The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Where do my tail lights go to?

I just bought a 55 chevy short box. The previous owner had the truck completly re-wired but it is not completley finished. So my questions is where do my brake light wires go to. I fave followed them up to my fire wall but they run in to another bunch of wires which are neatly tapped up and zip tied together. I do not get a brake light when I step on my brakes. (I just put new brake light on and tested them)

Roger

rogpatt,

I can be a Jr. Electrician today...IF..you have turn signals and a flasher set up, the wires are headed in that direction.

The brake light circuit should be fused. It will go through a brake light switch which is either actuated mechanically, or I think in your case, hydraulically by the pressure switch on the master cylinder.

If you have turn signals or flashers, remember that a turn signal is a brake light that is blinking. I don't know if a '55 had factory turn signals..maybe you have something like a Signal-Stat aftermarket attachment on your steering column.

As you have discovered, each brake light has its own wire. When you step on the brake, both wires are energized. When you step on the brake when making a left hand turn, the right brake light comes on to indicate STOP, but the left brake light now BLINKS as it is switched by the turn signal blinker.

You probably wanted a specific location...I don't know, but at least you know where to look.

There should be quite a few wiring diagrams around for your rig. Someone will pop in with exactly the correct wire color and wire location...I just know it.

Stuart

generally Roger, the tail and brake lights are wired through the brake light switch [under the floor near the brake pedal] to the light switch in the dash to get the power - if you have turn signals they'll be involved w/ the brake lights

Bill

I think the first step in the right direction would be to remove all that fancy tape that the previous owner so diligently wrapped the wires with.

When I got my 59 the P.O. wrapped all the wires with about 18 rolls of electrical tape, at first I thought the person must have known what they were doing because they took the time to wrap the wires in such a craftsman ship like way, and I was excited to think my electrical was fine.

Well after a few smoke sessions (not me, the truck) I decided to cut off all that wonderful electrical tape. What I found was: lots of butt splices, lots of wire that the insulation was burned off down to the wire, speaker wire in the electrical system, 12 gage connectors crimped onto 20 gauge wire, some connectors that are for home electrical, and even some solid core 10 gauge wire for homes.

My advise, Get some adhesive remover for your hands and get a box cutter (utility knife) and carefully remove all that magic black tape. Be sure not to cut your wires or to disconnect any of them.
Personally I hate wrapping up auto wires with black tape unless its only a small area just to protect the wires from rubbing metal edges.
When you wrap the whole electrical system with tape: you cant see when the wires go bad and it makes them hard to trace and replace. The tape will hide your shorts and burned wirers.

Bill,

Would it be proper to wire taillights through a brake light switch? :confused: I thought taillights would come on with the headlight switch.

Stuart

ok Stoo, not thru the switch, the wires are routed the same, use common plugs along the frame, go to the switch/turn harness for power - the brake light wire [1 to control both sides] comes outta the harness to go thru the brake switch - on a TF55 the tail wire is black, the brake wire white

and Billybolt, the harnesses are wrapped originally, as are the repros, and it's best that they are - if the truck has a [not too mutilated] original harness the color coding is the easy way to track wires, and the reason they're color coded

Bill

Bill,

If this rig has turn signals, which hasn't been revealed, and the wire comes out of the switch/turn harness as you indicate, how would a person achieve a left or right turn with only ONE wire to control both sides, as you also indicate. I'm not clear at all on this thought and I'll bet Roger isn't either.

Stoo!

that's what the harness connectors are for - things split and join along the way, but if you look at a stop light switch it has 2 poles on it regardless of how many taillights you have - and the front turn signals don't go on w/ the brake lights - got a wiring diagram?

Bill

Bill,

"that's what the harness connectors are for"..What in the name of all that is holy is this suppose to mean? :rolleyes:

I have given up..I will throw in the towel!

Your brake light switch is under the hood on the fire wall where the brake pedal comes through. Take a test light & you should have curent at one term. all the time. Press the pedal down & you should have curent at both terms. If you do you will have to trace it to the turn switch like the previous posts have indicated.

Stoo -if you've never seen the interconnections under a truck factory equipped w/ 2 tail lights and turn signals, you will not likely have any idea what that means, but if you look at a complete wiring diagram and think a bit, or better yet, crawl under such a truck, it'll be clear what the relationship is between wires and connectors

maybe you're trying to understand Senegalese?

Bill

Bill,

French, which is the official language of Senegal, would be a piece of cake to understand compared to electrogibberish.


Stuart

so is it you or I who's talkin that electrogibberish Stuart?
brake lites don't "head in the direction" of the flasher - I've never seen of these ol thangs w/ mstrcyl actuated brake lites - ALL lites have their own wires, interconnected according to function, a brake lite is a brake lite, a blinker is a blinker - but at least ya got the last part right!
maybe you understand pictures , sorry about the english captions - note that the orange light-sw wire powers the white brake lite wire thru the brake lite switch and various harness connectors route it to the turn-sw then back to the tail end [always thru white wires] - please add the concepts to your electrogibberish vocabulary so as not to obscure correct answers to future questions, yours or others!

