macvic

Hello All,

Just bought a 65 Jetstat and the taillights don't work. The rear signal lights work fine, but the stop and and tail lights do not. The guy I bought it from said it just started to blow fuses but I replaced the fuse and now they just don't work and the fuse seems fine.

I notice that when the lights are off there is 12 volts at the taillight and stop light fuses, but when I turn the lights on the voltage goes down to 0 for both the tail light and stop light fuses. Not sure if this is normal or not. When I jump from the battery to the flat wire strip on the floor the light come on, so I believe the problem lies at the fuse panel.

I am really stumped and any help would be appreciated.

I look forward to learning lots of stuff about my Jetstar on the forum!

Thanks

Greg.

Oldsmaniac

Your explanation of the problem is at times hard to fully understand. Will give some basics that may help. The taillamps have a bulb in each that has 2 filaments. The heavier one is for turn signals and brake lights while the thinner filament is for nightime illumination. Sometimes a bulb can short out. First try some new bulbs....1157 should be the correct number bulb. Then make sure you are installing the bulbs properly. You will see there are 2 bumps on the side of the bulb that are at different levels. Make sure the higher bump goes into the socket correctly. Sometimes the spring tension gets loose and the bulb can go in either way. To get my lamps to work I had to add some solder to the contacts on the bottom of the bulb to ensure a tight fit into the socket. There should be a fuse for the lights and I believe a separate one for the brake lamps. The brake lights go on with the switch at the brake pedal shaft. They should operate even with the ignition off....likewise the tailights, but the turn signals operate only with the key on. The flasher makes and breaks the voltage to the heavier filament which is also used for brake lights. The headlight switch controls the voltage to the headlights and rear tailights. Ya may want to check your fuses again and the connections on the headlight switch. I wouldnt think you have a fuse box problem. It could also be the sockets themselves or perhaps a shorted wire. The wires go thru the trunk floor I believe to the lower tailights. There is supposed to be a rubber grommet there to keep the wire from rubbing thru at the trunk floor sheetmetal. If the grommet is gone or falling apart this is a likely spot to check. A short would also drop the voltage when applied.

macvic

Thanks for the info....

I am wondering if it is not a problem with the headlight switch itself since the dome light and dash lights are not working either. I double checked all fuses and they look fine. Does the headlight switch also control the current when the brake is applied ie.. does the current flow through the switch when the brake is appled?

Thanks for your help.

Oldsmaniac

I dont have a schematic handy but I would think that the braking electrical circuit does NOT travel thru the headlamp switch. Fuses arent always good when they look good as well as bulbs.

macvic

Hi,

After further investigation and a little luck it seems the problem is a loose wire on the back of the fuse panel. It seems this wire either feeds or grounds three fuses - taillight, dome light and one other i can't recall. Anyway all three of these circuits were acting strange. So I am going to pull the fuse panel and see if I can't fix that wire.

Thanks for your help.

Greg.

joe_padavano

Could you show us in the wiring diagram where the dimmer switch is connected to the tail light circuit?