I just bought my first 350Z and of course, I did not know my center brake light was not working until my brother followed me home from purchasing it and pointed it out to me.. We were able to stop the convertible top partway down and check both wires going to it with a test light and with the brakes depressed we could not detect any voltage going to it in either wire. Can somebody point me to what other things I should be checking. The regular brake lights work fine, it's just the center one that is not lighting up. Does it have a separate sender switch or a in line fuse somewhere or a a hidden plug in connector I could be checking. If I had a wiring diagram it would be very helpful but I don't even have an owner's manual. Since I'm under the impression that the lights in that unit are LED's I suspect it's not as simple as a burned out bulb, especially when I cannot detect any ''juice' going to the lamps. Any suggestions? Any help is gratefully appreciated.

 

Check the fuse.

If not follow it from the pedal back. It’s not getting power from somewhere.

 

Is there a separate fuse for the center brake light that is different from the tailiights/brake lights? I assumed they all operated off the same circuit. I also am curious as to whether the brake light switch by the brake pedal somehow has different internals for the two different kinds of brake lights, since I noticed in the picture of one of those there are four connectors/meaning four wires that plug into it.

 

Ask and you shall receive...

You did not specify what year roadster, but this is the diagram for my year ('05).

 

My 350Z roadster is a 2007 and I believe it's the same wiring setup for your model and mine.

 

Was there ever a solution found?

 

Created an account because I have the same issue and was wondering the same thing. What is the solution? My dumbass can't read wiring diagrams; I need photos of the actual wires/fuses and where they go.

Please and thank you.

EDIT: BTW, please don't ask me to "Google it". I did, and that's why I'm here. This is the only relevant result that isn't some AI-hallucinated BS.

 

Usually it's related to a fuse or the stop lamp switch. I believe the fuse is in the interior fuse panel (driver's side floor kick plate, port 20) and the switch is connected to the brake pedal.

If you have a 6MT, then the wiring is very simple to trace out, if you have an AT, it's more involved due to the shifter position check (2 wire switch vs. 4 wire).

If ALL your rear brake lights are not functional, it's either the fuse or something wrong with the switch. If ONLY the high mount brake light is not working, then there could be a wiring fault since the same power (+12V) feed/line is used from the brake switch out to the rear brake lamps (Left, Right, and High Mount). It could also just be something as simple as a burned out LED board for the High Mount lamp. Simplest way to check for a bad LED assembly is to probe the harness pins for 12V with the brake pedal pressed. If you get power, then the lamp should be lighting up. If you're not getting power, then the problem is either upstream the +12V side or a bad ground.

For vehicles that have been f&%$-ed with or clapped out (stripped interior, drift cars, heavily modified stereo system & electronics, etc.) there's a high chance that a ground wire is damaged or a bad splice/tap was installed.

I highly recommend doing a little reading up on how to understand/decode wiring diagrams. They all use standardized symbols, codes, and abbreviations. Once you learn those it gets pretty easy to follow and the knowledge translates to pretty much all makes/models. I think the annoying part of wiring diagrams is figuring out the location of all the harness junctions/connections inside the vehicle. They are documented in the FSM, but it does require you to flip through additional sheets/pages and make notes of everything, this process can be time consuming, but a lot better than simply guessing!

Cheers!
-Icer