Howdy Guys,

Kinda stumped on this one. Recently I noticed my reverse light don't come on and the brake lights don't illuminate as well. The horizontal light on top of the cab comes on but the main lights don't. The odd thing is that the turn signals function just fine on the back end. All fuses replaced but I am at a loss on this one. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

don't hold me to this but i think there is a switch under or by your brake pedal you can change. My dad had a van that did the same thing and it was a switch under the pedal.

 

Mine was doing the same thing but also the tag lights weren't working. There's a wiring harness right behind the rear bumper that had come unplugged. That fixed my problem.

 

Definately check that plug in the back. If thats not the case you may have some more "fun" issues. If its doing what mine did (and it sound like the same symptoms) you have two potential issues. The first and most common is the mulitfunction switch in the steering column. These fail quite often and GM has issued a recall on many of these. The easiest way to check this ive found is by pressing the brake and jiggling the hazard switch. This sounds silly but what it seems to do is move around the housing and internals to the mulifunction switch. If you get any responce from this you probably have a bad multifunction switch. To confirm this for sure of course you can have any GM dealer check it for you and in many cases its covered by a recall.If this doesnt help you may have a wire harness issue (like what i had). This involves getting a new rear harness and running the wires. Big PITA but if you have any warranty left the dealer will fix it free (i lucked out with mine and got in just 50milesbefore mine expired).

 

Update

Checked the harness in front of the rear bumper, still plugged in and good. Tried jiggling the hazard switch but that was a no go. I appreciate the info on the recall though, it sounds exactly like whats wrong. My other question is then does it matter that the recall took place like four years ago? Will Chevy still replace the faulty multifunction switch on a Blazer I just bought? I have never had a vehicle with a recall so I have no idea how that works.

 

I dunno. I've never had to deal with a recall. The only way to find it is ask 'em I guess.

 

They will still replace it as its a safety issue and GM would rather not be sued. Go to any GM dealer and they will pull your VIN and make sure you qualify and from there have them do the rest. Mine i had done in 05 and im the second owner of my blazer and they had no problem with changing the part.

 

Have 1997 Blazer top light works lowers work occasionally.... found that if i engage the four ways they do not work, but if i push down on the hazard switch and hold it downthe brake lights will come on intermitantly........ turn signals and running lights all work all the time.... just the brake lights.... it's the switch for sure..... nice of GM to recall just about everything but the 97 for that......

 

Sounds like you have a bad multifunction switch (it controls turnsignals, hazards, wipers, etc.) attached to the steering column. Not a cheap fix but i can almost guarentee thats the problem. Let me know what you find out.

 

To the original poster, this sounds like something is amiss in the wiring to the rear lights. The reverse lights are not inclusive to the multifunction switch.

To lilmouth31, this is the typical hazard switch malfunction. Up until recently, the only recourse was to replace the entire multifunction switch, but now you can pull out the old hazard switch and replace the internals. Here's the thread discussing this very thing --> Hazard Switch