2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ review from Australia and New Zealand

Rear brake lights don't work when the headlights are turned on.

I would like to thank jrdahle@yahoo.com for his January 1, 2005 post below. His instructions successfully fixed my problem i.e. my lower rear brake lights don't work when I have my headlights switched on.

The problem was correctly predicted as a faulty ground contact on my brake light and once I cleaned the contacts (I cleaned the other two while I was at it) with a Q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol, and raised the metal contact slightly (be very gentle) on the ground contact with a small flat head screw driver I had to tighten up the screws in my reading glasses.

The whole process took me about 10 mins for the first brake light and 5 mins for the second light (since I knew what I was doing second time around). My local Jeep dealer quoted me $376 to fix this problem by completely replacing my two rear light fixtures (2 x $168 for the fixtures and $40 labor costs) and I fixed it myself with the help of this web site for free in 15 mins !!! I am an office worker not a mechanic and not particularly mechanically minded so if I can do it anyone can do it.

Here is a very useful site which shows you how to remove your rear light fixture so you can fix this problem http://www.wjjeeps.com/lamps/lampsrem.htm#EXTERIORREM

Here is a good site to purchase replacement globes for your Jeep http://www.eautoworks.com/html/bulbSearch-1-JEEP-Grand~Cherokee~Limited.htm

And if the trick above doesn't work here is a site where you can order replacement light fixtures for $58.95 each instead of $68 each list price which is what my dealer quoted to me. By the pay the part numbers for the replacement fittings are 11-5275-01 (RH passenger side light) and 11-5276-01 (LH drivers side light). The web page is at

http://www.carlightswholesale.com/cgi-bin/carlightswholesale/index.html?mv_todo=return&mv_action=return&mv_session_id=RUJG38Ei&make=JEEP&year=2000&department=replacement&model=GRAND+CHEROKEE

Tools you will require for this job are (a) a Phillips head screw driver for removal of your two rear light fixtures (b) small/tiny flat head screwdriver for raising the metal ground contact (c) Q-tips and rubbing alcohol for cleaning all the contact points.

Regards,

mikeandjulia@consolidated.net