I've had this problem intermittently before and now it's happening again. To begin with, my right brake light doesn't come on when I press the brake pedal. The right turn signal works (it's on a separate bulb). Both right bulbs light up when the tail lights are on, except that the bulb that's also for the brake light completely goes out when the brake pedal is pushed. To complicate matters, the cruise control shuts off when the left turn signal is used as though I had pressed the brake pedal. I'm able to resume once I turn off the turn signal. All the lights on the left side of the car seem to work fine though.

If I had a wiring diagram for the car, it would be much easier to troubleshoot, but unfortunately I can't find one so I'm asking you guys for advice. I'm wondering if there are certain connectors I should check or tests to do with a multimeter to help isolate the problem.

 

So it happened intermittently for a while, did not have this symptom for a while and it returned, intermittently?? Or is it happening 100% of the time. Don’t quite understand the frequency of this problem, but most electrical gremlins can’t be diagnosed unless it is a complete failure 100% of the time and the system stops working completely.

Yea, troubleshooting an electrical system without a schematic is like……almost impossible now but if you had a car BC (Before Computers) you could do it most likely. If you had a schematic, you could at least see where these systems interact.

Start at the basics, remove the rear bulbs, check the connections at the bottom of the bulb sockets to make sure they are ok. Replace with brand new bulbs. Check to see if the condition still exists. This is the cheapest thing to do without a wiring schematic. Like you, if I had a schematic, it would be a lot easier to troubleshoot.

Thinking about it a little more, is the cruise control switch is on the steering column? Is it integrated into the turn signal or is it a separate ‘stalk’ on the column? It may be an issue within the steering column…??

Just some thoughts.

 

Well it is intermittent technically, but when it happened before, it was like this for several weeks before something (a bump in the road, etc) fixed it and now it's been this way for several weeks again. It sucks that since I'm usually working on it alone, the only way I can test it is to drive the car and test the cruise control.

The turn signal and cruise control are on different stalks on the steering column and I doubt the brake wires go into the steering column. I was thinking maybe the positive wire for the right brake light had shorted to the ground wire for the left turn signal (or whatever connects to the cruise control module). I just really can't imagine a scenario that would give the exact symptoms I'm experiencing though and without schematics, it's just a guess in the dark anyway.

I was wondering if anyone knows of a manual that would have complete wiring schematics for the car. I've seen a lot of manuals on eBay for cheap (some on cd) but it'd suck to buy one only to find it didn't have what I need. Thanks.

 

Okay, I seem to have fixed it simply by removing both taillight assemblies and swapping the bulbs with each other. I assume it was a poor connection at either the bulb socket or the connector at the housing. How that caused the cruise control to cancel when I used the left turn signal, I don't know. I think the guy at the pawn shop thought he had a customer when I backed up, but then I turned on the headlights, tapped the brakes, and drove off. I'll probably pick up some dielectric grease soon.

I'm still curious though if someone knows a repair manual with detailed schematics that I can get for cheap.

 

You just swapped the bulbs.......well if you had a schematic, you might see why it cancelled the cruise control...or that could be a separate problem.

As far as manuals......I should look or post something about this as I repeat myself many times. The BEST manual I have found is the one that I bought from Mitsubishi when I got my car new, it is pricey.....but it is worth it! I was also able to find a Ford service manual on eBay for a real good price (was going to work on a relatives car and it was a Ford). Look in the back of your owner’s manual that came with the car; sometimes it has information about ordering a factory manual. You could always check with the local dealership parts department, sometimes they can either order one or might know someone.... who knows someone who has one that they no longer use. There are also some online services that offer monthly or yearly subscription for repair information. I do not know how good they are.

By the way, I appreciate the fact that you do not use texting abbreviations, can spell correctly and gave a significant amount of information. It almost makes me crazy when I read some of the posts by people. They are so lazy and vague, cannot spell and have terrible grammar.

Makes me still have hope for the future...

 

I'll look for the Mitsubishi manual. I had one for my Ford on cd-rom and it would show every connector in a circuit and I could pull up the connector pin-out and location in the car. I'm hoping the Mitsubishi one is as thorough. If the dealerships use it, I would think it is. I think the library may have one so I'll go look there before buying.

Yeah, the terrible English and excessive use of acronyms annoys me too, lazy typists... I'm 30 though so I don't know if I'm young enough to count as "the future".

 

As far as I am concerned, the factory Mitsubishi manuals are very thorough and the way to go. The one for my 93 has 2 volumes, one for "engine, chassis & body" (about 2" thick) and the other is "electrical" (3/8" thick). I have a hard copy before they started doing cd versions. Mine has shipping tape on the spine of it to keep it together and the pages have notes that I have written in. Also the manufacturer will put out correction notices for things in the manual that need to be updated. Can't get everything 100% correct the first time.

To me, you are the future as I started working on cars before I could drive in the late 60's as we did not have the money to pay a mechanic, it was not in the budget. Back then, a majority of mom's did not work and stayed home so the only income was the dad. If something broke and we needed extra money, my dad got a second job for a while to get the money. Always had clothes and food.

 

The cd includes both editions, right? That's what I'd rather have. Books are too easy to damage.