Bill

Just keep on talking guys I this is a big learning experience for me. The more you reveal the easier it will be for me to solve the problem.
Thanks for your help!

My vehicle does have one turn signal mounted on it (front right) and it does work when I use it.

Roger,

If your truck has turn signals, which means on all four corners of the rig, and you have a actuator, or handle in the cab you move to indicate a left or right turn, then you should have a blinker (flasher) located somewhere under or around the dashboard.

These comments only pertain to the REAR lights, as that was your original question.

Power for the brake lights will come through the brake light switch that is actuated by the brake pedal. As Bill pointed out, this switch has only two poles...

Power comes into the brake light switch, upon closure (brake pedal applied) power goes out and heads to the turn signal assembly.

If no turn is indicated, power travels down TWO wires..one to left brake light, one to right brake light.

If a left turn were to be indicated, uninterrupted power would travel to the RIGHT light, through its own wire and illuminate the right BRAKE light...interrupted power (the flasher can) would travel down the other wire, and the left brake light would blink (its now a turn signal!) to signal a left turn.

If your only glitch in the wiring is to get the rear brake lights to work..AND you have turn signals you want to incorporate into the system, your turn signal switch, which usually does have a whole bunch of stuff coming out of it must be connected into the system.

If you don't want or need the turn signal function on the truck..follow Bill's directions!

I would suggest getting a small circuit tester. Most auto parts stores carry a inexpensive one with little bulb inside, a wire with alligator clip and a real sharp probe.

If you can figure out where the power COMES from, and where you want it to go, all you need to do is figure out what goes in the middle, hook it together and pray.

I am simple minded..I try to make my helpful comments simple. If the above "novel" was simple to understand, made sense to you, and might get you on the road to "brake light city" I sure would like to know. If the stuff I spout makes sense only to me, I'll darn well stop spouting.


Stuart

the 'theory' doesn't always explain the reality Stoo - spout away, and if you stop questioning my answers, I'll stop answering your questions

Roger - you have a 55 2nd - the wireing harness you see in this picture [new 55-9] shows ALL the connections involved in your brake lights, and your turn signals as well - the black wires to the rear are tail lites, the white wires are brakes, everywhere in the harness - note the 3 connectors that should be on the frame about under the driver to bring it all together

if you have a correct harness, incompletely installed, that should let you sort things out - if the po left you 'home made hash' and you don't have a wiring diagram, ask, I'll send ya one

Bill

Bill,

This is what I am talking about. You say "theory doesn't explain reality Stoo"..I searched my previous post Bill, and the only place the word "theory" came up is when you mention it in the above post.

So, to me, this is another example of how you try to confuse the issue, make it so unclear, that everyone losses sight of Bill and what he has actually said.

I know you have heard the saying "if you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull sh*t".

I enjoy your your posts. You have a vast amount of knowledge on TF trucks. I don't like this dialogue we are having.

Taking some of my comments out of context and using them as a quote in one of your post's was bad form. I wanted to PM you and sort it out. I didn't see how that was possible.

I will continue to post..I am sure you will too! I will no longer directly question or challenge anything you post..it's to no avail, even if harmless.

As far as I am concerned, I have zipped up my fly and I am done [censored]!

Stuart

I'm with ya Stoo, I've enjoyed yer posts in the past as well, but if you re-read each of your posts on this thread you should be able to understand that you are typing a generalized 'train of thought' which is entirely theoretical, certainly not a direct answer to the question - don't hafta use the word to be talkin the talk, just hafta start all yer statements w/ "if"

I try to answer questions in a way that aids the poster in dealing w/ their situation as presented, and hope if it didn't help they return w/ further questions, which is what a discussion is about I think - you've taken to asking for more elaborate answers by posing theoretical questions, I try to answer them from well above the fly

I didn't take any of your statements out of context - the context is the original question which your statements were directed at, and finally I figgered the picture would be the best way to show the difference between conjecture and generalities, and the facts

the real problem is exemplified simply here [my apologies to Norses bandwidth ] are you on the speaker or the mike?

anyone interested can find my mail thru my websites - if you want to yap off the board - try here

Bill

Red58 yes I would appreciate a wiring diagram.
[email protected]
[email protected]
Can you send it to both of my e-mails.
I will keep you guys posted. i also want to thank all who have replied to my problem!

I found the problem! I got to tinkering around with the wiring and my volt meter(something I should of done in the first place). I was getting power thru my wires with my blinkers on. So I removed the tranny cover on my floor board. I then pressed my brake and reach around under the floor board and when I started "feeling up" the brake light switch I felt It click. So I had my son press the brake peddle and I had brake lights.
Thanks again for help fellas!