mysigns69

Anybody ever had this problem in a '65 coupe? Headlights, parking lights and brake lights work fine. Problem is no tail lights. Noticed about a year back that the instrument panel lighting would only come on if I were to jiggle the headlight switch. Then just recently the tail lights wont come on at all. Checked all the wiring from the tail lights all the way to the dash, cleaned out the light housing, everything looks good, no cracked or disconnected wiring anywhere that I can see. I had even replaced the bulbs months ago with the brighter halogen type before this even occured. So as I said, the brake lights come on just fine as it splices into the same wiring from the pedal to the loom coming off the headlight switch. So, I decided maybe the switch was bad and to replace it. Nope, that wasn't it! Any other ideas? I'm not aware of any fuses other than the small fuse panel under the left side of the dash, and that doesn't have any fuses that tie in with the headlights or tail lights. Very frustrating indeed!!

photocliff

Any burned wire? I hear that the brighter bulbs draw more current and could cause the wires to fry. Is the ground wire secured in the back? I also hear the swithes on old classics often go bad but not all at the same time. How about your rear signals could be a turn signal switch gone south.

JMD

Get a test light and test the switch. On a 65 the parking lights ant the tail lights work off a different pole on the switch, I am betting that the halogen lights put a big load on your tired old switch and toasted it.

There will be two feeds for the switch, a headlight feed and a tail/parking feed. There will be an output to the dash lights, (variable, controlled by turning the ****) an output to the parking lights, (on when you pull to first position, and off when pulled to second position), an output for the tail lights, (on when pulled to first and second position) and of course the headlight output.

(There is a wire for the interior light also, the headlight switch creates a GROUND to make the inside lights work, (the interior light wire will light your test light (if the inside lights work) but it is not a feed, your test light may cause the interior lights to light dimly when you probe this wire).

Use your light to find the two hot wires into the switch, they should both be good, then check the rest of the wires for proper function. You can tell which wire is what by the process of elimination and troubleshoot the switch. The biggest two wires will be headlight in/out wires.

If the switch is good, your issue is further back.

A TEST LIGHT is cheap and virtually NECESSARY for electrical issues, I use these a lot more than a multimeter.

guy48065

The HI power to the tails all pass through the turn signal switch so if your turn indicators & Stop lights work then your TS switch is likely OK.
The LO power comes directly from the headlights switch so look there for a loose connection. Does your license plate light work? Same wire (14)...

JMD

Well, wire 14 should tell the tale...

mysigns69

I've since used a test light and so far I've determined that all the leads going into the headlight switch plug are all hot exept for one. From what I could tell, I was able to follow it into the fuse box, and what I had been told is that even though the fuse box doesn't have the label "tail lamp" or "head lamp" or anything to do with the exterior lighting, it could still be a factor. Then I went ahead and pulled the plug at the tail light housing and determined that i have juice going to the rear. My license plate light still works, turn signal lights still work, although 20 years ago and just a few months after I bought the car, the automatic turn signal switch stopped working (so I've had to pop the arm up or down manually after I make my turn). In which case, its never affected the use of the turn signals. Anyhow, in the tail lamp plug itself, it has an outter and an inner contact ring - the outter for the brake and the inner for the running light (the one in question). So seeing I have power going to the rear lighting, then could it be the light buckets? Could the contact within them be effed up and not carrying the juice to the bulb? I've cleaned the contacts real good to be sure and still nothing. But back to the dead wire I found in the light switch - now that I've got a lighting diagram (thanks to guy4865), I'm believing the culprit to be wire 11. And if thats the one, how could the headlights be working? I know its a center connection on the switch, so if its not 11 then its 15, but the headlight dimmer is functioning fine too. I'll go check the main disconnect next then. Thanks for all your input, I really appreciate it!