67 bus brake lights out

[gravee]

Hey there. My brake lights stopped working recently and I am a little stumped. Rear turn signals work fine. Test light on MC glows with the brake pedal down. When I test light the electric wires coming from the MC in the engine side no light when brakes depressed. Is there a fuse in line? I guess the wire could be bad but seems unlikely. Added a wire harness 10 years back. Kind of new all things considered. I put in a new to me OEM headlight switch a couple months ago. All worked well. Had high and low beams again. That was nice. Now the switch does go back to low beams. But at least the switch works for my high beams. Not sure it is related but wonder?

Would love to hear some troubleshooting thoughts.

Matt
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1967 Westy

[BarryL]

Both prongs on the master switch only glow? The hot side should be full force. If it is then jumper the switch prongs and see what happens in the back.

What year bus wiring?

[gravee]

67 wiring. Thanks will try that later
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1967 Westy

[BarryL]

[gravee]

I have power at fuse 2

Under bus, key on, nothing to brake switches (think this is normal)

Brake depressed power to both brake switches and all four total prongs light up.
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1967 Westy

[telford dorr]

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'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[johny__utah]

Check the connector behind your light switch. #58
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1956 L31
1961 L346 L347
1963 L380 L289

[srfndoc]

I had to run a secondary ground as the tail lights were not grounding to the body very well. That fixed all of my issues.

I ran an extra pigtail to the ground tab on the back up lights but there are many ways to do it:

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RPM=(MPH*336* (R&P*4th*1.26))/Tire Diameter in inches

[gravee]

In the diagram is F or J the light switch? I am not seeing a 58 on a switch.

Was I incorrect that if the wires that come off the MC switches that heads to the rear of the bus are hot when the pedal is pushed then the wires that attach to the brake lights should be hot unless there is a break in the circuit in between?

What happens between the switches and the brake lights? It looks like the run through "J" then the turn signal switches before it heads backwards.

If the switches work, then I check 54 on "J" and then go to 54 on "G" turn signal switch. I need to pen that up to test?
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1967 Westy

[gravee]

Also, correct that if I took a test light to the wires coming back to the brake lights and someone depressed the pedal that would rule out a grounding issue if there was no light? (Assuming I ground the test light well
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1967 Westy

[Erik G]

[johny__utah]

I believe this is the wrong wiring diagram.
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1956 L31
1961 L346 L347
1963 L380 L289

[BarryL]

[gravee]

Thank you all so much. This is so helpful.

To be sure, All tests should be done with pedal pressed, right?

Is "J" the big relay box on the floor behind the kick board? Will test 54, but assume If 54F is hot then both work?

I haven't looked, but I don't remember screws on the turn signal box to access the wires to test. Maybe on the bottom?

Are those inline fuses coming out of the turn signal switch heading back to the brake lights? "T1"

The turn signal switch that clicks high/low beams did not switch forever. It was always on high beams (sadly,no one could even tell with these old lights or where they point) I recently replaced my head light switch with an old one that worked. This fixed the high/low switching things- that was unexpected and fun. Now they are not switching again after a couple months. Looking at the wire diagram, the headlight switch has no relation to the turn signal switch other than sending power to D which works, so issue in the turn signal switch.

Thanks for all the help
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1967 Westy

[BarryL]

[gravee]

Wow. Woke up early. Taped brake wires together. Key on. Nothing. Cleaned up contacts while I was at it.

Tested 54 and 54f. Both lit up with brake wires taped and key on. Good. Looked around for anything loose. Nothing but felt good to check

Went to test turn signal gizmo. Screws stripped to disassemble. Doh. I unscrewed a screw that was slightly loose that stops the whole turn signal assembly from moving and twisting when used. Tightened back up. Feeling deflated for not knowing how to test turn signal assembly without taking it apart. Don't have a replacement either

Tested brake lights once more and THEY WORKED.


Hmmm. Was it tightening the screw on turn signal assembly that held it to column? Maybe a ground there. Wiggling and tightening wires on fuze box and 9 pin box? All very odd.

At least I can drive it today.

My turn signal assembly is OG or at least 27 years old and before I owned the bus but has little Phillips screws that were stripped. Any ideas on how to get those out short of drilling? Replacement screws there might be hard to find.

Anyways. I will call this a minor victory for all of us for now. Thanks so much.
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1967 Westy

[telford dorr]

Sounds like flaky wires at turn switch. Disassemble and check with test light. Re-solder as needed. If you have an OG turn switch, clean it up and repair it. The new [large east asian country] switches aren't worth crap.

Turn switch screws are M4-0.7, 12mm long, filster head.
_________________
'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[gravee]

Thanks Telford. Any thoughts on how to get the pretty stripped screws out of the turn signal switch?
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1967 Westy

[BarryL]

Glad your brake lights work. Sorry for the stripped screws.

I was going to say next time I came on was that you should take the plastic end handle of a medium screw driver and tap on the 9-pin box as well as the turn switch first. A lot of time it works for a while.

The little screws stripped because you have to remove both of the screws that hold the turn switch to the column. Then remove the little screws. If your turn signals and brake lights are working now you can just leave the stripped screws alone and see how it goes.

[telford dorr]