Lighting woes
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Lighting woes
I just bought a 1980 F150 with a tilt steering column. The turn signal arm wouldn't cancel in either direction and the LR and RF signals did not work. The flashers did work as did the horn and brake lights. I replaced the turn signal switch with a Ford part E1TZ13341D.
Now I have no brake lights, no flashers, no horn and no LF blinker, but do have the other three blinkers. All fuses and bulbs are good. I do have parking and tail lights working. For a short while I had no working lights at all and then suddenly the three blinkers above started working again, but still no brake lights. The turn signal arm does now cancel properly.
I'm at a loss and would appreciate any help so I can drive this again, Thanks
Now I have no brake lights, no flashers, no horn and no LF blinker, but do have the other three blinkers. All fuses and bulbs are good. I do have parking and tail lights working. For a short while I had no working lights at all and then suddenly the three blinkers above started working again, but still no brake lights. The turn signal arm does now cancel properly.
I'm at a loss and would appreciate any help so I can drive this again, Thanks
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Start with the brake lights. Go down to the brake switch on the pedal and with a test light or meter, you should have power all the time on one of the light green wires, and power on the other lightgreen wire when the pedal is pushed(I think one of the lightgreens has a red stripe).
If that all checks out, go to the bottom of the column where the big plug is located, you should see the light green going up the column, you could poke the light green and it should have power when the brake pedal is pushed.
If you have that, in the same plug there should be the two rear light wires coming back down from the column. The left rear wire is lightgreen/orange and the right rear wire is orange/lightblue. Make sure the turnsignal switch is in the center, and then poke each of these wires and push on the brake pedal. You should have voltage on both of these wires coming out of the column with the pedal pushed. If you don't, you have a problem up in the column/switch area. If you do have voltage on both wires, then you have a problem from the bottom of the column to the rear of the truck. You should be able to find these same color wires at the back of the truck, and you can check them for voltage back there the same way.
If that all checks out, go to the bottom of the column where the big plug is located, you should see the light green going up the column, you could poke the light green and it should have power when the brake pedal is pushed.
If you have that, in the same plug there should be the two rear light wires coming back down from the column. The left rear wire is lightgreen/orange and the right rear wire is orange/lightblue. Make sure the turnsignal switch is in the center, and then poke each of these wires and push on the brake pedal. You should have voltage on both of these wires coming out of the column with the pedal pushed. If you don't, you have a problem up in the column/switch area. If you do have voltage on both wires, then you have a problem from the bottom of the column to the rear of the truck. You should be able to find these same color wires at the back of the truck, and you can check them for voltage back there the same way.
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Yes, follow Dave's excellent advice, I'm glad he chimed in as I didn't know where to start on this problem.
After sleeping on it...
All of those circuits converge in that half-round connector (connects TS switch to vehicle wiring) down under the steering column, I wonder if maybe that connector isn't all the way plugged in.... hopefully, you put the new TS switch wires in the exact same positions as the old ones were in....
After sleeping on it...
All of those circuits converge in that half-round connector (connects TS switch to vehicle wiring) down under the steering column, I wonder if maybe that connector isn't all the way plugged in.... hopefully, you put the new TS switch wires in the exact same positions as the old ones were in....
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I finally got to this today and I've got a partial victory. 
In checking the power at the brake pedal switch, I found it did have power at the green and red stripe light and at the green wire when the pedal was depressed. No power though at the green wire on the column. I then switched the green and white striped wire and the plain green wire at the turn signal switch in the half-round connector and had power and then brake lights. I also now have all four blinkers working.
I still don't have horn or emergency flasher. Now I'm wondering if I have the horn and emergency flasher wires in the wrong slots. Here's the order I have the wiring in:
Top row; blank, green, lt. blue, orange/blue, green/orange, white/red, yellow/blue
Bottom row; green/white, white/blue, dark blue and blank
I was of course not smart enough to note the wiring on the old switch before I took the half-roung connector off. I should probably buy a wiring diagram. Thanks for your help.
In checking the power at the brake pedal switch, I found it did have power at the green and red stripe light and at the green wire when the pedal was depressed. No power though at the green wire on the column. I then switched the green and white striped wire and the plain green wire at the turn signal switch in the half-round connector and had power and then brake lights. I also now have all four blinkers working.I still don't have horn or emergency flasher. Now I'm wondering if I have the horn and emergency flasher wires in the wrong slots. Here's the order I have the wiring in:
Top row; blank, green, lt. blue, orange/blue, green/orange, white/red, yellow/blue
Bottom row; green/white, white/blue, dark blue and blank
I was of course not smart enough to note the wiring on the old switch before I took the half-roung connector off. I should probably buy a wiring diagram. Thanks for your help.
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