Technical 1963 Buick brake light issues.

Having issues with the brake lights on my '63 Riviera as in I don't have any. Park lights work and drivers side signal. I know the brake lights run through the signal light switch which is some convoluted cable operated deal (tilt column). I have 12 volts going to the brake switch mounted on the master cylinder. I only get about 4 volts coming off it wheN the brakes are pressed. Should I not be getting 12? And if so would that indicate a bad switch? It still doesn't explain the signal light which I think is probably an out of adjustment switch, which could also affect the brake lights but I don't want to be chasing my tail on the brake lights if I have a bad switch. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

Have you tried bypassing the brake switch with a jumper wire?

 

Brake light should be bad at4 volts when applied.

 

Not sure what to bypass. I assume I would have to go straight from the powered side if the switch then try and figure out which wire.on the signal light switch is brakes and jump to there?

Sorry the switch is bad if only producing 4 volts?

 

Just hook the two wires on the switch together, the brake lights should come on.

 

Sorry I did try that (I see I missed putting that in my 1st post) and get a brake light on the driver side only like the signal light so I assume I have an issue with the both switches?

 

Start with a color wiring schematic. Classiccarwiring.com really helps they come in 2 sizes specific to your vehicle and laminated..

 

I find that if the housings have their own ground to the frame it solves most issues with taillights

 

Yup, definitely check for power coming out of the signal light switch with the brake switch jumped before condemning the signal switch

 

I don't know about Rivieras specifically, but it seems like over time GM vehicles of this vintage developed mysterious and random ground issues for exterior lighting. I think this is the direction that @Wanderlust is trying to point you in. Having wiring schematics as mentioned above will help you track down the OEM ground circuits.

 

The signal switch is a known, common problem in these cars. The cable that operates it breaks and causes issues with it not landing on the right contacts for things to work properly so I will not be surprised if it is not working or if not broken not adjusted properly. The one side signal light is a pretty common indication of that issue. Was more trying to verify that I should be getting 12 volts out if the pressure switch when the brakes are applied to see if I had a bad pressure switch as well.

The housings for the taillights are ground to bare metal as I just changed the lights and there is no paint anywhere where I have done the metal work to do that so I would think they are well grounded at the moment but will check.

Just for clarification, as it's an odd setup to me at least, the signal switch is mounted near the base of the column there is then a cable that runs up the inside of the column to the lever that moves the switch at the base of the column. This cable is known to break or not be properly adjusted causing all sorts of issues with taillights. So I may have two things at play here.

 

My '63 Riviera was stored in a damp situation for a long time. I had to do a lot of cleaning and even soldering to fix bad connections and grounds. For example, one back up light wouldn't work because the socket was no longer grounded to the housing (I soldered the socket to the housing). The fuse box itself can also cause a lot of problems. You can pull that out of its holding bracket to get a better look; I had to spend hours cleaning mine up as well as I could and resoldering some connections. Honestly, I should probably install a new fuse box, but everything's been working well for two years now (knock on wood).

Jimmy Six mentioned getting a color wiring schematic; I did that around the time I bought my Riv and it helped a lot.

 

I never rely on the body of a vehicle to be the ground for lights anymore , been bit too many times. First thing I do is clean a spot on the frame and run a 10-12 gauge wire up to the tail lights, clean all sockets and housings and attach ground wire to each housing or socket depending on conditions, I also do the marker lights as well. Next insure the ground strap from battery to frame is clean and tight. These are the best first steps in my opinion when diagnosing problems with lights. Voltage needs a path to ground to work and it can do some really funny things trying to find it’s way, meaning, make sure you aren’t that path

 

Well brake lights seem to have been a combination of the brake light switch and either a bad on not properly adjusted turn signal switch. The brake light switch was definitely not putting out enough voltage but I also had to fiddle with the turn signal switch to put it in the right spot for both the brake lights to activate together.

I will have to investigate further what needs to be done with the turn signal switch. It doesn't sound like they are readily available so hopefully some cleaning and adjustment will do the trick or perhaps the cable has an issue at the lever end but haven't pulled the steering wheel to check that yet as I am trying to get it drivable for a cruise/show tonight.

Thanks for everyone's help. Much appreciated!

 

If you can get the switch apart without destroying it, get a can of DeOxit D5 and give the contacts a good cleaning. Maybe a couple of good cleanings. Also use it to clean the terminals in any of the bulkhead or other wiring connectors when you have them apart.