My brake lights aren’t bright enough

[kiwigtx]

With the switch closed, the pink wires have power but the white wire does not. With the switch on, both wires have power.

OK, that makes no sense at all.

Switch Closed means switch plunger is depressed....which means contacts are closed, and power (voltage) should be present at both terminals.

Switch Open means the switch is at rest, and consequently voltage present at only the incoming supply side - in this case, the Pink wires. White goes off to the rest of the circuit.

 

[twecomm]

I posted this a few weeks ago over in the electrical forum.. Although specific to a 66 Charger, think you may find it helpful to solve your problem. There is a Drop Box link to down load all the info and diagrams.. 66 Charger, Turn signal repair

 

[Kern Dog]

I had it backwards then.
With the plunger of the switch extended as if the brake pedal were pressed, both terminals get power.
Hey… I’ve heard plumbers and electricians use wrong terms when talking about carpentry too….

 

[Kern Dog]

I posted this a few weeks ago over in the electrical forum.. Although specific to a 66 Charger, think you may find it helpful to solve your problem. There is a Drop Box link to down load all the info and diagrams.. 66 Charger, Turn signal repair

I’ll check that out when I’m in the house for the night. Thank you.
Here is further example of my limited electrical knowledge…..
Yes, the turn signal switch CAN affect the brake lights without the turn signals being on. I did not know this until now.
I know that the switch interrupts the brake lights to transmit a momentary pause in the brake light to “flash” but I didn’t think that the switch could just block the brake lights entirely.
I disconnected the switch and still saw no brake lights. This told me that the brake light signal enters the switch and then comes out somewhere else to the harness. So far, I can’t find the path in the FSM.

I plugged in a spare turn signal switch.

Boom. Brake lights!
Now I have to replace the switch in a steering column that I won’t be keeping in this car. It is a column shift unit and I’m going to convert it to floor shift someday.
The 1970 column is a one year only design that has value to those that need it so I’d rather not modify this one. I guess I’ll just replace the turn signal switch for now.

 

[GTXDAN]

You got it figured out. Nice job. I was going to say yes the TS switch can stop the brake lights from working as you said it controls the brake/turn lights together.

 

[Kern Dog]

Thank you.
It does feel good to figure something out when it isn’t your strong suit.
This is how the system looks now.
Brake lights, no tail lights. Engine off.

Yeah, the lights are brighter with the engine running.
Now the brake lights and tail lights with the engine running.

This is daytime.
Now I replaced the two incandescent RH brake/turn bulbs to these:

Yeah. I was surprised too.

 

[lemondana]

Streetrodders many times, paint the insides of their taillight buckets with gloss white paint, several coats. It's a lot brighter than the rough silver is. Rustoleum has an appliance epoxy that is very durable and very shiny. It does come in brush on cans, but you have to order it.

 

[Kern Dog]

Streetrodders many times, paint the insides of their taillight buckets with gloss white paint, several coats. It's a lot brighter than the rough silver is. Rustoleum has an appliance epoxy that is very durable and very shiny. It does come in brush on cans, but you have to order it.

Is this what you mean?

I did spray that on one housing. I decided to try the flat/satin paint based on the advice of Daniel Stern.

 

[OneWheelPeel]

I was gonna say wiggle the turn signal and see if that helps but you figured it out, I think I had an issue like that when I first got the Net a year ago.

 

[Kern Dog]

This has been like a game of Whack A Mole.

I started off with no brake lights. While I worked on that, the taillights quit working. I figured out the brake lights were dead due to a failing turn signal switch...I plugged in another, it worked fine for a few minutes then the brake lights went dead again.
I tried another turn signal switch, again....just plugged into the harness, NOT fully installed, and I have brake lights again.
I can wiggle the wires leading to the fuse panel and the taillights will come on, then sometimes shut off. It is a loose connection issue.
It is like the Lord himself is throwing problems at me and laughing...I fix one and another gets thrown at me.
I had all the lights working fine but a few weeks back I was under the dash on a brake conversion and I moved a few wires. The wire to the BRAKE light touched the parking brake lever and smoked! I'm guessing that may have damaged the turn signal switch.