Hi guys.

I’m turning to you for ideas now since I am out of any.

I have a MY09 Fabia 1,4 16V.

A couple of weeks ago my car started to flash engine light, EPC and ESP in the dash. Pulled the error codes and found 16955 brake switch circuit malfunction.

Replaced the brake light switch yesterday, cleared the fault codes, and the fault came back. However now the high level brake light works but both main brake lights do not turn on. Replaced the bulbs with no success. Strange thing is that if i start the car while fully pressing down the brake pedal, the esp light is off until I release the brake, then it turns on immediately.

Any ideas what to do next?

Edited 2 October, 20252 Oct by Fubbelubbe

High level and normal brake lights are generally all wired in parallel, so these symptoms suggest that you may not have fitted the correct bulb type (or you changed the wrong bulbs).

Correct type per location is often marked on the bulb holder assembly.

Edited 2 October, 20252 Oct by Breezy_Pete

1 minute ago, Breezy_Pete said:

High level and normal brake lights are generally all wired in parallel, so these symptoms suggest that you may not have fitted the correct bulb type.

Correct type per location is often marked on the bulb holder assembly.

Hm ok, I bought the same 21W bulbs that was fitted before. But are you suggesting if one of the tail brake lights is broken this affects the other side as well?

2 minutes ago, Fubbelubbe said:

are you suggesting if one of the tail brake lights is broken this affects the other side as well?

No, I am suggesting that if the high level light is working correctly, the circuit is OK as far as the rear of the car, so localised problems with bulbs or bulb holders of the main brake light bulbs are most probable.

1 minute ago, Breezy_Pete said:

No, I am suggesting that if the high level light is working correctly, the circuit is OK as far as the rear of the car, so localised problems with bulbs or bulb holders of the main brake light bulbs are most probable.

Thank you for the clarification. I will ofc double check that I have the correct bulbs. I was also thinking if it could be some issue with the ground point for the tail lights since both stopped working at the same time.

The black/red wire going to each rear lamp cluster is the brake light feed, check for 12V when pedal is pressed.

Do check all the bulbs in each cluster in case you changed the wrong ones.

4 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

The black/red wire going to each rear lamp cluster is the brake light feed, check for 12V when pedal is pressed.

Do check all the bulbs in each cluster in case you changed the wrong ones.

Great tip, thank you🙏

Had this issue with a mates car and it was a bad connector in the loom, for some reason at some point water had got in and the connector and was corroded, tail lights worked flashers reverse light fog light all ok bar the stop lights did not come on but as yours the high level light came on but no light on dash problem, his was under the drivers side rear behind the panel managed to get at it without removing the whole panel, just a thiught i bought some bulbs from a retail outlet once and they didn't work untill i messed around with them in the holder it seems some bulbs just have like two spots to contact and others have a longer pear like shape contact, i went and found the pear shaped ones and they worked straight away

3 minutes ago, Murdockman said:

Had this issue with a mates car and it was a bad connector in the loom, for some reason at some point water had got in and the connector and was corroded, tail lights worked flashers reverse light fog light all ok bar the stop lights did not come on but as yours the high level light came on but no light on dash problem, his was under the drivers side rear behind the panel managed to get at it without removing the whole panel, just a thiught i bought some bulbs from a retail outlet once and they didn't work untill i messed around with them in the holder it seems some bulbs just have like two spots to contact and others have a longer pear like shape contact, i went and found the pear shaped ones and they worked straight away

Interesting, do you mean the loom above the pedals?(the one going from the brake switch)

On 02/10/2025 at 09:10, Breezy_Pete said:

The black/red wire going to each rear lamp cluster is the brake light feed, check for 12V when pedal is pressed.

Do check all the bulbs in each cluster in case you changed the wrong ones.

You where right my friend. One of the bulbs was broken. Swapped both and now everything works. Thanks you for the guidence!