THanks for the speedy reply!!! Ok I did that. First I checked to make sure the tester worked properly, it did. One thing I wasn't clear about was whether or not to have the key in the on position? Now, as I stated previously, the brake light comes on any time the key is in the on position. Please let me know if you need more info on that
So I tried it both ways. first WITHOUT the key. I disconnected the negative wire from the battery leaving the hot wire on. I clipped the tester to the neg wire and put the tip on the neg terminal. Tester did NOT light up. However, I tried the same thing with the key IN the ignition and in the ON position, (which with the battery plugged up normally causes the brake light to come on) so I disconnected the neg wire, clipped the tester to it and touched the tip to the neg terminal, the tester light DID come on in this case, but I figured it was just because of the brake light being "live" with the key in the on position, right?