TR6 brake lights TR6

[ichthos]

Hello,
Everything was disconnected when I bought this car. It has been quite the adventure figuring out how to hook everything up correctly. I had all the lights working at one point, but I must have done something along the way to change something. My brake lights plain don't work. I can not figure out what it is I am doing wrong.I put in a new brake light switch and new bulbs; there is still no change. The lights light up when I turn on the lights switch. I can see a slight interuption in the lights when I depress the brakes, but that is it. Anyone have any ideas on what I can do? I have checked everything I thought was obvious, but I still no brake lights. Thanks, Kevin

 

[Andrew Mace]

What happens when you connect the two wires at the brake light switch together...does anything light up?

Offhand, from what you describe, I'd say your lamps currently (no pun intended) are lacking sufficient ground.

 

[R6MGS]

I'd say ground as well....I've spent alot of time figurin out tail lights(every car i own seams to have trouble there at one time or another)....it usually comes down to ground....The gounds on the TR6 arn't very strong anyway, and if I remeber correctly the main gorund of the tail lights is in a bad corrosion area(rear upper corners).

 

[Guest]

Kevin,
Do you have a copy of Dan Masters' book on TR6 electricals?
I highly recommend your buying it. I see where Dan is selling it though Moss now. The best 30+ bucks you can spend (besides a Bentley).


Bill

 

[ichthos]

I just got a copy of the Bentley. I number of people suggested I get it, and I am glad I did. I really like the detail. I will look into Dan Master's book also, but in the mean time I am hot to finally get this car out of my driveway for the first time. Back to the brakes. I checked all my grounds, and they seem to be fine. I got all the lights running correctly at one point. The only thing not working now is the brake lights still. One interesting thing is that when I depress the brake pedal, instead of getting brighter, they get just a little bit faint instead. Maybe I am just being lazy. I have pulled and put back togehter so many things (steering column, instruments, ect.) that I don't know what I did at this point. With the added information, does anyone have any more suggestions? I figured out my clutch problem by the way (the wrong slave cylinder was sent!!!!), so this is the only thing stopping my first test drive.
Thanks, Kevin

 

[Guest]

Check your brake light switch (they fail or partially fail routinely)
You can remove the switch from it's bracket and hand test to see if indeed it is working at all. The mounting of these little jewels is sketchy at best. Very easy to mis-mount.
Are you checking your lights with the engine running? (I switched to a 66 amp alternator and all my lights are brighter)
I individually grounded all my rear light sockets to the body by soldering a small gauge ground wire to each socket and screwing them to the body panel inside the trunk.


Bill

 

[Andrew Mace]

[ QUOTE ]
...The only thing not working now is the brake lights still. One interesting thing is that when I depress the brake pedal, instead of getting brighter, they get just a little bit faint instead....

[/ QUOTE ]Hate to say this, but that -- in my experience -- is ALWAYS an indicator of a ground problem.

 

[ichthos]

I have individual grounds from each socket to the body too. I bought a new brake light switch. I removed it so that I could depress it by hand to make sure placement was not the problem. It looks like everyone is still saying ground, so I'll see if I missed something. One thing I forgot to try was hooking up the two wires to the brake light switch directly. I'll let you know what happens. My wife has demanded equal time with my car, so I may not be able to touch it (the car) until tomorrow.
Thanks, Kevin

 

[Guest]

Kevin, put your wife on the phone, I'll set her straight! Actually, taking her out to a really nice restaurant will buy you some extra garage time.
I just took my wife to a new, fancy (read that expensive) sushi restaurant and today she asked when was I going to work on the car on Sunday, not if .


Bill (pw)