96 E36 328i brake light issues help needed

[632 Regal]

My sons 328 brake lights are doing strange things.

First the left brake light when pressed was dimmer than the right and also had a slight delay in coming on. It has done thins since we got the car
Did the usual swapped the left and right bulbs and sockets, no change. Cleaned all the contacts on the assembly, socket and bulb with no change
Cleaned the left housing plug in connector and applied stabilant 22a ~ big improvement, even liveable

Went around the block and got the brake light warning again
no rear brake lights at all, bulbs good along with the fuse, no power to the brake light circuit at the trunk
Noticed the right bulb socket connection that goes to the bulb terminal looks like it got very hot, definitely melted a bit probably before killing power,
not where it contacts the housing but on the inside of the socket going to the bulb itself, contacts are still all good at the bulb and housing

SO I assume it needs a brake light switch, but what would cause this to happen? It is like something got grounded and fried something going through the right brake light socket. I think the bulb should have blown in this case but it didn't. I will clean the plug in terminal on the right brake but doubt this has anything to do with it. Will also check the wiring again to the light housings. The only change was cleaning the left housing electrical socket and stabilant 22a

Any other ideas before we waste time and money on the brake light switch?

[ahlem]

Better grounds.

[632 Regal]

Don't know about the grounds but did check all the sockets and connections. Turned it on and they worked! 2 times and then brake light circuit warning along with check control. Time for a brake light switch. And today there was no delay with both sides the same brightness. Stabilant 22a FTW!

[Javier]

There is a nice post by Shogun regarding the issue on the break light switch. It is based on the fact that a very small current flows through the contact going to the CCM, leading to a faulty contact. Flowing higher current momentarily will clean and fix. Also keep in mind LKM (not sure there is one in E36, but guess it should be) is usually in the brake light circuit, so LKM loose contact or cold soldering points will also lead to Brake Light issues.

[632 Regal]

There is a nice post by Shogun regarding the issue on the break light switch. It is based on the fact that a very small current flows through the contact going to the CCM, leading to a faulty contact. Flowing higher current momentarily will clean and fix. Also keep in mind LKM (not sure there is one in E36, but guess it should be) is usually in the brake light circuit, so LKM loose contact or cold soldering points will also lead to Brake Light issues.

Actually we took apart my old brake switch from the E34 and my sons switch to compare. His really got hot (metal discoloration) so we decided to try mine. Used contact cleaner as the contact points are very small and almost impossible to sand clean. Installed and it worked today with no issues. Quick fix instead of waiting for a replacement. Good quick fix.

[shogun]

The repair of the old switch without removing it, is on my website, click fixes>>in index click under brakes >>> Brake Light Circuit Repair, Interesting fix -- good photos
http://twrite.org/shogunnew/topmenu.html

[632 Regal]

The repair of the old switch without removing it, is on my website, click fixes>>in index click under brakes >>> Brake Light Circuit Repair, Interesting fix -- good photos
http://twrite.org/shogunnew/topmenu.html

No direct link... lost in translation.