Power to brake light switch?

[Jcox68rt]

I was trying to diagnose a problem with my brake light switch in my 63 gmc swb fleet-side. There is a white wire and orange wire leaving the switch and goin up into the wiring harness. Simple enough, however, the orange only becomes hot when I turn my headlights on.. Seems like it should come on when the key is on or always hot. Right? I have two orange wires coming out of the other side of the harness and they both go to the same spot on the headlight switch. I'm pretty sure I can tell which one is the one that comes from the brake light switch because of the gauge. Should I remove it from the headlight switch and run it down to fuse panel in a non fused space that's available?

Am I over thinking this one?

Thanks in advance!

[Jcox68rt]

No wiring gurus chiming in? I can always grab a constant hot from anywhere I guess or a hot from my ignition switch?

[66pnl]

That orange wire should be hot at all times, it's the same circuit that powers the dome lamp. Comes from the fuse panel to the h/lamp switch then to the brake switch. Does the dome lite work.

[The Rocknrod]

I did a print screen since this pic is from a pdf. Hope this helps.

[awbrown]

The orange wire should be hot all the time , key on or not ... simply rewire it so it is hot and you should be fine .. if you have no brake lights after that repost .. if I remember , it comes off the headlight switch ,so the switch may be bad .. Mine was and I just picked a hot wire and spliced it in ...

[Jcox68rt]

Originally Posted by 66pnl

That orange wire should be hot at all times, it's the same circuit that powers the dome lamp. Comes from the fuse panel to the h/lamp switch then to the brake switch. Does the dome lite work.

The dome light is missing, however I just bought a new one from brothers.

Originally Posted by The Rocknrod

I did a print screen since this pic is from a pdf. Hope this helps.

The screenshot does help, it shows those two orange wires coming off a hot leg of the headlight switch.

Originally Posted by awbrown

The orange wire should be hot all the time , key on or not ... simply rewire it so it is hot and you should be fine .. if you have no brake lights after that repost .. if I remember , it comes off the headlight switch ,so the switch may be bad .. Mine was and I just picked a hot wire and spliced it in ...

I have a new headlight switch to install also, that leg on the headlight switch according to the schematic above looks like it is a constant hot? So my switch is probably bad. It was doing some wonky stuff when I first got the truck. I'll change it out and see if it helps. If not I'll just grab a constant hot from somewhere, probably the fuse panel since it's right there.

Thank you all for the insight, help, and the schematic!

[The Rocknrod]

Ya I'd run a quick jumper from a hot lead to see if it works.