All right my tail lights are not working and I am at a loss. Everything else is working my backup lights, turn signals, etc. What can I try

 

Fuse or brake pedal switch?

 

There may be a ground wire above the driver's side exhaust under the bumper.

I lost the taillights on my 75 once due to minor corrosion there.

 

Try putting a bridge in place of the brake switch. Use a peice of wire a few inches long bared a 1/2 inch or so on each end. Pull the connector off the back of the brake light switch and " Bridge " the piece of wire between the contacts on the connector. Check your brake lights..if they are on..your switch is probably bad, if not check the fuse. If your fuse looks good..replace it anyway to remove any doubt. Try the bridge again with a new fuse. If they still aren't working..chances are you have a rusted ground somewhere..Not exactly where the ground is for the brake light circuit. I can check my Haynes manual for you if it turns out it's not a switch or a fuse. Good Luck..Let us know how you make out.. :thumbs: :steering:

Sorry..misread your post..I saw Brake lights..Tail lights...different animal..Give the connection on the headlight switch a wiggle and see if that helps..Sometimes the connector vibrate loose. Take your lens lenses off the lights and give them a peek..Pop the bulbs out check for rust/dirt/ bad contact in the socket. Clean the bulb contacts. A little contact cleaner in the socket helps as well. If all this fails, you will have to start tracing it out. Headlight switch may be faulty, they're about a $100 I just bought one for my 79. If you've got a voltmeter, you can check for voltage to the socket before you shell out for the switch. Process of elimination..Once Again..Good Luck & Let us know how you make out.. :thumbs: :steering:


[Modified by WhyFly, 6:32 PM 10/26/2003]

 

Alright now my tail lights are working (bad fuse connection) but my brake lights still aren't working. I am going to try and bridge the switch and I will let you know. Thanks for the help :flag

 

If I remember correctly, the turn signal filament and the brake light filament is the same. So if you have turn signals (both right and left) then you don't have a ground problem back there.

I thought that my brake light problem was a Bubba one in a million, but I have since heard of another Vette with the same problem.

Someone had wired a capacitor across the orange and white brake light switch wires (up under the dash). When the capacitor died of old age, the brake lights wouldn't work. (Turn signals, hazard warning, all were OK.) When I clipped the capacitor out of the circuit, everything worked just fine. Possibly there was a service bulletin back in the C3 early years that instructed dealers to install the capacitor for some reason. My capacitor was definately not a factory installation.

 

I had the exact same problem like this on my 69. Found out that the 2 outside lamp housing were not grounding out because of rust between the socket that the bulb plugs into and the actual tail light housing. Since these housing sit directly behind each rear tire it seems like they pickup a little more moisture than the inside housings. To test it I ran a ground wire from the frame, turned on the lights, removed one of the outside tail light lenses, and then touched that wire to outside of the bulb while it was in the housing and bingo lights came on. Put a meter on housing and then on the socket and no continuity was being made between them. I could of made a small jumper to fix it but I went ahead and ordered a couple of new housings. Month and half later and they are still on back order!

 

if I plug the capacitor in, will that fix my dim braking light problem?

 

Nevermind, Answered my question. Doesn't make it any brighter.