The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Rear end wiring diagram

I am looking to strip out the nasty old wires and poorly made connections going to the rear end. Can someone give me a link to the wiring diagram for a 57 Chevrolet? I am familiar with the origin of the brake light power and grounds, but it is the turn signal and 4-way flashers I am unfamiliar with.

If there is not a diagram available, where does the power for the blinkers and flashers come from? Should I rewire all the way from the switch on the steering column, or the buss fuse board? And where, typically, is the silver "can" that gives the circuit the flash?


Thank you for your help

for an original signal unit see here for layout, wiring schematic on the last page

Bill

I used a "new" extension cord that I accidentally cut with my hedge clipper... instead of running individual wires.

There should be no more than three wires going to the rear end correct? The brakes, turn signals, and license plate light right?

wrong, don't you want tail lights? .... do you have a wiring diagram? there's a bundle of connectors under the driver, shown on the signal schematic, and partly on the factory diagram in the shop manual - look at the signal instructions I linked above, page 4 for the proper connectors .... there are 2 wires to each rear light, one tail, one combo brake/turn ... + the license light .... and with that bunch of connectors under the driver there's also the gas tank sender and the courtesy light wires .... whether you are adding a factory unit or an aftermarket one, it's a good idea to come as close as you can to the factory layout to avoid headaches in the future

Bill

Ok, I like Rusty's extension cord idea.

The real problem is that when the brakes are depressed, the tail lights light up fine, but so do the running lights/blinkers up front... I was told by an friend (who had the same problem on his 67 Chevelle SS) that a bad ground for the brake lights could kick the power to the other (turn signal) filament and send it back to the front, causing them to light up there then ground out. I thought that sounded right, but only one filament lit up in the back when the brakes were depressed, and even after wire brushing a clean ground it still happens.

Ideas?

my idea would be to take the wiring diagram along and do it right, your front lights aren't comeing on with the brakes because of ground problems, but because the wiring is hash .... you started out saying the rear wires were poor - how about the rest? if you're going to fix a problem, fix it, don't add patches to patches .... considering your previous wiring questions, sounds to me like you need a complete new wiring harness, if you can't afford it then follow the schematics and go over every wire and connection fixing as necessary until they're all correct, no one here can guess which connections you or the PO got wrong

also - the brake lights ARE the turn lights, and seperate from the "tail" light filament

Bill

Ok, well I got a 55 harness from the PO today, will it be similar enough to the 57?

the basic wiring 55.2-59 is the same - the wiring for signals and other electrical options is seperate, including the optional fuse panel

Bill

I suppose I will start installing this harness... yargggg doin stuff right can be a pain cant it