The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay tail lights don't work (1953 Chevy)

Replace the wire nuts with proper automotive connectors or run new wires the whole way.

I’ve been at it all day. Again I’m not trying to argue with anyone. I took pictures to verify I’m not that stupid. The hot wire in the flasher is L & reads 12 V with ignition on.
One wire from the brake switch goes to a grey & Blk wire on the turn signal.
The other wire is one that went to nothing & is green also. It was wrapped around the steering column & had no raw wire. I skinned the wire, & tested with the volt meter to the flasher hot wire (L). It reads 12 Volt with the brake pedal mashed. It goes to continuity with pedal pulled back. (No 12 volts).
Those are 2 green wires wrapped around the steering column. One goes to the back of the truck and connects to nothing.
The other goes to the brake switch.
That’s were I am. See pictures.
Also verified that I have 3 wires going to the rear lights from the front, plus a 4th green one that’s connected to nothing.
I’m only trying to get my brake lights working & I appreciate you guys!

Glenn we need to discuss, and wire, ONE component at a time. I'm not going to discuss colors. They can be messed up by a previous owner. If they match something, that's great. If they don't, you need to be sure the component is wired per instructions. If someone wired something wrong, there is no argument, FIX IT RIGHT.
Flasher:
1. One wire to the X terminal that is battery hot, thru a fuse is OK. Repeat......X terminal is HOT.
2. The L terminal goes to the appropriate Turn Signal Switch wire. Repeat.......L goes to T/S Switch. L can go two places as previously mentioned.


Brake Switch:
1. One terminal gets a battery HOT.
2. The other terminal goes to the appropriate Turn Signal wire.
3. Makes no difference which terminal is used for which.


Sounds like brake switch is good.
Do you have an ice pick tester or not? Get one, you possibly have a lot of wiring troubles yet to come.

Wire those two components as described, with some existing wire or new wire or whatever it takes. You are correct to get rid of any wires not used. Take them off the truck and save. When you are sure those two components are wired, stop there and let us know ASAP.
You are not stupid, this stuff is hard to track down and redo. I see the pics and colors of wire, just be sure the function is correct. Hot where hot should be and etc. Don't just rely on colors to say it's correct or it's wrong. That's where wiring can fool all of us. Be sure the wire goes where it is supposed to, no matter what color. Stay with the program.
This is why I'm always hesitant to give advice using colors. The info I gave, with colors, says "possible" and to "Buzz it out". Which means be sure it goes to the correct place. Wiring gets spliced, replaced, "wire nutted", mis wired, abandoned/disconnected, bird nested to death over the years.

It does seems as though the Grote colors are good. So we can keep referring to them to stay on the same page.

Glenn, you sure are working hard at this. BTW, have you checked your Private Messages (PMs)? I've got a screenshot below of where it's located. You should see a flashing red flag. Right hand corner above, just below the Search link.