Brake lights don't work..

[Sweet5ltr]

My brake lights on my 1969 Road Runner decided to stop working. All other lights, flashers, etc. work on the car great. Initially, they didn't work because we didn't have the switch plugged in at the brake pedal.. :icon_eyes:

Now, a few months later the brake lights do not work at all. The blinkers work, so I know the bulbs are good. Do the two wires that plug into the switch, just open a circuit? If I was to place a wire through each of them and connect them both together, should the brake lights turn on (telling me that the switch is bad, and not the entire column assembly)? What other ways can I go about testing them and the electrical system.

Do I need to just order a turn signal switch setup? Who sells the best one and can give the quickest shipping? Thanks!-

Korey

 

[67 coronet]

i would just check for power after the switch with the pedal depressed.also make sure the swith didnt move in some way and get out of adjustment.you can jump the switch with wires,but sometimes that can short out stuff when hooked up live.if you do it that way,unhook battery first,then jump switch and rehook up battery.

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Hmm.. I'll give it a try! Thanks!

 

[Propwash]

Gotta love old mopar wiring eh?

I've had 4 mopars that I had to change the turn signal switch because the brake lights quite working. Just an idea about how common it is. You have a brown and dark green wire coming out of that directional switch. One wire is for turn signal, one is for brake lights (can't remember which is which). First off, check your grounds. There should be a ground wire thats attached with a screw right on or around the trunk latch support in your trunk. Good there, check the power going out to those dark green and brown wires. Also check the brake switch at the top of your brake pedal assembly. There's a pink and a white wire going to it.

If it is indeed the turn signal switch, sometimes you can fix the two small wires on the face of it that have to do with your brakes/turn signals (a red and a white on the top face of the switch). They take a sharp hairpin turn in the top of the switch and then go down into the rocking camber past that. They love to break in that area.

Hope it helps...good luck

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Gotta love old mopar wiring eh?

I've had 4 mopars that I had to change the turn signal switch because the brake lights quite working. Just an idea about how common it is. You have a brown and dark green wire coming out of that directional switch. One wire is for turn signal, one is for brake lights (can't remember which is which). First off, check your grounds. There should be a ground wire thats attached with a screw right on or around the trunk latch support in your trunk. Good there, check the power going out to those dark green and brown wires. Also check the brake switch at the top of your brake pedal assembly. There's a pink and a white wire going to it.

The pink and white wire is just what I checked by running them both into each other which should open the circuit and taking the brake pressure switch out of the equation. I will check grounds in my trunk once again, but I doubt they are non functional because I have other power equipment that is grounded and works fine. Power to the wires mentioned will be checked as well..

If it is indeed the turn signal switch, sometimes you can fix the two small wires on the face of it that have to do with your brakes/turn signals (a red and a white on the top face of the switch). They take a sharp hairpin turn in the top of the switch and then go down into the rocking camber past that. They love to break in that area.

I may take the steering wheel off and have a look if nothing else seems to be the culprit.

Hope it helps...good luck

Thanks for your detailed reply!

 

[cr8crshr]

Also the actual "switch" at the brake peddle could be bad. Replacements can be had. I would check there first before looking else where...

 

[Sweet5ltr]

Brake lights FIXED!
Checked out the factory electrical wiring diagrams that Propwash posted on an older thread. Traced the "stop light switch" pink wire, to the flasher, which in turns goes to the fuse panel. It was the third fuse from the left, and it was blown (only a 6AMP fuse in a 20AMP location). Changed the fuse out with the fuse for AC and Heat (both of which I don't have) and the brake lights were brighter than ever. Thanks everyone for the input! Very happy I fixed this without spending $100 on a new turn signal assembly, just to figure out it was a $1 fuse! :eusa_doh:

 

[Propwash]

Great to hear! Gotta love it when it's the easy stuff.

 

[tpodwdog]

i love a happy ending.....for future reference...the bulbs in back (stop and turn )...are an 1157 bulb which has 2 filaments....one for stop light...one for turn signal( and flashers)

 

[Sweet5ltr]

i love a happy ending.....for future reference...the bulbs in back (stop and turn )...are an 1157 bulb which has 2 filaments....one for stop light...one for turn signal( and flashers)

Thank you for the information! It just puzzled me, that this wasn't discussed before when others had problems. I figured if it was a fuse, another system would be effected. Anyways, glad it's solved and I am not worrying about being pulled over while cruising..

 

[tpodwdog]

youre very welcome....ALLLLLWAYS start with the easiest things first before ripping the car apart. i was going to suggest the fuse but by the time i got to the bottom of the post...you had it fixxed already!

 

[Sweet5ltr]

youre very welcome....ALLLLLWAYS start with the easiest things first before ripping the car apart. i was going to suggest the fuse but by the time i got to the bottom of the post...you had it fixxed already!

Thanks Tpodwdog,
I actually looked over the fuse box prior, but I did not understand how the flashers and blinkers, etc. could be operational on the same fuse but the brake lights aren't! I also could not tell the fuse was blown until I had taken it out for inspection once I looked over the wiring diagram. 99.9% of the time for an electrical outage, I would believe it to be a fuse. I didn't rip anything apart though, just checked the basics. I wasn't going to rip the column apart unless completely necessary! Thanks again everyone.