brake lights stay on

[Blustery]

Hello Group,

I'm a new member/owner so forgive me if I don't follow etiquette. 2003 9-5 aero brake lights remain on when the car is running. I did the following things to try to narrow the problem.

removed brake light fuse.....no change.....returned fuse
removed rear running light fuse .....brake and headlights come on only when brake pedal is depressed
removed headlamp switch......no change....returned switch
removed and checked all rear lamp bulb filaments(did not check center light)........found differing # bulbs, one with only one filament

NOTE; the problem started after replacing left rear outside brake light bulb.

I left the rear running light fuse out so the brake lights work, but when the brake pedal is depressed the headlamps come on too.

[Blustery]

replaced all the rear bulbs.....no change, any help? ideas? thoughts? good mojo?

[Blustery]

I noticed that the wires are sooooo thin that I should trace the harness at every crux. Are the thin wires a Saab thing or a GM thing?

[Dave T]

I know this is probably not related but around 1993, Saab had a recall for classic 900's where the brake lights stayed on after turning the car off. One could turn off the brake light by tapping on the brake pedal so it bounced back. The recall was to replace the spring with a weaker spring.

[Blustery]

Thanks Dave, the first think I checked was the brake light switch under the dashboard. I have eliminated that as the problem.

[nordwulf]

Do you have a sedan or wagon? The sedan has a common problem with the trunk wiring.

http://saabworld.net/f29/sedan-boot-...aab-9-5-a-164/

[Blustery]

Wulf, thank you for the fantastic response. That is what I was going to check when my son gets home. You know what they say, great minds think alike

[Blustery]

Problem fixed, it was the wiring harness in the trunk exactly as pictured in the link posted above by Wulf. 40 minutes with the soldering iron and she's better than new. Thank you for the help.

[nordwulf]

Awesome, glad to hear you were able to fix it yourself.