Brake Light/Blinker Issue

[68350]

So my passenger brake light and blinker doesn't work. Taillights work just fine. I traced the harness all the way to the firewall, and there is no power for the passenger brake/blinker. Drivers side has power. The column has a purple wire and a double blue wire coming out of the connector, both of these have power when the passenger blinker is on. I cut the purple single wire and it cut power to the passenger blinker. So my question is, what are the double blue wires powering? I'm guessing one is for brakes maybe, and one is for blinker, but I don't wanna cut another wire unless I know. Can anyone shed some light on how to fix my blinker and brake light? thanks, Doug

[bigbadchev72]

It is more than likely a bad turn signal switch in the column

[BMERDOC]

I'd love to thank the guy who took time to do this but I don't know who did it. I'll thank him by passing it onto you. The files are big so you can save them and blow them up real big if needed.

[MacGyver72]

Originally Posted by 68350

So my passenger brake light and blinker doesn't work. Taillights work just fine. I traced the harness all the way to the firewall, and there is no power for the passenger brake/blinker. Drivers side has power. The column has a purple wire and a double blue wire coming out of the connector, both of these have power when the passenger blinker is on. I cut the purple single wire and it cut power to the passenger blinker. So my question is, what are the double blue wires powering? I'm guessing one is for brakes maybe, and one is for blinker, but I don't wanna cut another wire unless I know. Can anyone shed some light on how to fix my blinker and brake light? thanks, Doug

I thought you had no power to the passenger blinker. As far as I know the larger filament in the bulb for both brakelights and turn signals draws power from the same wire. They probably merge at the firewall connection where you found the loss. It sounds like you have a connection plug issue to me. I'm assuming you've already ruled out a faulty ground. I don't know which cluster you're looking at on your column but perhaps one of the wires you refer to is in fact the brake wire and you should see it connecting to the switch at the pedal.

[68350]

Forgot to say this, the front passenger blinker works perfectly, so this is a rear passenger side problem only. It has power at the column half moon connector, and between there and the firewall connection, it loses power.

[MacGyver72]

So it would seem that all you need to do is replace the wire from the column clip to the firewall. Try using a jumper wire from the battery to the firewall plug and see if you get the bright side of the bulb to light. If it doesn't, you have a firewall plug problem and then probably just a pin connection problem so no big deal. I would do that test before I cut any wires. No sense cutting what you don't have to.

[68350]

ok that makes sense, I will try that and let you know how it works

[68350]

rear harness is perfect. I connected the jumper from each of the four prongs to the battery, one lit up the right side, one lit up the left side, one lit up the taillights, and one lit up the reverse lights.

[MacGyver72]

Cool! So it would seem that you now need to connect the jumper farther back until you have the loss of power. Usually a clip connection or a break in the wire cause this problem. If there are no visible breaks, you only have to clean up a connection somewhere and now you should at least know what color wire does what.

[MacGyver72]

Could be the female end of the connector you just unplugged. You should see if the four prongs you tested fit tightly in the connector. Any loosness could explain your issue.

[68350]

Shouldn't the plug in that comes from the interior through the firewall have power if checked with a test light? That does not have power on the passenger side rear.

[MacGyver72]

Yes but you have to work backward to find where it's lost. The power should come from the fuse panel through a leg to the column. I suspect that if you already know that you have no power coming from the column that either the c shaped clip has a loose connection or the connection to the fuse panel is suspect. That is unless you find a broken or frayed wire.

I would keep using the jumper to check the connection just prior to the firewall (steering column?)

[68350]

Ok, I will recheck the plug in at the firewall coming from the main harness. Maybe the plug in is bad, I could poke the wire to find out if they have power. I will check in tomorrow night and let everyone know what I find out. I checked the harness very well before installing it, so I hope its just the connector.

[MacGyver72]

Good luck. You seem to be on the right track.

[68350]

Well finally figured it out, it is the actual column wiring. Somewhere it is bad, I'm thinking where it is sotered/sautered(sp) into the plastic piece below the blinker piece. I did not have power at the half moon, I just had a dumb moment. So I will be replacing the wiring this weekend with one from a column I know worked. Thanks for everybodys help, I appreciate the wealth of info/help this board provides.