The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Tail light woes

Today I replaced the tail lights on my '54 Chevy 3100. The brake lights come on when I apply the brake. The turn signals and four-ways work like they should. The problems begin when I turn the headlamps on. With the headlamps on the brake lights do not work nor do the turn signals & four ways.

I thought about replacing the flasher, but have not yet done so. Any advice / trouble shooting would be appreciated.

Thanks

maybe you switched the wires in the exchange. Is it possible the turns and brakes are wired into the park light filament and you just can't see them when the headlights are on because the "park" lights are too bright?

You might check your ground wires. I had a problem like that, it turned out that I needed to run a separate ground wire for the tail lights to the frame. Solved the problem.

Just a thought.
George

After sleeping on it a little bit I was thinking it might be a ground issue myself. I painted the mounting brackets before I installed the new taillights on them. Like I said, everything works fine, until I turn the headlights on. After that it all goes downhill. I'll let you know how it works out.

Did your truck come from the factory wity turn signals?

Toyvo,

My truck had two different tail lights, one on each side the box, when I got it but it did not have turn signals until I converted the tail lights, so that they would also function as turn signals. I mounted a signalstat turn signal to the steering column and it worked for the past 5 years.

The only reason I replaced the existing tail lights was so I would have a matching pair.

Problem solved!! I crossed a wire when installing the new lights. Thanks for the help and tips.