No brake or hazard lights.

[472 R/T SE]

Hello all.

In my '70 Challenger, I have no brake lights or rear hazard lights.  The front hazards, turn signals work as well as the rear turn signals.  When the park lights or headlights are on, the rears' work.  They almost seem really bright like the brakes are applied?

I had the same problem with my Charger last summer although the hazards worked.  I replaced the turn signal switch and that cured it.

Is there something different about an e body or should I just be able to replace the turn signal switch too and have it fixed.

[422STROKER]

Check your grounds, clean them up.

Tom

[blown74]

Wouldn't is ground be okay if the rear turn signals were working?? Can't hurt to clean them though. I've seen bad grounds cause lots of problems. Is your license plate light working? Just doesn't sound like the turn switch.

[422STROKER]

Sometimes the circuit will complete itself through the bulb to the other wires.  This is indicated by working when some of the circuit is on, but not when all of them are trying to work together.

Tom

[GoodysGotaCuda]

Sometimes the circuit will complete itself through the bulb to the other wires.  This is indicated by working when some of the circuit is on, but not when all of them are trying to work together.

Tom

Yep, thats called 'hunting a ground'. Dirty grounds can cause funny things, if those seem fine i'd look twords the turn signal switch

[MEK-Dangerfield]

It's a long shot, but make sure you have 1157 bulbs in the rear. If so, when you apply the brake, can you get either side turn signal to work in the rear?


  Mike

[Moparal]

Wouldn't is ground be okay if the rear turn signals were working?? Can't hurt to clean them though. I've seen bad grounds cause lots of problems. Is your license plate light working? Just doesn't sound like the turn switch.

The brake lights and flasher goes through an area on the turn sig switch. You could have blinkers but no 4 ways or brake lights to the rear, and the front can/may work though the back wouldn't. A shorted flasher can cause an effect on it too. But that is the 2 areas I would focus on. Useing a test light through the brake pedal switch and a continuity checker/ohm meter

[472 R/T SE]

Yeah Al when I did the Charger I was amazed at all the wires that were used with the turn signal switch.
Where the tail lights are mounted, are those the only grounds for the rear?

Thanks for all the help!!   

[Moparal]

Besides maybe the turn switch mount itself inside the column, the only one I recall for the rear harness is at the light housings.

[472 R/T SE]

Car's too close to the end of the garage right now in order to get the trunk open but I fiddled with it anyways.  I now noticed when hazards are applied the two (only ones I can see front and rear) side marker lights blink in unison.  That sounds like a ground.

Besides the rear tail lights grounding themselves, where else besides possibly the turn signal are the grounds?

Thanks. 

[Chryco Psycho]

this happens with virtually every car that is repainted , the housings & bolts that hold them Have to connect with the body to ground correctly , most cars are way over restored from why the factory did so the paint has to be scraped away somewhere to establish a ground again , new cars use a dedicated wire to the light socket as most housings & bodys also are plastic now , that is the other way to fix the problem , run a seperate wire from the light to the body

[472 R/T SE]

I took the kick panel off and ran a test light where the connection for the rear harness is.  No power so I chased the wires that come out of the steering column, no power.  This is the plug that's similar to the one I changed out with the Charger.
There's a second group of wires that go up in the steering column, there's a hot wire on it.  So I'm thinking it's the turn signal switch?
The switch on the brake pedal lights up when brakes applied.

Sound right?

[Chryco Psycho]

sounds right , all the functions for brake, hazzard  & turn go through the turn switch so if there is no power for the turn lights the switch is bad even though the brake lites work