On my 78 F100 when I push down the pedal on the parking brake the light on the instusment cluster does not come on. Bulb is good as it was in the ALT location so I know that .. Im trying to find the wire or switch for the pedal ... anyone have a diagram of any sort

Or I see in other posts that the light in the cluster is only for brake failures? .. when your brakes are shot I guess? .. is there no parking light when the parking brake pedal is pressed down?

Thanks ..

 

To the best of my knowledge there is not.

 

I looked for a wire or a switch on the bracket and couldent see one .. I have looked all over the web and really didnt find anything usefull ..

 

thers is NO wire or light for the parking brake

 

The brake light switch on the dash is for brake FAILURE only. It doesn't hook up to the parking brake. The dentsides don't have any kind of parking brake indicator light. This is something that was introduced on later models.

 

In other words Mike, I may wish to check my brakes as well... I figured the brake light was on because the parking brake isn't hooked up.

 

Thanks everyone .. I went for a saftey and they said the light didnt come on when the parking brake was pressed .. They said just check the bulb to make sure its good ..

 

If your light is on you need to check your brake system.
The switch works on a balanced pressure design. The switch itself is in the proportioning valve and is literally between the front and rear brake systems. When you press the brake pedal the pressure keeps the switch trigger centered and the switch is off. If there is a loss of pressure, either front or rear, this will allow the trigger to push to one side and cause the switch to turn the light on.
If your light is on, First check fluid level and add if needed. Second, on drum brakes check that the adjustment is good. Even though the drums are "self-adjusting" sometimes that doesn't work too well (especially if you don't back-up much).
After the obvious then you'll need to do standard trouble shooting.

 

Thanks Mike. I'm fairly certain that it'll be in the rear drum brakes, as I recently replaced the calipers due to another issue. I havn't even bothered with the rear brakes yet, but I'm sure they need to be replaced since I'm not sure how long they've been on there.

 

The inspector doesn't know what he's/she's talking about.


The First year of Factory combination Brake Failiure and parking brake warning lamp was in 1984.

1968<-1983 the brake warning lamp referes to eminent service brake faliure, and the truck should not be driven untill inspected and repaired.

The Brake warning lamp should light up momentarily when you start the truck. This is how the bulb is checked.

There was a dealer kit you could buy to make the brake warning lamp work with your parking brake on earlier models, but it was not factory installed untill the 1984 model year. So if your truck is 1983 and older and the brake warning lamp lights up with the parking brake it has one of these dealer kits.

Hope this helps.