62 Brake lights stopped working

[John F.]

I was at our local Dairy Queen get together last night and getting ready to leave my buddies say I don't have brake lights. All lights work except the brake lights. I know there have been threads on this but I can't find it. Help.

John F

[Dan H.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Hi John, make sure your plunger switch on the brake pedal hasn't come loose and out of adjustment.
Dan

[John F.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Plunger is tight and switch actuates.
John F

[Edward J.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Dan, is the brake lamp switch powered up when you depress pedal both sides of harness?

[Dan H.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Yes, is always hot and harness connected to all tail lamps, switch completes circuit when pedal moves away from it. Lamps all need a good ground or will not complete circuit etc. to individual lamps. Ofcourse this all runs through the turn signal switch which is sometimes the fly in the bean soup!
Dan

[Edward J.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Dan , how about if you wiggle the turn lever and maybe the harness under dash, but it certainly sould like a open in the switch.

[Dan H.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Ed, scroll down to bottom of this and surf the archive responses, happy hunting!

[John F.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

The brake switch has power in and power out.
John F

[John W.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

John,

From the brake switch the power goes through the turn signal switch and then on to the lamps themselves. The left and right lamp are fed independently from the turn signal switch on. The turn signal switch turns off one brake lamp and uses it for the turn signal lamp. When the turn signal cancels it puts the brake lamp back in the circuit. Unusual for both lights to be kept of by the turn signal switch but I bet that is the most likely culprit.

[John F.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

I pulled the steering wheel and took out the turn signal actuator ring. The flat verticle spring behind it was missing. Does anyone have one that I can buy? CC doesn't have them. Also I tried to clean up the parts. Can you lubricate with Sray-A-Lube graphite? How do you take out the switch from here?

John F

[Dennis C.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

I pulled the steering wheel and took out the turn signal actuator ring. The flat verticle spring behind it was missing. Does anyone have one that I can buy? CC doesn't have them. Also I tried to clean up the parts. Can you lubricate with Sray-A-Lube graphite? How do you take out the switch from here?

John F

John,

Paragon has the flat spring, here is the link:

https://www.paragoncorvette.com/p-35...ng-spring.aspx

To remove the switch, take off the lower wiring cover, disconnect the wires and tape the ends. You might want to connect a drag line for re-installation, remove the two screws from the switch and pull it out.

Regards,

Dennis

[John F.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Thanks Dennis, just ordered the spring and a new switch. Do you just unscrew the two screws and then unplug the wires under the steering column?
John F

[Dennis C.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Thanks Dennis, just ordered the spring and a new switch. Do you just unscrew the two screws and then unplug the wires under the steering column?
John F

John,

That's about it, you already did the hard work. I would suggest taping the ends of the wires to keep them flat and tie on a drag wire that will run up the column as you pull the switch wires out. The drag wire will make it a little easier to re-install the switch wires. You would reattach the wires to the drag (wire or string) and use it to snake the wires back in to position.

Regards,

Dennis

[John F.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

Starting to reassemble the turn signal switch. Have it in. I forgot to mark the steering wheel when I removed it. There are two guide pins of some sort on the down side of the steering wheel. Are they supposed to be in a certain position when putting the wheel back on the hub?

[Dennis C.]

Re: 62 Brake lights stopped working

There are two guide pins of some sort on the down side of the steering wheel. Are they supposed to be in a certain position when putting the wheel back on the hub?[/quote]

John,

They need to be on the left side of the hub when your in the driver's seat. The pins are what cancel the turn signals.

Regards,

Dennis