Hey Everyone,
I have a problem. I turned the lights on in my car yesterday and went I got home I shut them off. When I walked behind the car the tail lights were still on. I wnet back in the car and shut the lights on and off a bunch of times but the tail lights would not go off. I finally had to just pull the bulbs to avoid a dead battery. It was raining yesterday and my trunk leaks a little. Does this sound like I have a short? Help me!
Sounds like a stuck brake pedal switch.
Hey,
A brake pedal switch? Where is this located and how can I test this and see if it's the problem? Thanks - Amin
This is from memory (about 15 years ago) If you follow the brake pedal lever up towards the top, you will see a small module - that should be it.
Another possibility could be at the wiring plug on the headlight switch.
I don't have wiring diagrams for this, but it's fairly basic. Locate the wire for the tail lights (might be brown like Ford trucks) leaving the plug at the headlight switch. With a test light, check the wires on either side to see if they have full time power. One possibility is that the hot wire is contacting the tail light wire at the plug. Another option is there's a hot wire that has rubbed on the tail light wire somewhere away from the plug & is feeding power to the tail lights.
Then again, the headlight switch could be faulty. Next time you have the headlights on for twenty minutes or so, feel the headlight switch to see if it's hot. This quite often makes the headlights blink off & on. There's a thermal circuit breaker in the switch to help prevent electrical fires.
Last but not least, I am wrong often & could be wrong again.
Hope this helps.
AL. :lol:
I agree with Gentlegiant.
To test this idea... plug the bulbs back in and have someone tap the brakes.
If the lights do not get brighter then you have found the problem.
From Pintony
1-UP for you...
I had that problem last year, it was the brake light switch. I think it cost me like $5 to fix. It was available at the parts store but i had to drive across town to get it. They had the manual brake one but the power brake one was available. Of course mine is manual so i didnt have any problems, but if you have power brakes you might have a problem.
Thanks for the replys everyone, It ended up being the brake light switch. It was kinda a pain to get to but defintely worth not taking it to get worked on. B/c I know 5.00 is way better than whatever the electrical repair guys would of charged me. Another victory for the diagnostic team here at ford pinto!! ;D Thanks again - Amin
FYI, many times if your brake lights stay on, you can turn them off by lifting up on the brake pedal; until you can replace the switch of course. Used to happen on my 71 LTD occasionally.
mike