It has to be a loose connection. A bare wire grounding to the body would mean that they were on all the time. Specifically, check the wires and connections at your brake light switch. Since they are working part of the time, it has to be a loose connection someplace, or the switch has gone bad again. Since you haven't mentioned feeling any change in the brake pedal, I am going to assume the trouble is not hydraulic.
First, thanks to everyone who either posted their ideas about my taillight
situation on the IML or emailed me directly.
I went out to the Imperial this morning with the IML pages and emails
printed out and ready solve the problem. To my absolute surprise, all of
the lights and directionals were working appropriately (with and without the
headlights on)!! I operated the headlight switch several times, tried the
brakes and turn signals repeatedly, and even added the panel light switch
into the equation- no problems! I could not believe it, especially
considering I had not driven the car since I noticed the problem yesterday
morning. So I took her out to her favorite place- the gas station- for some
needed nourishment.
On the way home a guy pulled up next to me at a stop light and told me my
brake lights were not working. I neglected to ask if they were permanently
lit (like yesterday) or there was no light at all (I was driving with the
headlights off at the time). I cussed and motored home at top speed. When
I pulled into the garage and ran the lights (parking, brake, directionals
with and without headlights) through their paces I found all systems were
operating flawlessly!
It is pretty obvious there is an electrical short somewhere in the system.
I ran out of time for the next several days and will return to figure this
out on Thursday. In the meantime, anybody have an idea where I should start
looking, beyond the bulbs and their contacts?
Jim Poltrock
'55 sedan
-----Original Message-----
From: mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:mailing-list-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Christopher H
Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 1:58 PM
To: IML (main)
Subject: Re: IML: '55 taillights- help needed
Jim,
How do you know the bulbs are fine? Remember, they are dual-filament bulbs,
like two bulbs living in the same glass house. One filament (the taller,
thinner one) is the dim taillamp, and the other (short, thicker one) is the
brighter brake/turn lamp.
Often if one fails, the common ground will employ the other one when both
are in use. Depends on how the car is wired.
Check these things:
Turn on the parking lights only. Do the taillamps turn on? Bright or dim?
Just for fun, check out the front parking lights too.
If the taillamps are on but too bright, turn the parking lights off, turn
the key to the last position before "start" (the normal running position)
and switch on one turn signal. Does it operate normally? How about in front?
Now, without turning anything off, turn the parking lights back on. Now what
happens, front and rear.
Now try the other turn signal, same routine. And then the brake lamps. And
while you're at it, with all lights off, have someone watch the front of the
car while you step on the brakes. Do the front turn signals erroneously
illuminate with the brakes? (This could indicate short or burned-out
condition in one rear bulb.)
Do you have spare bulbs on hand? (Is this a 6-volt or 12-volt car?) If so,
try replacing bulbs, even if they seem to be OK. Make sure they installed
correctly, not 180 degrees off (note the distance from the side posts to the
base of the bulb, and match it to the slots in the socket walls.)
If all else fails, post the answers to the above and we'll go from there.
(Dick B is at the So Cal Imperial picnic today, so the most brilliant
answers won't come until later!)
Hope this helps,
Chris in LA
67 Crown
78 NYB Salon
On 10/1/06 11:26 AM, jtpoltrock@xxxxxxx at jtpoltrock@xxxxxxx wrote:
> Hello fellow Imperialist!
> I need some help figuring out a problem that just began with my '55 sedan.
I
> got up this morning and the weather looked great, so I decided to take the
> Imperial for a Sunday cruise. It was a little foggy out yet so I turned
on my
> headlights. I noticed right away that the taillights were burning
> brilliantly, like they would when the brake pedal was pressed with the
> headlights on. There was no change when I pressed the brakes. When I
turned
> the headlights off the rear taillights went off and I had no brake lights.
In
> the interest of safety I ended up leaving the Imperial at home- which is
too
> bad because there are not many beautiful fall days like today left.
> I am trying to figure out what the problem is. The wiring looks fine
and
> the hydraulic brake switch was replaced about two months ago when I had
the
> master cylinder rebuilt. The bulbs are fine, and I have never had a
lighting
> problem before. The FSM is not helping me figure out the problem (unless
i am
> missing something).
> Any leads or advice? All help would be appreciated!
>
> Jim Poltrock
> Salem, WI.
> '55 sedan, 42k
> Wisteria blue over
> Rhapsody blue
>
>
>
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