Question : Passenger side brake lights

[Jesster]

I have a 1998 Lumina LS 4DR sedan with a 3100 v-6. I have a few questions. My rear right side brake lights are not working, the one on the quarter and the one on the right side of the rear window deck brake light. I replaced the one on the right quarter (even though it looked good). That didn't help. Are these put into a series circuit where when one goes out both are out? Would replacing the rear deck bulb work? We have also recently started hearing a high pitched electrical whine when running the HVAC blower; I can't verify when each electrical event started but it would be at most within a couple of days time period. I bought a new blower, but its been too cold to install and I can put up with a little electrical whine.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Angita]

Which one (blower) you bought?

[walterdude]

The rear deck lights and the Brake/taillights are on a separate circuit and have separate ways of activating the lights... Replacing the bulb on the deck light should fix that part.. When you say the light on the "Quarter" do you mean on the side of the car or the taillights (on the back)?? At any rate, I've had brake light problems on both of my Luminas, 93 Z34 and 99 Base model and believe it or not in both cases the turn signal switch assembly was bad.. It seems like when you turn on the blinker it disengages the brake light circuit and engages the turn signal circuit... If you back the car against a wall so you can see the lights try fooling around with the lever... In my last case, 99 Lumina, if I moved it like I was switching the Hi-Beams but not far enough to actually engage the switch the brake lights would work, until I had to use the turn signal... On the 93 I hooked a bungee cord to the lever and wrapped it around the steering column and hooked the other end to the lever the brake lights would work... Actually I believe it was a BIG elastic band!! Anyway, if messing with the lever helps, you've found the problem, FIX as soon as possible!! It isn't too bad of a job. You have to pull the steering wheel which requires a puller... There is something else that needs to be compressed enough to expose a C-Clip... I ended up improvising on that, but got the job done.. I don't think I needed anything more "special" than that, other than Torx Bits... I'd compare www.rockauto.com and www.gmpartsdirect.com for prices... I forget which one I used, but the savings was substantial, ended up less than $60 with shipping... If you go with Rock Auto there is a discount code "Sticky" in the forums on this site,,, believe it's in the Off Topic section... It almost pays for the shipping costs....
Well, good luck and keep us posted...
Hope this helps,,,,
Tom...