90ZR1

Dumb question:
The brake light on my neighbor's '65 is not working. All blinkers work. I put in all new bulbs, checked the connection behind the brake light, fuses good. I had replaced the tach and speedo cable for him so I though maybe something behind the guage cluster got disconnected, but I can't see anything obviously disconnected.
Any thoughts??
thanks

Donald #31176

How about the brake switch on the pedal?

6T5RUSH

90ZR1,

I know you said fuses are good but it's worth a 2nd look. One thing I stumbled onto on my '65 was if the clock stopped working, I had no brake lights. If the clock has also stopped on your friend midyear, try just replacing the fuse.

Just my .02.

Good luck!

Regards,

Jim

90ZR1

Yeah, I looked at that. The right brake light does work and the brake light switch on the pedal seems to be working. But what's that condenser looking thing that the switch wires go to?

90ZR1

The other brake light DOES work so I'm ruling out the fuses. Make sense?

62Jeff

Noise supression for the radio, so hitting the brakes doesn't make a static noise in the radio speaker.

buns

The turn signal and brake light use the same filament in the bulb, so if the turn signal works, I would guess the problem is with the turn signal switch. With your foot on the brake pedal, slowly move the turn signal lever up and down and see if there is a position that allows the brake light to work.

bweaver999

Check the curved connector at the base of the steering column. The brake lights are wired with the signals there, could just be a connector seating issue.

90ZR1

thanks, BUNS and BWEAVER - I'll check those things tonight.

90ZR1

OK, I added an extra gound to the rear brake lights and checked the blinker switch and brake light switch.
all running lights and blinkers work perfectly except that #$%^ left rear brake light (has brand new bulbs BTW).
So I connected a wire straight from the battery to the left rear brake light wire (the one that connects to the brake light switch at the brake pedal) but it still didn't light.
all I can think is that wire must be severed somewhere between the lamp and the brake light switch! I've ordered a new manual that has the wiring diagram so I can trace that wire, which goes from the brake light switch and gets lost in the under-dash harness...

62Jeff

Here's one I haven't seen mentioned...

Last summer I rewired my entire 65. When I was done, the left brake light didn't work.

I found the wire going into the rubber boot at the back of the light housing, wasn't actually connected to the plastic wire connector. The bayonnet styled terminal on the wire needed to be pushed into the plastic wire connector to make contact with the little metal button that normally contacts the back of the bulb.

buns

There is only one wire ( black/yellow) that feeds the brake light and turn signal. When you turn the blinker on, the turn signal switch cuts the power to that brake light so that the bulb can flash.

Free wiring diagram below.

90ZR1

Got the brake light working about 2 months ago by putting in a new turn signal switch. (As you know you have to pratically take apart the whole column).
Only problem now is when you press the horn (which works) you get SHOCKED if you're touching any other metal on the car!

Could something not be grounded? What's up with that?

MikeM

Check the steering shaft and see if it grounded. There's supposed to be a flat strap on the original steering coupler that connect the top/bottom half to ground.