67 rear brake light problem

[Richard Bass (43738)]

...so little time left with the nw regional meet starting tomorrow.....maybe the right person will read this this morning.

I have all of my rear lights working now with one exception...that is the inside brake light on the driver side. All of the other brake lights are working. The turn signals are working. The flashers are working. The driving lights are working. In fact they were all working after first installing the light fixtures after chroming.

Regarding the subject light (the inside one on the drivers side), when i apply the parking brake...only 1 filiment comes on and therefore it is not as bright as the other 3 rear brake lights. I have traded bulbs in between the 4 light fixtures and it is clearly not a bulb problem as it happens to any bulb in the subject fixture but all bulbs are ok when in any of the other 3 fixtures. There is a brown wire and a yellwo wire coming to the fixture, i have cleaned them and checked them over and over again. Briefly late last night they worked when we wiggled them just right but i just can`t get it going this morning.

Will greatly appreciate assistance...hopefully today so i don`t lose tomorrow.

[Jack Humphrey (17100)]

Re: 67 rear brake light problem

Such is often the case of the spring behing the lamp contact plate in the socket being slightly fatigued and not pressing the contact firmly enough against the lamp to make good solid contact...

[Richard Bass (43738)]

Re: 67 rear brake light problem

i held the light bulb (outside of the light fixture) firmly up against the contact points and incurred the same dull result as i wondered about the springs.

[Stephen Lavigne (7553)]

Re: 67 rear brake light problem

Sounds like you do not have an adequate ground on the fixture. You should have a black wire attached under a mounting stud on each fixture.

If one bulb is dimmer than the rest then that one is getting it ground thru the filament and another light. This places the filaments in series... thus a dim light.

[Michael Hanson (4067)]

Re: 67 rear brake light problem

I agree with Steve. If the lamp works poorly with the parking lights on, but goes out completely when the brake lights are on, it's a ground issue. Very common problem.

[Richard Bass (43738)]

Re: 67 rear brake light problem

actually it works fine with the parking light ..it only works poorly on the brake light. Am going out to garage now to review all the grounding.

[Lyle24961]

Re: 67 rear brake light problem

Richard

To see if you have a ground problem I use a long test lead from the battery - directly to the problem light housing. Grounds on Corvettes are the cause of most light problems.

Lyle

[Michael Hanson (4067)]

Just Curious....

..about what you found Richard. Was it a poor ground?

[Richard Bass (43738)]

Re: Just Curious....

i just returned home from the nw regional. i was not able to solve the problem consistently before i left. it was not working when i left. my wife followewed me in the Jeep. She called on cell phone when when left and said they are working now....when we landed in Vancouver, Wa..theyt were still working. i said "don`t touch anything". When we did the operations judging....they worked. On the way home wife called me...not working again. Arrived home in garage...they working again. I don`t know..i suspect it is ground somehow and now i will continue to look for a permanent fix.

[Michael Hanson (4067)]

Re: Just Curious....

Richard,

Next time it fails, try grounding the lamp by holding a piece of wire on the chrome part of the housing with the other end of the wire touching the chrome part of the functioning lamp next to it. If it then functions normally, you will have to inspect the ground wire that's attached to one of the lamp mounting studs. This is probably the most common cause of the problem that you describe.

If the lamp still doesn't work when the temporary ground wire is used, the problem is most likely in the terminal, or connector, that plugs into the back side of the lamp.