Extra Brake Light SOLUTION!

[WhitePulsar]

OK, first off. If you are like me and want the top brake light to work, then this is for you.

If you did like I did first then you may be in trouble. What I did was jumper the 2 green wires with a black strip located on the 3-pin switch together. This causes a grounding loop through the computer with a voltage present. That is BAD.
Also if you have done similar you probably found the defrost fuse to pop. resulting obviously in no rear defroster.

Well, put those wires back to normal.

The Fix:
remove the rear panel on the drivers side (Can./US) that is beside the rear seat (the panel with the cup holder thingy).
Look for 2 wires that are wrapped together in black tape.
Remove a good chunk of black tape carefully.
There are 2 wires visible now. Green with a BLACK stripe, and green with a RED stripe.
cut the wire with the RED stripe.
For the half that is comming down from the top: this goes to chassis ground.
Cap off the wire that comes up from the bottom (tape, butt-connector, whatever)
And there you have it. the extra brakelight and a working rear defroster!


this should go into a tech article or something. or am i and idiot and everyones already figured this out? :) :)

[Howie]

nope u're not an idiot.. at least it gives me something to do on the weekend. my brake light works but the middle section is all dark.

btw.. i'll gladly turn it into an article (i'd love some photos though).

[WhitePulsar]

your spoiler brake lights or the extra one?

spoiler:
according to my official nissan diagrams for the 89, there are 3 lights in the spoiler.

extra one:
the top one might be dim in the middle because of the shape of the lenses (there's 2 that are doubled up). could also be dust built up on the ribs of the lenses.

[TTriX]

as far as i know...no offence,
but when i removed the factory spoiler and rounded it all out, i was stuck either filling in where the brake light was or smoothing over the brake light it self, when i had this light out there were only two bulbs in there.
and that one was an 89 18de, if you remove the covers for those lights you will understand,
inside is two bulbs and two reflectors, every other light i have removed was exactly the same...
the only thing i can figure is that the third brake light for when the hatch is off is set up as an open loop or something to give you a total of three lights in the circut, thus meaning that you could wire up the light inside the interior via the three prong pin swith in the rear hatch...
what do you guys think?
T

[WhitePulsar]

i know that there is only 2 lights in the spoiler, but my official wiring diagram shows 3.
if you muck around with the 3 pin connector for the hatch, you will only run into trouble. I look my time and figured this out. if you jumper the 2 green wires if creates a grounding loop that blows the defrost switch, if you wire the correct green wire to the black one, then it acts as the switch being in the closed position (this is the position it is in when the hatch is open).
the only "correct" way to wire up the extra brake light is as i mentioned above.

wiring up the extra light via the 3 pin switch is mickey mouse and skrews up other electrial systems preventing correct operation ... yada yada yada.... .

the switch is actually controlling a grounding circuit for 2 SPDT relays. one relay is for switching between the use of the defrosted and the extra brake light, and the other one is governed by the first relay and controls the defroster operation through and 'AMP device' as my diagram tells me.

[turbo18exa]

Why don't you just cut both wires and run a length of wire to the brake light at rear of vehicle test to see which wire are brake ones etc join that to one of the wires and earth the other not too hard wouldn't even bother with the wiring diagram should take you 15 minutes all up i would think

personally i wouldnt botehr with wiring up that light inside the vehice cause its crap when it comes on lights up the inside of the car (been in a car where it actuall works

[NX EXA]

The interior brake light is designed to come on when the boot is open or off (when the brakes are applied of course). That is why there are 3 lights in the diagram. I did mess with it when I first got the car. I played around with the 3-prong thing and got it to light both the spoiler and the interior light. When I was driving one night and needed the defogger on I noticed that the switch light didn't turn on. Under investigation the next day I found that the defogger wouldn't work since the interior brake light had current going to it. Therefore I put it back the original way.

Now I have more than 3. Actually I have totally rewired the entire brake and marker lights. I have substituted the 2 bulbs in the spoiler in favour of LED lights. The brake/marker lights are European style now........individual brake and marker lights. The lights closest to the reverse lights are brake lights only. The lights closest to the indicators are markers lights only with an intergrated rear foglight on the driver side (for safety in rain or fog).

[WhitePulsar]

no no no.
the diagram shows 3 lights on the spoiler and the extra brake light as well. i know there is only 2 lights on the spoiler, but oh well.
i know how to read a wiring diagram. 1/2 of my job is making wiring diagrams and running wiring. I'm not an idiot, i've already done this, it is the correct way to add the light to the circuit, and it is also the easiest way.
I am correct, 'nuff said.

[Blood]

:( i dotn have one of those lights ..
were they only on the 89-91 models ???

[NX EXA]

I see what you are saying WhitePulsar. Apparently Nissan intended for 3 bulbs in the spoiler light supposedly but then altered it. They just didn't change/update the wire diagram.

SilvEXA, what lights are you talking about? All EXA/Pulsar's have the spoiler and interior brake lights.

[Matt]

Err, thats a negative... My car doesn't have the high-mount interior brake light, and it never did. I have seen exas where it has been remove though. Heaps more headroom in the back without it by the way..

[NX EXA]

Hmm, I thought all EXA/Pulsar's have the interior light. Does it have the opening and wires for it? You could always get one from the wreckyard. On the other hand it would stop people from hitting thier heads. Everyone that gets in the back seat of my car hits thier head on it and the first word they say it 'FUCK!' Every last one of them say it, nothing else. I had to replace the cover at one point because one the mounts broke.

[TTriX]

one of my old pulsars had a piece of flat steel over it and no interior brake light...i thought this was odd as i thought that all the pulsars had this for safety???
oh well, that one is dead too-hahaha
T

[Matt]

My car has all of the trim intact on the roof. There are no holes for bolting the unit on or the wiring. It was not supplied with the car for whatever reason.

The spoiler light is there for safety, at the time the exa was released people realised a high-mount stop light like those behind the rear window of cars allow you to react to sudden stopping quicker as it is in the line of sight. This feature is now an Australian Design Requirement.

As the exa allows you to remove the boot, the roll bar interior stop light is a replacement for the spoiler light which is no longer there (without the rear hatch). New exa buyers who had no intention of removing their boot, or needed the extra headroom may have optioned it off their delivery.

By the way my car is an 89 model. It's a series 2 n13 (1.8 but with rear drums and no -O- badge).

[Blood]

I think that the high mounted brake light (just inside rear window , inside the car )
was designed for - when taking the boot lid off. " CABRIO " style..
it adds an extra brake light.. as there is none on the rear wing/spoiler when there is no boot attached..