Originally Posted by
ace_master
My bad... Thought you meant the third brake light.
When you remove the carpet piece to change the bulb, push the socket from behind (toward you) to remove it... disconnect and check and make sure the plug where the wires meet the socket is pushed in correctly, and in all the way (socket disconnects from wires via connector). If everything is good there, take the bulb out and check with a pin on each side with a volt meter... is there any power in the socket? Flip the switch, any power? You should do this voltage check immediately after opening the hatch, as I'm not sure if there's a timer that cuts the voltage after a period of time (in case you leave the hatch open, to save your battery from draining).