Left side tail lights acting up

hey guys so the left side brake lights started acting up turn signals work on both sides when i turn the headlights on both left n right tail lights turn on but when i step on the brake pedal only the right side brights up i unhooked the wires from the brake switch and connected them together to test the lights and only the right side turned on any idea were i can start looking i hate doing electrical work the car is a 64 comet

 

1.Check the brake light itself first, then check the wire back to front to see if its cut or loose at any point.
2.You can jump the two together to check the light housing.
3.All the wires are individual in the system. There is a turn signal wire, brake wire and a turn wire.. Power will go through it only when the brake pedal is pushed. The ground on the light sounds good otherwise it wouldnt work at all. I always check the simplest things as that is usually where it is... I just made a wiring harness for my car and ran the entire thing myslef..What a pain.It all works great...Good luck..

 

If it's a single bulb light and the turn signal works but the brake lights don't I'd say that the left brake light contact in the turn signal switch isn't working right.

There is also the possibility that the left light has a bad ground and the turn/stop side is using the tail light circuit for a ground.

 

When your tail-lights start actin' weird, make sure they're grounded well. Then go from there.

 

I agree. Almost always a ground issue.

 

I had the same problem in a '64 Ranchero, have someone watch your brakelights, step on the brake pedal and while holding the brake pedal down, move the turnsignal lever around. Don't turn the turnsignal on, just move the lever up and down and back and forth with a little force. This sounds kind of lame but that's how we figured out that I had a bad turn signal switch, the rivet that held the ***embly together had loosed up enough that the switch would no longer make contact. We were able to fix the switch in my situation (well that and I was too broke to buy a new one) but you should be able to pickup a new turnsignal switch pretty cheap if it is the problem. Good luck, and be sure to let us know what you find!

 

I would first check the bulb , then clean the contacts on the bulb & the socket , check the ground . If still having problem use a test light to make sure the current is making it back to the bulb .

I am going with a bad ground !

RetroJim

 

Ground

 

#1-bad bulb
#2-bad connection in the socket
#3-broken wire somewhere
#4-switch faulty
Usually the turn and brake use the same bulb filament and wire, unless it's an add-on setup. The fact that both signal and brake don't work on one side seems to point to the one bulb type.
Like the others say, any electrical problems, always check the grounds first. Then check 'em again!

 

Ground wires man check the grounds.

 

dude it The TS switch .... i dealt with the exact same thing ... its the ts . But now i have 40 grounds ! hahah .. took for ever to figure out . but do gound the back lights .

 

I don't think it's the ground guys, he said the turn signal on the bad side works, just not the brake light. 57FORD did you get it figured out yet?

 

I was going to say check grounds,but I think it's been said once,twice,3 times, ok enough times to go check the grounds...........