need an Electric guru 4 taillight ?
04-02-2005, 01:32 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
need an Electric guru 4 taillight ?
Ok , here's my latest bug 
, I have new wiring thru out my car , new bulbs. My stop light/tail light on the pass wrks correctly, on the drv side the running light wrks fine , but when I apply brakes the drv side lights up the upper/thinner/dimmer element (tail light element), and the pass side lights up the bigger/ brighter element. Checked connection underneath seem to be only one way wires can be installed ,and they were the same way on both sides, switched bulbs around , checked and cleaned grnd. Ok , what do you think guys/gals ?
, I have new wiring thru out my car , new bulbs. My stop light/tail light on the pass wrks correctly, on the drv side the running light wrks fine , but when I apply brakes the drv side lights up the upper/thinner/dimmer element (tail light element), and the pass side lights up the bigger/ brighter element. Checked connection underneath seem to be only one way wires can be installed ,and they were the same way on both sides, switched bulbs around , checked and cleaned grnd. Ok , what do you think guys/gals ?
04-02-2005, 07:51 PM
#2
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Member Since: Mar 2004
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Its Fixed!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotus76
This is a strange one
It almost like the tail lights and the brake lights have changed jobs... or voltage anyway. My taillights function fine (come on when the brake pedal is pushed) but kind of dim. The turn signals function fine too, but also kind of dim. When I turn on the headlights (and taillights) for night driving the taillights are very bright, so bright that you cannot tell when the brakes or turn signals are activated.
Strange huh?
Now I have done many things to the Vette this winter ... one being transforming the automatic to a 4 speed, the dash was out the steering column was out too. one more strange thing is my tach acts flaky ( jumps around at low speed and never reaches higher RPM)
Before the winter I built a new tach filter and it seemed to work fine then.
is there something I could have plugged in backwards? Do I have a bad ground? a bad switch?
Where are the grounds anyway? any tips on trouble shooting this? Anyone got a good schemantic? mines pretty small print.
This is dangerous I almost got rear ended last night. Can you help?
Thanks,
John
Well its fixed...
After a lot of studying of the schematics, tracing circuits, reseating plugs, adding grounds and inspecting sockets I discovered the problem...
Get this... The lamps where in the sockets backwards
I didn’t even know this was possible but it was. The 1157 lamp has two filaments and two contacts at the base of the lamp and uses the shell for ground. 1157 has two bayonets; one mid shell and one low on the shell. The socket has two slots for these to mount in than twist.
Foolproof right? NOT! You can install the bulb wrong and the problem you get is the wrong signal sent to the wrong filament. Each filament has different lighting properties (one will be brighter)
You know just when you think you know a little about Vettes they humble you to keep you straight
Thanks for all who responded to this thread.
John
__________________
A Toast: To internal combustion, and wind in the face.
1976 Red Corvette Stingray 4 Speed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lotus76
This is a strange one
It almost like the tail lights and the brake lights have changed jobs... or voltage anyway. My taillights function fine (come on when the brake pedal is pushed) but kind of dim. The turn signals function fine too, but also kind of dim. When I turn on the headlights (and taillights) for night driving the taillights are very bright, so bright that you cannot tell when the brakes or turn signals are activated.
Strange huh?
Now I have done many things to the Vette this winter ... one being transforming the automatic to a 4 speed, the dash was out the steering column was out too. one more strange thing is my tach acts flaky ( jumps around at low speed and never reaches higher RPM)
Before the winter I built a new tach filter and it seemed to work fine then.
is there something I could have plugged in backwards? Do I have a bad ground? a bad switch?
Where are the grounds anyway? any tips on trouble shooting this? Anyone got a good schemantic? mines pretty small print.
This is dangerous I almost got rear ended last night. Can you help?
Thanks,
John
Well its fixed...
After a lot of studying of the schematics, tracing circuits, reseating plugs, adding grounds and inspecting sockets I discovered the problem...
Get this... The lamps where in the sockets backwards
I didn’t even know this was possible but it was. The 1157 lamp has two filaments and two contacts at the base of the lamp and uses the shell for ground. 1157 has two bayonets; one mid shell and one low on the shell. The socket has two slots for these to mount in than twist.
Foolproof right? NOT! You can install the bulb wrong and the problem you get is the wrong signal sent to the wrong filament. Each filament has different lighting properties (one will be brighter)
You know just when you think you know a little about Vettes they humble you to keep you straight
Thanks for all who responded to this thread.
John
__________________
A Toast: To internal combustion, and wind in the face.
1976 Red Corvette Stingray 4 Speed
