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no brake lights or rear signal, but tail lights and all other lights work?

Evan Frucht

Evan Frucht

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1964 Plymouth fury wagon,

front turn signals work
parking lights work
interior lights work
headlights work, except the low beams wont turn on currently by themselves, but both hi and lo bulbs work when its on the high beam setting
the tail lights work

brake lights DON'T work
turns signals DON'T blink at the tail lights (but fronts blink)

I have new brake light switch that I haven't installed yet, but the old switch seems to work when tested with multimeter.

NO HAZARD SWITCH on this year

I have the manual with a wiring diagram but cant figure this one out

everyone always says check the grounds... is there a specific ground connection for the rear blinkers, and if so --- where is it?

could it be my actual bulb housings are shorted out internally or something?
 
I would guess grounds or the turn signal switch itself. The brake light power goes through the switch, on 69's at least, and I would imagine it would be the same on earlier models as well.
 
Had the exact same, turn signal switch was the culprit, as noted above
 
so it could be the turn signal switch, even though the turn signals work in front?

my front turn signals work... its just the rear ones + brake light that isn't working

just want to confirm the diagnosis
 
front and rear circuits are separated, because if not you will light up fronts ( and cluster pilots ) when pressing brakes
 
brake light runs from brake light switch to turn signal switch . front and rear turn signals come thru turn signal switch on separate wires. LF, RF, LR, RR brake light should operate both rears unless turn signal is turned to right or left and then it will operate the opposite side.
 
correct, turning switch is a matrix combining 3 inputs and 4 outputs... well, 2 inputs up to 69
 
Get this flasher, you won't believe the difference.
My Dart would blink, barely, on one side, not the other.
Also, on my Fury the fronts would blink sometimes, then not at all. Pulled bulbs, cleaned socket, but I think the housing was grounded to the bumper, with rusty bolts, cleaned those up too.
Also, stop light has it's own fuse.

NWMDC.jpeg.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all this info everyone... gotta pull this switch and see what the deal is. It's the last main thing to take care of and then all of the electronics will be working as they should. Hoping I can fix the OG switch, but I'll probably just need a new one.
 
More than likely the turn signal switch is the problem, if that doesn't solve all your problems look closely at the dimmer switch also.
 
Evan Frucht said:
I have the manual with a wiring diagram but cant figure this one out
everyone always says check the grounds... is there a specific ground connection for the rear blinkers, and if so --- where is it?
could it be my actual bulb housings are shorted out internally or something?
Click to expand...
If you look at the tail/brake lights in the wiring diagram, Evan, should show the wires going to the bulb sockets. Also should be a 'ground' emblem at each socket.
So, check for ground, from each light socket 'housing', to a good body ground.
 
you can unplug the sterring column plug and feed each corner there to check for wiring conditions and that will discard the turning switch. Feeding on underdash end of course.

I'm pretty sure color codes must be the same than laters

tan, front left
light green, Front right
brown, Rear left
Dark green, Rear right

( brownish colors are lefts, greens are rights, darkers are rear, lighters are front )

White, feed from brakes pedal
Red, feed from turning flasher

jump out white with any of the darkers to check for brakes when pressing brakes. You can make the same with lighters colors. Pilot lights on cluster should light on allong with fronts.

you can also jump out red wire with any corner. That will make the flasher to work ( maybe slow speed, maybe faster, but should blink ). Need to put the key in RUN to make it work too
 
No low beams could be bad dimmer switch on floorboard.
 
Agreed. High and low beams are sourced from same source. Dimmer floor switch is just a selector to feed high filaments or low filaments ( can't be feeded both at the same time )

Violet wire is low beams. Jump it out with green wire on floor dimmer switch to check if works. If not, then is wiring/bulkhead deal. If yes, is dimmer switch.

and about the ground deals sugestions. If parking lights are working nicelly it shouldn't be a ground deal, althought can be reinforced. Too much casuality the problem is on rear high intensity filaments, so its pointing out to turning switch or dark wire wires related between switch and rear harness
 
I would check the connector in the bottom of the left front door pillar to see if you are getting power at the location. On my 64 wagon the wires were not clean there and not getting power on both sides of that connection to the rear lights. I also had a poor ground at the rear light housing. I was able to turn the sockets in the housing so they need to be tightened to make a good ground. Might be an idea for you.
 
Evan Frucht said:
front turn signals work
parking lights work
interior lights work
headlights work, except the low beams wont turn on currently by themselves, but both hi and lo bulbs work when its on the high beam setting
the tail lights work

brake lights DON'T work
turns signals DON'T blink at the tail lights (but fronts blink)
Click to expand...

More than once have I overlooked the obvious, simply because it just HAD to be a more complicated problem. Have you considered the possibility that both bulbs have the second filament burned out? While a unlikely coincidence, it would explain tail lights, but no brake or turn indicator lights.
 
Ranger16 said:
More than once have I overlooked the obvious, simply because it just HAD to be a more complicated problem. Have you considered the possibility that both bulbs have the second filament burned out? While a unlikely coincidence, it would explain tail lights, but no brake or turn indicator lights.
Click to expand...
the bulbs are fresh but good point
 
retractable said:
I would check the connector in the bottom of the left front door pillar to see if you are getting power at the location. On my 64 wagon the wires were not clean there and not getting power on both sides of that connection to the rear lights. I also had a poor ground at the rear light housing. I was able to turn the sockets in the housing so they need to be tightened to make a good ground. Might be an idea for you.
Click to expand...
could this be the case even when the tail lights are working ?
 
Nacho-RT74 said:
Agreed. High and low beams are sourced from same source. Dimmer floor switch is just a selector to feed high filaments or low filaments ( can't be feeded both at the same time )

Violet wire is low beams. Jump it out with green wire on floor dimmer switch to check if works. If not, then is wiring/bulkhead deal. If yes, is dimmer switch.

and about the ground deals sugestions. If parking lights are working nicelly it shouldn't be a ground deal, althought can be reinforced. Too much casuality the problem is on rear high intensity filaments, so its pointing out to turning switch or dark wire wires related between switch and rear harness
Click to expand...
Thanks ill try that, the dimmer switch is less of an issue at this point, but an issue nonetheless.

I'm having a little trouble understanding that last statement but you could be onto something, can you clarify?
 
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