brake light not working?

[tubzz]

on the wifes 97.the right brake light quit working.i put in a new bulb still don't work.i looked at the wires behind the bumper and found one thats is broke.but it is broke at the grey plug.how would i fix this?i thought about cutting the wire off the back of the other plug and wiring it up with out the plug.would this work?
the tail light and blinker works just no brake light.and i'm still not forsure if this is the why its not working.

 

[95_stroker]

Oh boy, thats a bad place for a broken wire. Can you take the plug apart or is it a molded plug?

 

[Crumm]

Strange that the turn signal works and the brake light does not. They run on the same circuit. I would start by getting out a test light and checking to see just what the broken wire is for. I am unclear as to which plug you are talking about but sometimes on a plug there is one wire in and several out on the same pin so before you start wiring around the plug be sure to test and see just what you are working with. If possible it would probably be best to get a replacement plug from Ford.

 

[tubzz]

i have been out lookig at it here is some pic's of the plugthe left one and the green wire on the left is the one broken.i found it strange that the blinker works and just the brake light didn't.
i will have to take off her big red neck bumper to reach it with both arms.(i have limited reach with my left arm)

thank-you to who ever moved this thread.i wasn't forsure where it went because this has nothing to do with the Engine,Drivetrain & Chassis.( been on the dark side to long)

 

[Crumm]

Have you got out a test light and checked to see if indeed that green wire is the brake light wire? I have never tore into the tail light wiring on a newer truck but on older ones(pre 79)there is three wires to each taillight. One for tail, one for ground and one for turn/brake. The turn and brake circuit usually tie together up under the dash or in the engine compartment. When you get a brake light or turn signal but not the other it is usually a bad turn signal switch(on the older rigs). If that green wire is the brake light wire then on these newer trucks they must be running separate brake and turn signal wires to the back and then using diodes or something to keep the juice from back feeding to the other side. It will be interesting to see just how they did it so get out a test light and see what that green wire is...

 

[W4RLR]

You may have a point.

There may be a diode in the connector that would prevent a backfeed. If the truck were an export model which required separate turn and brake lights, the only difference in the harness might be in the connector. Pure speculation on my part though. I know that U.S. spec cars and trucks with red only taillights needed modification in certain European countries to provide separate amber turn signals per their national standards. It usually meant rewiring the backup lights to serve as turn signals with amber bulbs, and attaching a single back-up lamp under the bumper. (the UK being the most sticky)

 

[tubzz]

you won't beleive this,she came home tonight and that dam light was working.
but if you wigle the blinker lever it go's off.everything works on the lever(drimmer,brights,wiper's and washer)
how does the blinker lever work inside the colum?

still haven't got her to park it long anough to put the test light on that broken wire yet.

 

[Crumm]

Bad turn signal switch it is. I didn't think that green wire was for the brake light.