99 Pontiac Grand Am Electrical Problems
Logan’s Question: I see lots of people having electrical issues with the same car I have. 99 Pontiac Grand Am, when I hit the brake, right, rear turn signal does’t work. When I let go of the brake it works fine? I just replaced both tail light circuit boards witch I purchased from Pontiac dealer…what could be the problem. Also, sometimes the right turn signal indicator on the dash will stay lit when I brake and turn signal doesn’t work at all, just freezes??
Answer: Yes, you have something cross circuiting your electrics there. Unfortunately, it may be the Body control Module under the passenger side of the dash. It’s a computer module that operates both those systems (amongst a bunch of others.) If the circuitry crosses inside that module, weird things will happen.
Now those Pontiacs often also have grounding problems, so be sure to check all the ground wires on the system, because a bad ground can cause the module to short out (so that replacing the module could just end up burning out the new one you just bought in a short period of time.)
If a ground wire doesn’t work right, then the electrical system can start using power wires as ground wires and do all kinds of strange havoc to an electrical system. IF the car has ever been wrecked, pay special attention to the wrecked area as wires could be pinched or connections loosened by the collision and later repair work. But, if you’re at least a little bit lucky, it could just be the body control module itself gone bad. I see that a lot in Pontiacs. Good Luck.