Swapped my hatch from a base model hatch to a Trans Am hatch a bit over a month ago. Since then the 3rd brake light on it has never worked. No big deal I thought, I'll just try replacing the bulbs and see what happens. I wanted an LED 3rd brake light anyways.

Well 15 minutes ago I just swapped the brake light on the car to an LED unit, and still no light

After many hours of deep thinking I've come to the conclusion it's a wiring issue. Problem is, I don't know where the wires lead to in the hatch and I'm fairly clueless about figuring out and diagnosing what the exact issue is, since I've never really encountered anything like this before.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Did you plug the electrical connector in when you replaced the hatch? There should be a connector at the top of the hatch that feeds electricity down the hatch to the light.

If so, you should test at that connector to find out what's going on.

 

Yeah it's plugged, just double checked it. Problem is, I paid two mexican dudes from a body shop next door to where I bought the hatch to help me install it, and one of them connected that if I remember correctly. Need to take off that rubber shell for the wires to get a better look right?

 

Yep. The connector is the place to start.