'63 no brake lights

[Jim B.]

Thanks for any help troubleshooting early '63 brake lights. Fuse, brake switch, and orange wire going from the switch test 12 volts but am lost at this point. Both tail and signal lights work normal. Brake lights were working up to recently but daughter in her C7 was following and noticed the outage. Thanks for any suggestions, jim

[Dan H.]

Re: '63 no brake lights

Jim, make sure the plunger on the brake light switch fully extends when peddle is pushed, slight adjustment should fix it.
Dan

[Frank D.]

Re: '63 no brake lights

If signal lights work in the rear then the bright bulb filaments and grounds are good and its could well be the brake light switch adjustment; the 63s have a unique turn signal switch on the steering column mast jacket near the interior toeboard that may be worth looking at.

[Joseph S.]

Re: '63 no brake lights

Jim, Do you have power in the White wire at the brake light switch when you depress the brake pedal?

[Jim B.]

Re: '63 no brake lights

Yes there is power on both wires at the switch and the switch plunger fully extends when the pedal is pushed. I have a blown-up plasticized wiring diagram but can't find the other end of the wire that leaves the switch? Also, is there any outside junction point near the four lights? I did a frame-off on this car over 30 years ago and replaced the back-up lights with the standard 4-light configuration. It has worked until just recently but the memory bank isn't as good as it was then either and I don't remember the junction points on the new harness.

[Joseph S.]

Re: '63 no brake lights

Jim, The White wire goes to the Directional switch. If you have power going into the switch at the White wire when you depress the brakes then take the switch off, disassemble it and clean all the contacts. If you don't then the wire is broken/cut somewhere between the two switches.

[Jim B.]

Re: '63 no brake lights

The signal lights still work and I just checked the directional switch by running a jumper from where the white wire connects. With the brake pedal depressed and test probe on the next row purple wire male side contact, I got a good 12v test light. The problem appears to be somewhere downstream from the directional switch but the purple wire that I believe goes all the way to the lights, blends from the directional switch into a large harness. I can't see anything abnormal under the car but are there any junctions, line fuses, or anything particular to a 63 that I should check next? Thanks again for any suggestions, jim

Fixed... Parts for the other Vet came in so I reinstalled the directional switch and the brake lights worked. I didn't do anything but run a brass brush across the switch contacts as best I could although there wasn't any corrosion. I guess sometimes these ole cars just need a little TLC!