Mercury Sable Forum : “The brake lights don't work. Fuse good, switch good, 12V on switch. Bulbs good. ...”

Is fuse correct size?  I have seen where an oversized fuse will not blow, but will not allow brake light function.  Just a thought.  Should be a 10 or 15 ampere fuse.

I have the same problem,..found the wire at the switch atached to the connector, but not making contact. upon inspection the wire came out of the connector housing...  now I am trying to figure out how to get the pin out of the connector. apparently you need a tool to extract the pin...  I'm stuck at this point...

to light up any lightbulb, you need 2 things:  A power and a ground.  I would go to the trunk and remove one of the taillamps.  Have an assistant press the brake pedal, or rig some type of rod between the driver's seat and the brake pedal to hold it down.  Then check the connector at the taillamp bulb itself for power and ground.  depending on the type of lights your car has, the connector for the lights should have 2 or 3 wires per bulb.  A 2 wire connector has one power and one ground.  A 3 wire connector has 2 power wires (one for parking lamp, one for turn signal/brake) and a ground wire.  it is not uncommon to find a faulty ground at the taillamps. Testing it this way will tell you if the power you have at the switch is making it to the light bulb, or not.