C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

[Scott S.]

I just got my car out of storage and found out that the tail + brake lights are not working. The turn signals and reverse lights do work. I checked the 20 amp fuse and the ground wire on the drivers side rear frame rail. Any ideas?

[Michael D.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

Replace the fuse. I've seen blown fuses which looked good while still in the fuse block.

[Scott S.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

I put a new fuse in and had same results.

[William C.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

I'd cycle the turn signal switch multiple times and see if the issue goes away. That is the point where the Brake light system and turn signal system intersect.

[Paul O.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

I agree with Bill at a recent chapter meet we had a similar problem with a car. Had the owner cycle the turn signal several times then all worked normal. The owner had just taken the car out of storage to the trailer then the meet.

I would when bring my old 71 or even my wife's 85 out after winter and work anything electrical like the horn, lights, radio, etc. though 5 or 6 cycles just to work the contacts.

Paul 18046

[Scott S.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

Great advice. I'll try it and let you know how it works out.

[Scott S.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

I cycled the turn signals and still no brake or tail lights. I did notice that the flashing of the turn signal seemed to be slow. Also, when I tried the hazard lights, the light came on but did not flash. I'm thinking that I should try to replace the turn signal flasher or that the contacts may need to be cleaned. Are the contacts in the steering column?

[Edward J.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

I just got my car out of storage and found out that the tail + brake lights are not working. The turn signals and reverse lights do work. I checked the 20 amp fuse and the ground wire on the drivers side rear frame rail. Any ideas?

Scott, you may want to pull a tail lamp lens and remove bulb and check to see if you have power at the brown wire for tail lights with the park lamps on, and the green wire should be brake lamps power up when stepping on the pedal, basicly the two pins the bulbs contacts in the socket one is tail the other stop lamp.

It almost sounds as though you have two seperate problems, or the ground wire that is used for the rear lamps is not there. do the front lamps work when the turn siginal is used or when the park lamps are turned on?

[Scott S.]

Re: C3 1980 tail + brake light outage

Scott, you may want to pull a tail lamp lens and remove bulb and check to see if you have power at the brown wire for tail lights with the park lamps on, and the green wire should be brake lamps power up when stepping on the pedal, basicly the two pins the bulbs contacts in the socket one is tail the other stop lamp.

It almost sounds as though you have two seperate problems, or the ground wire that is used for the rear lamps is not there. do the front lamps work when the turn siginal is used or when the park lamps are turned on?

I'm just logged on to update my findings and saw your post. You were on the right path.

There were 2 separate problems. The brake light issue was due to a corroded connection at the brake pedal switch. The fuses also exhibited corrosion on them. I cleaned that up and the brake lights worked. After cleaning the fuses the tail light would work intermittently. I cleaned the ground wires at the socket and the contact points on the bulbs and everything appears to be working fine.

A big Thank you to all that helped!