I would probably check the ground circuit for the tail/brake ligth assembly
first, for a bad or loose connection. This is a common demoninator between
the two circuits, so it is a good place to start. Connect and ohm meter
between the black lead at the tail light and the engine, it should read
continuity. You can check your bulbs by checking from the black wire on the
tail light side to the yellow (brake elements) and blue (tail light). I am
taking for granted you did not have brake lights with either the front or
rear brake, so this makes the probability of a switch being open, since it
would have to be both switches open to create no brake lights, highly
unlikely. You can also remove the bulbs and make sure there is no corrosion
in the sockets. Also, did you happen to stuff something under the rear tail
section, where the connector is for the rear light, that could have loosened
the connection? It is unusual to loose both t/l and b/l at the same time,
without having a ground problem, however, if the ground is ok, then the next
likely thing is there are two seperate problems. When you check fuses, use a
test light or volt meter, or remove them and check resistance across them.
Visual inspections can be misleading, and it is a varible worth removing.
NEVER just look at a fuse if you can check it some other way. The tail light
is fused through the "tail" fuse, and the brake light circuit is fused
through the "signal" circuit. From here, it starts getting pretty specific to
check each circuit. Then you would have to check voltage in to the brake
light relay, voltage out of the relay (all with brakes on, so current is
flowing).
RSRBOB
