'62 Tail Light Wiring Diagram

[badpeanut]

The tail light wiring harness on my '62 Chevy pickup is a mess. Are there any wiring diagrams online?

[60-66 Nut]

Hey Peanut, I don't know if there are any diagrams online, but it's really not a difficult job to wire up the tail lights on these old trucks. To begin with, you should have 3 wires coming from the front. If these wires are in bad shape, trailer light wire works good to replace them. The color codes are the same as a trailer, brown or black is the tail lights, yellow is the left turn/brake and green is the right turn/brake. Some of the lights have color coded wires too, red or green is usually the turn/brake and brown or black is the tail light. Hope that helps.

60-66 Nut

[Chevyboy1962]

In my 1960 shop maual(1 of 2 books for 1960-62 trucks) it shows that the white wire is for brake lights, black wire is for tail lamps, and so is the yellow wire 1962, or purpleish red color for 1960-61's. Wires are 20 guage wiring.
David

[badpeanut]

Thanks Chevyboy1962, this is the information I need!

[60-66 Nut]

I forgot to ask if your truck had factory signal lights or not. If it doesen't then all you have is the tail light wire and a single brakelight wire like Chevyboy1962 said. Signal lights were an option up until December 31, 1962. After that DOT made them mandatory. So if your truck was built before that date, it may not have had factory signals. Best of luck.

60-66 Nut

[Tim_Russo]

I am working on my buddy's 63 chevy truck. I can get tail lights and turn signals but the running lights and brakes lights are not. every time i put in a new fuse it snaps. Recommendations?

[ray_mcavoy]

Welcome Tim!

The fuse blowing sounds like you are dealing with a short circuit to ground somewhere in the circuit(s) protected by that fuse. Take a close look at the wiring associated with that circuit and be on the lookout for any places where the wires are pinched, the insulation is chafed or cracked, or other damage that is allowing bare wire to touch the metal frame or body. Also check the bulb sockets for damage (like a cracked insulator) that could be allowing the positive contact tab to touch ground.

To save on fuses, you can clip a test light across the fuse terminals. Take the bulbs out of the truck's light sockets so there is no load on the circuit and watch the test light. If the test light is on, there is a short. Try unplugging the intermediate harness that runs back along the frame to see if that makes the test light go out. If it does, the short is somewhere in that intermediate harness or in the rear light harness.

Oh, and for future reference, you will probably get a quicker response if you post as a new thread rather than tacking onto an old thread like this one.