Dash lights and brake lights not working... Any ideas?

[Magnes]

1972 Plymouth Satellite Sebring plus. Rallye dash.

I bought this car that had been sitting in a warehouse for many years. I have been working out a bunch of the bugs but I'm having trouble with a couple things and wondered if any of you guys could bounce some ideas off me.

The gauge lights in the instrument panel aren't working. When I got the car they worked and would dim as they were supposed to do. While troubleshooting a headlight problem, the headlight switch/gauge dimmer broke on me and none of the instrument gauge lights would work anymore. I replaced the headlight switch/gauge dimmer today and have the headlights working now but those instrument gauge lights will not come back on. I spun it back and forth but nothin.

The other problem I am having is my brake lights won't work. There was a jumper wire that someone has installed at some point previous to me buying the car. The jumper wire went from the brake sensor at the pedal and ran all the way back into the trunk and hooked up to the wiring there. At some point during the body work I removed that jumper wire and now my brake lights will not work. I'd rather have the brake lights working as intended as opposed to "rigging" them to work but I'm having trouble figuring this out.

Any ideas what might be the problem or solution?

I'm just going to throw a bunch of info out there and see if it gives you guys any ideas...

All my fuses are new.
New flashers.
New headlight switch.
New bulbs everywhere except in the dash.
New high/low beam switch.

Headlights work. High and Low.
Parking lights work.
Blinkers work.
Emergency flashers work.
Tail lights work.
Side markers all work.
License plate light works.
Dome light works.
Glovebox light works.

The only things not working for me are:

Instrument panel lights
Brake lights

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

Starting with the brake lights, are the turn signals working? The switched current from the brake light switch is routed through the turn signal switch. The same rear turn signal bulb filaments are used for brake lights, which means a failed turn signal switch can cause a no brake light condition.
On the dash lights, you will need to perform a little further diagnostics, start with a volt meter at the “INSTR-LPS” fuse. Then working back to the headlight switch. Power to this fuse is fed from the headlight switch rheostat then on to the lamp circuit. Check for voltage on both sides of the fuse. Check for varying voltage at the fuse when turning the dimmer, we’ll go on from there.

 

[passin gas]

Time for a new turn signal switch

 

[Magnes]

Starting with the brake lights, are the turn signals working?

Turn signals are working good.

I will do as advised and test with voltmeter.

 

[72RoadrunnerGTX]

While you are under the dash with the VOM, check the white wire at the turn signal switch connector for voltage when brake pedal is depressed. Voltage present, turn signals working, brakes light are not, indicates the problem is the turn signal switch.

 

[Northern Runner]

I had about the problem with my Roadrunner, part of the problem was that there was a loose connection down at the taillight. Also check your fuse box and make sure to clean your connectors, because after I fixed my loose wire, sometimes the brake lights would become intermittent, and it turned out that my connectors by the fuses were really corroded. After I cleaned them up the problem was solved and I haven't touched them for about 2 years.

And like the guys said earlier, check everything with a nice voltmeter, always helps to know you're actually getting power to places!

 

[Coronet 14]

Bad grounds. Wire pinched in steering column. Are you blowing fuses All these things were wrong on my 72 Coronet and I had same issues as you

 

[Magnes]

I wasn't able to mess with the car yesterday but got out there this afternoon...

I was able trace the problem with the instrument panel lights down to a bad connection. So that one is fixed. THANK YOU!

Now I am going to try and figure out these brake lights. Electrical is definitely not my strong suit so I appreciate all the ideas and tips.

As far as the brake lights go, I was reading about this problem through the search on here and it seems that when most of the forum members here have posted about what ends up to be a bad turn signal switch being the culprit for their brake lights not working, it was usually just 1 side that wasn't working on their cars (typically the passenger side only). And on mine BOTH sides aren't working. Any ideas there?

Anyway, I'm going to get back out there and start hunting on this brake light issue.

Thanks again for the help with those dash lights.

 

[Magnes]

Well while suffering from some frustration, I went to the parts car and disassembled its steering column and removed its turn signal switch just to see if it would work. Now that car hasn't been driven since '83 and isn't in the best of conditions but what the hell, right? I pulled it all apart, removed the switch, then pulled my car apart and swapped it in and imagine that.... Brake lights work. All the blinkers, hazards, everything perfect. The parts car's switch actually looked a lot better than my car's old one so I'm gonna roll with it. I have a new one on order and on the way but I will just hold on to it for now.

Thank You for all the help. I really appreciate it.

So now all the lights work and almost all the electrical gremlins are gone and that feels good.