How 2 - Fit a 3rd Brake Light.
Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2018 1:13 am
Comments and questions about this How 2 can be posted in the linked thread below.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16488&p=166602#p166602
Saloon models.
If you have a boot, then adding the 3rd brake light is a piece of cake, and so if you need a guide for that, you should perhaps look at getting someone else to do it.
See Post #2 for where to wire up to.
So this thread will concentrate on the Hatchback models.
There is an easy, tacky way,
a not so easy, but proper way,
and a damned near impossible way to fit the wiring for a third brake light to your Cavalier.
The easy way
is to run a wire loosely from the nearside rear inner wing, up the d pillar, under the plastic trims of your hatch to the brake light that is mounted centrally above the bottom edge of the tailgate glass.
But this means the feed wire is not buried within the loomage and rubber sleeve as it should be.
So looks unprofessional and leaves the cable at risk to flexing and eventually snapping when you open and close the hatch.
The "damned near impossible" way
is to try and feed a wire through the hatch frame following the existing loom.
Trust me, I tried doing this several times to avoid ripping out the tailgate harness.
But in my opinion, it cannot be done.
So - here is the only proper way to add the wiring.
Warning it is long, slow and tedious, due to the amount of dismantling and refitting of trims,
Plus the hassle of pulling out, modifying and refitting of the tailgate loom.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=16488&p=166602#p166602
Saloon models.
If you have a boot, then adding the 3rd brake light is a piece of cake, and so if you need a guide for that, you should perhaps look at getting someone else to do it.
See Post #2 for where to wire up to.
So this thread will concentrate on the Hatchback models.
There is an easy, tacky way,
a not so easy, but proper way,
and a damned near impossible way to fit the wiring for a third brake light to your Cavalier.
The easy way
is to run a wire loosely from the nearside rear inner wing, up the d pillar, under the plastic trims of your hatch to the brake light that is mounted centrally above the bottom edge of the tailgate glass.
But this means the feed wire is not buried within the loomage and rubber sleeve as it should be.
So looks unprofessional and leaves the cable at risk to flexing and eventually snapping when you open and close the hatch.
The "damned near impossible" way
is to try and feed a wire through the hatch frame following the existing loom.
Trust me, I tried doing this several times to avoid ripping out the tailgate harness.
But in my opinion, it cannot be done.
So - here is the only proper way to add the wiring.
Warning it is long, slow and tedious, due to the amount of dismantling and refitting of trims,
Plus the hassle of pulling out, modifying and refitting of the tailgate loom.