Locating the Stop Light Wire on a 1996 Chevrolet Pickup for a Brake Controller

Updated 01/03/2013 | Published 12/31/2012

Question:

I found the white wire under the dash coming from the brake..When i put my light tester into the wire ,its hot...when i press the brake the light will go out? I checked all ft the wires coming from the brake and there hot too..is there some other wire I can hook the brake controller to? I looked the video over a bout 20 times now and got all of it done but the brake wire under the dash in that nice hard spot on top of the column. Thanks

asked by: Rudy

Expert Reply:

If the white wire that you found is not hot when the brake pedal is pressed, then it is not the correct wire from the stop light switch that you need for the brake controller. There may be multiple white wires under the dash, I recommend looking for a heavier gauge white wire in a bundle of wires along the steering column. There will be a bundle of wires going from what looks like a 50 pin connector, up the steering column toward the turn signal, the wire can be located in that bundle.

This wire can be very difficult to find from underneath the dash. There are often cases where dash panels must be removed to locate the wire. Try testing the heavier gauge wires for one that is hot only when the brake pedal is pressed.

I have attached an installation video on a 1993 Suburban. Our installer ran into a similar issue and used the wires along the steering column rather than the wires coming from the stop light switch. Skip to the 7 minute mark in the video. If you still have difficulty locating this wire, let me know what you come up with and we can do further troubleshooting.

expert reply by: John H