made the assumption that the bulbs new in the package were good. one of them was straight connected across the leads inside, versus through the tungsten filament. New bulb fixed it. here's another one for the archives. Thanks everyone
I've seen similar problems where I get a repair order that simply states "customer states dash lights come on when brakes are applied". What they neglected to mention is that the customer decided try their hand at replacing the bulb themselves, and put a single filiment bulb into a dual filiment socket, causing it to short whenever applied.
Long story short, if something starts acting up after you do something, start with whatever you just did and see what could've gone wrong.
