Not sure about the hhr but if you remove the 3rd brake lamp bulbs on most gm's the cruise control won't work. Sounds like you need to replace the brake light switch. I would put the bulbs back in and unplug the brake lamp switch and see if the lights go out.

 

Well don brew was dead on it was the brake light switch ,i read the internet to my eyes were red ...anyways the part was like 20.00 dollars and i had my local mechanic installed it..So if anybody third brake light stays lit when the car is off it will drain your battery dead so what i did was pull the third brake bulbs till i could get it fixed because no brake lights is no fun ..so i hope this helps out anyone with this problem ,thank god for this website to help save some money...thanks to all members who helped...

 

Well glad you got yours fixed, but it may not be the answer for others with the same problem. As I stated before, my 2010 has to have the key "on" for the brakelights to work. Key off, there is no voltage at the pedal sensor. So no way for a bad sensor to leave the brakelights on(at least on my car)
It may be different sensor setup depending on year model. Just trying to point out there must be difference between the wiring systems used during the different year models.
Again, hurst2001, glad you got yours fixed.

 

Yes that is correct that how i notice they were not working..But the third brake light stay on after the car was off thus draining the battery ..Anyway i had the brake switch replaced to fix this problem...Thank you

 

On my 2006 LS the center brake light will light up with the ignition off, the lower two primary brake lights do not work unless the ignition is on.

 

glad i found this thread. Have the same issue(s) with my 2006. <somewhat> of a funny story... Got off work today, noticed the alarm didn't sound when i tried to unlock, unlocked w/ key. Keys got stuck in the ignition. Had to lookup how to get the keys out of the ignition with a dead battery. Keys out, manually unlocking back doors and dropping the seats down to get to the battery. Tow truck comes out, i have to explain why i cant open my rear hatch and have to fish the jumper cables around the rear passenger door to get to the battery since it's completly locked down from the back. Get some juice, then yay!

 

Hmmm. Are you aware of the jumpstart location under the hood? It's in your owners manual. Hook up the jumper cables(Caution here! Must be done correctly.) then you will have power to open the rear hatch.
No need to do all that silly climbing over the seats and digging down to where the battery is located.

 

Thanks for the info, i was not aware! :)

 

Sorry that your vehicle is giving you some issues. I want to check your vehicle history to see if there are any bulletins related to your key being stuck in the ignition. If you could private message me your vehicle identification number I can look up that information.

Thank you,

Jessica L.
Chevrolet Customer Care