Hi guys! Happy New Year!!

The center brake light on my 98 e320 hasn't worked for the past 3 months. I finally bought a new bulb this week to replace the old one. Upon removal of the old bulb, i found that the old one doesn't seem to have blown out. I replaced the bulb anyway, but the center brake light still refuses to light up.

I've checked the contacts and the 2 wires that goes into the brake light housing. Everything looked clean and in position. There were no corrosions nor any bent or misaligned parts. I've heard that the center brake light does not have a malfuction reading associated with it in the control panel so there's no way of knowing if your light is bad without looking at the light itself.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Mars

My guess is that the contacts on your third light housing are broken or maybe just have some corrosion on them. To remove the entire housing, first remove the cover, then the bulb reflector (like when you replaced the bulb). Disconnect the spade connectors at the housing and remove the reflector. There is a plastic tab in the center of the housing, when pushed down (I think, but maybe it's up) allows you to slide the entire unit from its base. Inspect the contact tabs on this housing. One of mine was broken. I used a small spade connector crimped onto the broken end of the contact to fashion a new contact point. Previously, I had tried to bend the broken contact so it would make contact with the housing base and that worked for awhile. Again, it may be just a matter of cleaning all contact areas (if nothing is broken). Hope this helps you.

thanks a lot for the suggestion, dave. will give it a shot tonight.

mars