1964 valiant brake light issue ?

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cz619

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san diego, CA
hello everyone, i want to come on here and have other people help out on the main issue I am currently dealing with.
the car is its final stages of being on the road finally after many years and the main issue I'm currently dealing with is the passenger side rear brake light not working. everything seems to function including lights turn signals, but the passenger taillight does not light up. i have taken the harness off and power probed it and there seems to be no issue with any of the wiring. I know I'm missing something maybe something simple. to give an update I've recently put a new turn signal as they weren't working and when i took apart the harness it did have some melted wires. since replacing it everything works fine.
what do I need to do or test or look for since this has been such a small thing that's a pain in the *** and preventing me from driving it

any and all help or suggestions will be appreciated especially if pictures can be provided thanks guys
 
I had a similar problem with my 64 dart recently. I simply wasn’t getting ground at the brake light. I took some light grit sandpaper and cleaned up all around the light socket and that did the trick.
 
Before you get too deep, try this. Have someone stand in the rear of the car while you apply the brake pedal and slowly move the turn signal switch. If the brake light illuminates, the problem is the turn signal switch. And don't say "the turn signal switch is new" because there are NO good ones on the market, so there's THAT.
 
I will recheck ground socket and sand it more aggressively just to for sure know that is good ground thanks. I also saw your in IB I'm actually in Chula Vista
DD1964 said:
I had a similar problem with my 64 dart recently. I simply wasn’t getting ground at the brake light. I took some light grit sandpaper and cleaned up all around the light socket and that did the trick.
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RustyRatRod said:
Before you get too deep, try this. Have someone stand in the rear of the car while you apply the brake pedal and slowly move the turn signal switch. If the brake light illuminates, the problem is the turn signal switch. And don't say "the turn signal switch is new" because there are NO good ones on the market, so there's THAT.
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Is there any suggestions on that if it's no good ? I know parts can be bad out of the box especially when I had my old jeep I went through 3 starters bad out of the box until I had a good one. I know all places basically get it from one manufacturer, the turn signal switch I got was from classic industries since they had fast shipping.
If it turns out it could be bad so I get another ?
 
cz619 said:
Is there any suggestions on that if it's no good ? I know parts can be bad out of the box especially when I had my old jeep I went through 3 starters bad out of the box until I had a good one. I know all places basically get it from one manufacturer, the turn signal switch I got was from classic industries since they had fast shipping.
If it turns out it could be bad so I get another ?
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I don't know of anyone right now that makes a "good one". Mine is less than three years old. I paid over 100 bucks for it. I was going to get one from @slantsixdan, but he didn't have any anymore and still does not as far as I know. It works, but it does not cancel a right turn most of the time and every now and then, one of the brake lights fails to illuminate. But when I move the turn signal lever, it lights. I've thought of going back into it and seeing if I can repair it, but I'm lazy and have been dragging my feet.
 
cz619 said:
I will recheck ground socket and sand it more aggressively just to for sure know that is good ground thanks. I also saw your in IB I'm actually in Chula Vista
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Cool! We should meet up sometime. I just got my 64 dart convertible back on the road after almost 5 years of working with someone to paint and do upholstery, that ended with me almost losing the entire vehicle. Anyway, I like helping anyway I can, as this forum helped me get her back on the road.
 
slantsixdan said:
Classic Industries is a garbage company selling garbage parts at LOLWTF prices. No good reason to send them so much as a dime.
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I know i wasn't sure where to get it at exactly and they are the ones that had rapid shipping when i was looking. what a total bummer. i see you're the person to ask for a turn signal switch? or if you have a recommendation ?
 
Been out of the good ones for awhile now, and I refuse to handle the fall-apart junk. I have one or two of the '62-'63 switches left (same as '64, but different style of terminals; I can point you at the terminals you'd need to There's a glimmer of hope I might get '64+ ones back in eventually, but not even the shadow of a "when" yet.
 
cz619 said:
Is there any suggestions on that if it's no good ? I know parts can be bad out of the box especially when I had my old jeep I went through 3 starters bad out of the box until I had a good one. I know all places basically get it from one manufacturer, the turn signal switch I got was from classic industries since they had fast shipping.
If it turns out it could be bad so I get another ?
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You got a POS just like I did. Welcome to the club. lol
 
slantsixdan said:
Been out of the good ones for awhile now, and I refuse to handle the fall-apart junk. I have one or two of the '62-'63 switches left (same as '64, but different style of terminals; I can point you at the terminals you'd need to There's a glimmer of hope I might get '64+ ones back in eventually, but not even the shadow of a "when" yet.
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If you do, I'm claiming one NOW. lol
 
cudamark said:
Will you look at all of the San Diegans here! :lol: :thumbsup:
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ha yeah that's true, ive owned this car since back of 2019 and it's been an on and off again type of deal as you can see my only other post was a slant/6 conversion to 318 and that was an interesting swap for sure. this car will never be a show car or restored but i at least want to live again and enjoy it this summer. lol that's why I'm in the final stages of getting it road worthy and this damn brake light issue is such a pain in the ***. i drove it from lakeside to chula vista about 3 saturdays ago and was a huge victory
 
slantsixdan said:
Been out of the good ones for awhile now, and I refuse to handle the fall-apart junk. I have one or two of the '62-'63 switches left (same as '64, but different style of terminals; I can point you at the terminals you'd need to There's a glimmer of hope I might get '64+ ones back in eventually, but not even the shadow of a "when" yet.
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how difficult would it be to go to the older style ? im ok on working on these cars but nothing i cant learn. i will admit im kinda dumb sometimes but i can manage haha
 
cz619 said:
how difficult would it be to go to the older style ? im ok on working on these cars but nothing i cant learn. i will admit im kinda dumb sometimes but i can manage haha
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I believe it's just the wire terminals that are different. If you're willing to cut and splice the pigtail, it should fit and work fine.
 
You'd cut off the '62-'63-style terminals and then either install new '64-up-style terminals or do as Mark says: cut the wires going to your old switch a couple inches above the nylon connector at the base of the steering column, and connect the new switch's wires to the stubs of the old switch's wires. Can solder + heatshrink, or butt-splice 'em, or use Posi-Locks. Whichever method you use, if you decide to do it this way, stagger your wire cuts a couple inches up and down the wire length so you don't create a chonky bundle of splices.
 

slantsixdan said:
You'd cut off the '62-'63-style terminals and then either install new '64-up-style terminals or do as Mark says: cut the wires going to your old switch a couple inches above the nylon connector at the base of the steering column, and connect the new switch's wires to the stubs of the old switch's wires. Can solder + heatshrink, or butt-splice 'em, or use Posi-Locks. Whichever method you use, if you decide to do it this way, stagger your wire cuts a couple inches up and down the wire length so you don't create a chonky bundle of splices.
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ok im going to send you a direct message shortly here, thanks
 
cudamark said:
Shee-Mar is the company that makes the cancel cam repair kits too.
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All I could get from their site was that they are USA based and they SELL stuff. I didn't see that they actually MAKE stuff. It's worth a call, though.
 
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