My father and I are rebuilding a '65 ford. We got it running just to find the brake, tail, and rear blinker lights were not working. We crawled under the truck and found a mess of wires. We eliminated all but the original wires (at the conecters). The blinkers and tail lights now work, but not the brake lights. There is no power to the pressure switch unless the hazzards are on then there is a pulse thru the power wire to the switch. Any Idea what is causing this. Oh yeah, the wire has been hacked a bit can't follow it using the diagrams we have.

Thanks for any help
DARVIT

 

Well so far so good! It is running, and most of the lights work. Better is that you and your Dad are working together and concerned about safety! For a test run a hot jumper wire from the positive on the battery to the switch. Try both posts on the switch, one of them should turn on the lights. If you get stop lights connect the jumper to the other post on the switch and step on the brakes. You have tested the wiring from the switch through the TS to the rear of the truck and the switch. If all of this works trace the wires back to the fuse block. The stoplight switch should have a constant hot. Wiggle the fuses and wires at the block. Corrosion in this area and at bulk head connectors is the source of most electrical problems. Tell us more about the truck! Post back we like to hear how these projects turn out.

 

William, Thanks for the reply. We have traced thr problem to the hazzard switch. It seems the power goes tru it first then to the brake lights/turn signals. My guess is the innerds of the switch are looose causing bad connections.

 

i have a 1966 ford truck which i love like a son. i put some new lights on my boat trailor and found my brake lights wasn't working of course i thought i had done something wrong. so i double checked my work every thing was right as far as the trailor lights were concerned. so i started checking the wires on the truck. i worked on it for hours and hours. so i finally traced the wires back to the turn singel switch. so i took the switch out and found that two of the brass connections weren't making contact. i guess they spread apart over the years. i took a small nail about the size of a( panneling nail) and inserted it into the connector to push them together,put a little gule on them to hold them in place and they have worked great ever since. i am going to put a new switch in but at the time i didn'thave one . hope this helps and good luck.
johnny

 

I had a similiar problem with my brake lights and after trouble shooting everything I replaced the short wiring harness between the switch harness and the hazard flashers. Solved everything. Sometimes you need luck and a spare harness. Keep at this and let us know what finally works.

 

You will probably find that the brake lights aren't working because of the turn signal switch. The signal for the lights runs from the pressure sensor through the turn signal cam and out to the lights, Replace that and you should be in business.

 

Ok so it wasn't the hazzard switch. Krosati can the ts switch be tested? The inexpert rewiring is leaveing me with a headache The wire from the fuse is O/Y goes to flasher red I was thinking this was the Red that went to the brake switch, but unless the guy who rewired it add his own hot and wired it back words it isn't it. The power comes from a O/Y wire that is fused and plugs into a yellow by the ignition switch. doesn't look right to me, but with out the propper diagrams ???

 

If the turn signals are working, four way flashers are working and you have tested the stoplight switch like I described earlier, Replace the turnsignal switch. These are available at Carpenter, and maybe here on FTE. You could run continiuity tests on the switch through the plug where the wires exit the column. You could also plug in a known good switch there without pulling the steering wheel as a test? When you pull the steering wheel use a puller, and mark the position of the wheel in relationship to the shift collar so later the wheel goes back in the same place. If you have an automatic truck be careful the neutral start and backup light operating arm doesn't get knocked off. There is a tool used to remove the wires from the plug. I forget the name but it is a small screwdriver with a collar that fits down inside the plug depressing the tang on the wire end connector and allowing the wire with tang attached to be pulled from the plug. If you have a new switch, just cut the old wires and toss them and the defective switch. I don't think it is economical to repair these 36 + year old switches, so get a new one and be happy. I always budget for all new switches. If your wiring harness is hacked it may make more sense to replace it.

 

I am not sure how I missed it, but evidently I missed the fuse holder for the brake/turn signals when I cleaned the fuse box! I will be replacing that someday I think!


Thanks for all the help I am sure I will be back for more and to help anyone else if I can.
Darvit