Mazda Protege Tail / Brake Light Replacement

[@gabrielh9886]

When your headlight switch is off and you step on the brake pedal, is the center brake light supposed to come on only? Or the tail lights also?

[@boughtamiata]

Hello Gabriel H, the tail lights should come on like at the end of this video. I recorded in pitch dark with headlights off. Then you look for the wall reflection. It's the easiest way to check bulbs by yourself.

[@gabrielh9886]

@@boughtamiata Okay, thank you for clarifying on that. I have a 2002 mazda protege lx and happened to notice recently that only my center brake light comes on when I press the brake and my headlight switch is off. When my headlight switch is on and im not pressing the brake, the tail lights come on. So for the past week I've been confused if mine is supposed to be like that or if all 3 brake lights are supposed to come on. I mean, it wouldn't make sense only for the middle brake light to come on when pressing the brake so your video really helped me with that. Any suggestions on what my said issue is and how I might fix it? It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[@boughtamiata]

@@gabrielh9886 okay, I understand, the bulb is activated in parking light mode when the headlight is on. But I bet that it doesn't get any brighter when you press the brake to tell others you're stopping. This is super dangerous. Even though people see you at night, it means they can't tell when you're braking. Get it fixed asap. It's very rare that both bulbs fail at the same time. My guess is the brake light switch. It's not expensive, but you need to be small to get under the dash and test. Right behind the brake pedal bar is a little button. When you press the brake, the vertical pedal bar will hit the button. That's the signal for the bulbs to get more power to light up and say "STOP". It's no different than that black rubber button at the bottom of the door jamb (back edge, bottom). You push that and it controls the interior lights. Take a paper clip and connect the two wires to see if the brake light come back on. Then you know the switch is bad. Second could be the fuse is blown. Check fuses, just be advised a blown fuse usually means something else is wrong like a worn wire. So watch if it blows a second time. Last would be electrical and you'd need a mechanic, but that is pretty rare.

[@gabrielh9886]

@@boughtamiata You are correct, when the parking light mode is on, the 2 brake bulbs in the taillights come on but do not get brighter when the brake pedal is pushed. Luckily my center brake light still functions correctly. The right side brake light is out but my left still works so thankfully i was able to spot the issue and will be able to fix it. Thank you very much for the information and suggestions, i will give them a try. I am planning to replace all the exterior bulbs with LEDs so if i didnt catch the issue now, i would have when i go to install them and that would have very inconvenient.

[@gabrielh9886]

@@boughtamiata also, when the tail lights are on, is the center brake light supposed to come on aswell and all 3 become brighter when the brake pedal is pressed? Sorry if it's an obvious answer- I'm not super bright when it comes to things like this 😂 my center brake light does not come on at all unless i press the brake pedal. I assume all 3 brake lights are tied to that brake light switch?

[@jeffsimpson9183]

22 for me