Parking brake light indicator not turning on

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Cudakid2967

Cudakid2967

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Have a 67 cuda and trying to make the parking brake light indicator light work. Have everything wired but nothing will turn on. Cleaned up contact around the switch to see if that'd work but no luck. Any ideas?
Manual brake car with no booster or anything. Wouldn't care regularly but need it so car can pass an inspection.
 
  1. Is there a bulb in the socket
  2. Does the bulb work
  3. Is the socket in the cluster
  4. Is there power to the bulb
  5. Have you bypassed the switch to check for light functionality
  6. Does the switch work
  7. Is the switch adjusted correctly

The bulb gets switched power, (the same wire that feeds the ballast resister)
then a wire runs from the bulb to a door like switch above the parking brake handle that makes a ground when the handle is pulled. It also gets a ground if the front /rear brake system looses pressure from the brake warning switch in the distribution block.
PXL_20220917_102306989~2.jpg
 
Dana67Dart said:
  1. Is there a bulb in the socket
  2. Does the bulb work
  3. Is the socket in the cluster
  4. Is there power to the bulb
  5. Have you bypassed the switch to check for light functionality
  6. Does the switch work
  7. Is the switch adjusted correctly
The bulb gets switched power, (the same wire that feeds the ballast resister)
then a wire runs from the bulb to a door like switch above the parking brake handle that makes a ground when the handle is pulled. It also gets a ground if the front /rear brake system looses pressure from the brake warning switch in the distribution block. View attachment 1715986686
Click to expand...

Would not running a wire to the distribution block cause it to not work on the parking brake side? 1-4 on your list I know are good, need to try to bypassing the switch. don't know about the switch being good but did try a known good switch with same result, not even a flicker. Switch does seem to be adjusted properly, fully extended when parking brake comes out.
 
You don't need to "try" a switch, rather, check the circuit end to end. Remove the switch wire from the switch. These work just like the dome/ courtesy lamps. That is, the lamp is insulated, and is fed power to one side of the lamp, and the other end of the lamp appears at the switch wire. when the switch is "made" it grounds that wire and completes the circuit. So ground the wire. Does the lamp light? If so, you are right, either bad switch or poor adjustment. These switches corrode / get rusty over the years as does the mounting.
 
67Dart273 said:
You don't need to "try" a switch, rather, check the circuit end to end. Remove the switch wire from the switch. These work just like the dome/ courtesy lamps. That is, the lamp is insulated, and is fed power to one side of the lamp, and the other end of the lamp appears at the switch wire. when the switch is "made" it grounds that wire and completes the circuit. So ground the wire. Does the lamp light? If so, you are right, either bad switch or poor adjustment. These switches corrode / get rusty over the years as does the mounting.
Click to expand...
Okay, straight grounding it did not work. Would the light it's self having a ground cause a problem? Looking at it looks like after market non stock is being used to make aftermarket gauges work in it.
Brown wire is connected to main line that goes to the switch and power I assume, black wire would be ground for the light

PXL_20220917_172815653.jpg
 
I am not an electrical person, but the switch has power all the time? It's circuit is interrupted when the plunger is in, when you pull the ebrake handle, the plunger comes out and completes the circuit.
 
The socket "looks" OK to me. Again, the socket does NOT ground. The circuit path is power----to one side of the socket---through the bulb---out the other socket wire----down to the switch----the switch activates the light when "made." As cruze said, and just like door/ dome lamp switches, the are "made" (grounded) when the plunger is released, as when the door is open.
 
67Dart273 said:
The socket "looks" OK to me. Again, the socket does NOT ground. The circuit path is power----to one side of the socket---through the bulb---out the other socket wire----down to the switch----the switch activates the light when "made." As cruze said, and just like door/ dome lamp switches, the are "made" (grounded) when the plunger is released, as when the door is open.
Click to expand...
Yup, figured it out, had the wire backwards, swapped then and lit right up. Thanks for the help
 
Cody Scollay said:
Would not running a wire to the distribution block cause it to not work on the parking brake side
Click to expand...
The distrabution block has a normally open switch in it. It only grounds out when there is a inballance in the braking system.

The e brake handle causes the e brake switch to ground out when you pull the handle to engage the e brake.
 
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