I have looked into several of the posts that are specifically in reference to changing the turn signal switch on this site. I am about 95% sure that this is my problem as troubleshooting showed that my rear brakelights don't function though the center still does (I have a 1999 Z34). There is power going to them but the fact that the signal relays from the turn signal switch in the column pretty much assures that this is infact that problem.

The point of this is that i noticed one or two people on here said that it was not a requirement to pull the steering wheel off in order to change this switch, though my father in st.louis (with his Haynes Manual present) seems to believe otherwise. Added to that the switch is circular and seems like it would set into the column behind the steering wheel. My last car was a Jeep cherokee I had about 1 1/2 months ago and the last thing i did on that was tear down the steering column and i really am hoping to avoid that again, especially with a car that now has an airbag. Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

 

The turn signal switch is the most common cause of no lower stoplamps with the high level stoplamp working. You must remove the airbag,steering wheel,SIR coil and steering column lock plate to gain access to the turn signal switch.There is also a wire harness that is part of the signal switch that runs down inside of the steering column tubeand exits at the base of the column.

 

yeah, i scoped out the harness and had the dash apart checking the wiring. I just wanted some validation that i did infact have to remove the steering wheel. I had noticed some conversation about it all on this forum. Thanks for the reply.

P.S. i hate disassembling frickin' steering wheel columns...

 

You can get a tool set at Harbor freight for about $20 that makes it a lot easier to remove it all. The same thing happened with 98 LS but it works fine now.