whenever i step on my brakes the "Stop Lamp" light lights up on the idiot cluster. and when the turn signal is on while my foot is on the brake it lights up but then flashes with the turn signal. what the hell is it? i've replaced the bulbs in the brake lights.

 

Check for a bad ground in the tail light/brake light/signal light assembly.

 

alright...even stupider question. where are the grounds? all i see are the wires going to the light bulbs themselves

 

The pictures with the wiring diagrams in the FSM have pictures showing the location of plugs and ground connections. Attached are the two pages for the common connector section. The ground points are labeled Ef, Ei and 3 different Er. I believe the one mentioned above is the point marked Er at the rear of the car.

I'm having this same issue. I'll check that ground tomorrow. I should have thought of that ground point in the rear. Thanks.

 

that means you have a bad light bulb,one of the brakelights,try that first

 

^^bingo, bad brake light bulb. the "BRAKE" lamp also serves to let you know that you're low on brake fluid, that the parking brake is engaged or you have a burned out bulb. in your case, it seems to be illuminating due to a bad bulb.

 

Not quite. The "Brake" lamp does illuminate for low brake fluid, or with the park brake. It doesn't light up for a burned out bulb. The "Stop lamp" light illuminates for a burned out bulb, but can also give a false warning when there is a bad ground.

 

i believe that is on a second gen not first gen,but i could be wrong.

 

that you are correct. my mistake. after reading what i had posted it looks like i got a little ahead of myself. its been years and years since i had a brake light bulb burn out. thank you for the correction.

 

The only time I have ever seen the "Stop lamp" light illuminate on my car, was due to a weak ground. That was under the hood. Anytime the lights were on, and I was stopped at a light, the stop lamp would flash with the turn signal. Cleaning the ground location on the strut tower for the negative battery cable solved that issue.

 

I just went and pulled the e-brake on my FB and the "BRAKE" light on the dash comes on when its engaged.......

 

Yes that is what Rogue and Mazdaverx stated.

 

forgot to post up i figured out what it was. it was exactly what happened to you. the ground wasnt connecting properly due to my engine bay having just been painted. thanks for the help guys.

 

NP. Glad to be of assistance. Thanks for posting back to let us know you got it solved.