Changed the bulbs and got nothing. Tried the turns and the runners. also nothing. Checked the brake pedal switch and that works fine. No power to the harness for the switch. Fuses appear to be okay. Is the fuse panel only powered up with the key on? What am i missing here? Dash lights and head lights work fine....even with key off. I need brake lights so I can go get my exhaust!!!!! HELP!
You should have a rear harness that travels under your carpet from the back of the car to the front. Most of them come up from the floor by the steering column and connect to the the main harness with a wide/flat connector. Sounds like this might have become disconnected since you have nothing working in the back. You can start there, and also check all of your ground connections in the back. Good luck. I love electrical, but it can be a pain sometimes.
they all orked before and you lost parking AND brake lights at the sametime? the only thing common to both systems is the ground, but even if the ground was unhooked each system would use the other as ground when the other system was not being used. you need to be ALOT more specific on how/when it all happened. here is a schematic.... http://www.oldcarmanualproject.com/tOCMP/wiring/5765wiring diagrams/buickindex.htm
looking at the schematic, if your backup lights, radio, and rear defogger also dont work.... you may have a break between the ignition switch and the fusebox on the brown wire.
I'll check the brown wire. I've never driven the car before....so I'm not sure wether or not the rear lights ever worked.
Get a volt meter and test the brake switch for voltage with the key on and off. If you have voltage there follow the wiring to the rear. If not check wiring to the switch. There should be a junction plug for the wiring harness on the right side of the dash that connects to the rear wiring, and that could be unplugged. The brake and tail lights have separate feeds, so the problem is most likely with the harness going to the rear, either it's unplugged or cut. Is the gas gauge working since it will be in the same harness? To eliminate the grounds as an issue test the connections to ground from the socket casing to the body with an ohmmeter. You should see close to zero resistance, or run a hot lead to the brake/tail lights and see if they work that way.
Start by checking for power at the beginning of the circuit and go backwards: 1. Brake Switch 2. Double check the fuse (and verify that it has power at both ends) 3. Harness connectors (again, verify power) Assuming that the ground is good, you should be able to narrow down the problem pretty quickly. If you get the power working all the way to the bulb, but they still don't light up, then it's a grounding problem. On my cars, the bulb socket-to-housing is the ground (no wires), so it's doubtful that all grounds would be bad, but I guess you never know.
okay..... power at the fuse box. both sides. power at the brake switch. switch works. I guess now I'll unplug both ends of the flat wiring that runs the length and clean the connections. The ground is just a body ground correct? once the bulb sockets are in....grounded right?
You can check for power at the connectors as well... or disconnect and test for continuity from one end of the harness to the other.
Okay. Pulled the brake switch completely out of the pedal location. In theory....this makes the brake lights stay on. Still have power at the switch and both sides of the fuses. tested the flat wire harness for continuity. all terminals were good. checked the front plug for that harness....and got power only at the orange wire. traced it down...dome lights. not sure which is which as far as the back, but it seems to be brown green and yellow. Checked the front points again....0 to 0.2 volts. bad connection behind the fuse panel?
Never owned a 67 Riv, however, your tail light housing is probably plastic so there need to be a ground wire (black) coming from the tail light to the body to complete the circuit. You can show power on a volt meter because you are touching a ground. It has to do the same. You may have a common ground point in the trunk, but find it and make sure it is making contact. Sorry if you already did this.
My voltage regulator has a ground lead coming fom the chassis of it and goint to nowhere. Part of the problem? Just body ground it?
Tail lights work. Headlights work. Parking lights do not. Blinkers/flashers/brakes still do not. both flasher relays have continuity.
Ordered an new turn signal switch. After looking at multiple scematics and wiring diagrams......that's the only other thing I can think of. Fingers crossed!!!
that switch may cure the turnsignal/flasher problem but it has nothing to do with the parking lights. so there may still be a little more work ahead.
Yeah...I think I know whats going on with the parking lights. Those are getting a little "customized" anyways. I just hope this cures the brake light problem.....
Stu, one thing that may or may not be an issue, the parking lights go off when the headlights go on. That's by design in '67. Devon
