04 Yukon no power to instrument cluster/brake lights after engine swap

I just finished swapping in a fresh 5.3 into my wife's 2004 Yukon. Every harness, connector and ground has been checked. All grounds were marked, polished and checked for continuity. Every single thing works perfectly except only the CEL and backlights come on in the instrument cluster (no display either) and the brake lights don't come on when the pedal is pressed. The turn signals and running lights work fine. The fuses have been checked, swapped and there is power through the circuits in the fuse box when there is supposed to be. I know these clusters can fail from loose solder but it's odd it would fail after an engine swap and the brake lights won't function either. I'll pull the cluster tomorrow and check for power in the harness. Other ideas?

Here's the cluster pinout in a PDF if you don't have it handy. Good luck, and let us know what you find. Or don't find...

Fless said:

Here's the cluster pinout in a PDF if you don't have it handy. Good luck, and let us know what you find. Or don't find...

Click to expand...

Thanks. I pulled the cluster, cleaned everything then noticed intermittent operation when I plugged it back in. More messing with the connector and now the instrument cluster is working. Now for the brake lights. The bulbs work with turn signals and 12 volts are passing through the stop lamp fuse when the brake pedal is pushed but no brake lights.

Your turn signal bulbs are separate from your brake light bulbs, aren't they?