Brake lights

[Chris Wingardh]

Got all lights working correctly except for the brake lights. Page 463 in the Truck build manual states "The lights DO NOT get wired to the Brake purple wire".

Ok..... so how do i get the brake lights to work?

RF Harness, Steering column turn signal.

TIA

Chris

[65 Cobra Dude]

Did you wire in the tail light adapter? It turns the rear lights from 4 wires to 3. Im assuming you wired in the brake switch at the pedal?

Henry

[Chris Wingardh]

Yes sir, brake switch is in and workin correctly. Yes i followed the instrucions to redo the tail ligt from ..... dont know hom many there was but there are 3 wires now. Not sure what the next step is....

What is the tail light adapter?

[edwardb]

Do you have the Ididit steering column with the hot rod harness connection from the RF harness? And are your rear lights the kit supplied LED's with only two wires and a ground? If so, that's the same as my truck build and they worked. Key points:

- There is no added tail light adapter required. The mixing is done via circuitry in the Ididit column.
- You should have only two wires attached to the rear lights. Running lights and turn signal lights. You don't attach the purple brake light wires. The Ididit circuitry applies both turn signal lights as brake lights.
- You should have the brake light switch wired per the manual at the brake pedal.
- Make sure to follow the instructions in the manual (starting on page 248 in my version) to isolate certain wires in the harness that could potentially interact with the wiring when using the hot rod steering column connection: "Locate the dash harness section of the chassis harness. Cut the horn wire back and tape the end so that it will not ground out and make the horn go off once they are connected. Cut the (pink) hazard wire back and tape the end so that it will not ground out and pop the brake fuse. Cut the yellow and white rear turn signal light wires off the turn signal connectors that are for the dash turn signal switch so that the turn signal lights do not back feed and light the front turn signals when the brakes are pressed."

Mine worked exactly as it should have, including the brake lights. I did have a problem with an intermittent GM turn signal switch in the Ididit column. Which I replaced at their direction and they paid for it. But that didn't affect the overall function and how it should be wired. Hope this helps.

[Chris Wingardh]

Thank you Edward, I will recheck what I have done and maybe missed.

[Chris Wingardh]

Edward,

I have done exactly that. Cut the Left and Right turn wires at the connection by the IDIDIT column. Still no brake lights and it dosent make sense to me, brake switch is wired with orange going to the fuse panel and the purple runn back to the tail lights. The purple wire is NOT connected to anything. So how does the brake pedal acivate the brake lights when the purples NOT connected. There is only feed to the brake/clutch switch and purple going out and not connected.

Confused would be an understatement....

Chris

[edwardb]

Edward,

I have done exactly that. Cut the Left and Right turn wires at the connection by the IDIDIT column. Still no brake lights and it dosent make sense to me, brake switch is wired with orange going to the fuse panel and the purple runn back to the tail lights. The purple wire is NOT connected to anything. So how does the brake pedal acivate the brake lights when the purples NOT connected. There is only feed to the brake/clutch switch and purple going out and not connected.

Confused would be an understatement....

Chris

First I want to make sure you didn't cut the wires at the Hot Rod Column Connection that go into the Ididit column. If you did, reconnect. Every single wire on that connector into the Ididit column is required for the setup to work. Just in case you did cut those wires, the instructions I quoted (directly from the manual) says to locate the turn signal wires in the dash harness. The point is that with the direct connection to the Ididit column for turn signal, hazards, brakes, and horn) via the Hot Rod Column Connection, the wires cited in the instructions aren't needed and if left loose they could inadvertently touch something and cause a problem.

Regarding the purple brake wire, if you look at the wiring harness diagram in the Chassis Wiring Harness installation instructions (it's your friend...) you can see that the purple wire coming off the cold side of the brake light switch does go to the rear lights as you said. But it also has a leg that goes to the Hot Rod Column Connection. That's where the signal comes from to turn on the brake lights when the pedal is pushed. When the brake switch closes, the +12V from the fuse panel via the orange wire to the switch and is sent to the column via the purple wire. It column switches on both left and right turn signal elements in the 2-wire rear lights to act as brake lights. Not to confuse the issue, but if you have the turn signals on and push the brake pedal, one side flashes (the turn) and the other side burns solid (the brakes). It works. It really does.

Paul B. (EdwardB on the forum)

[FF33rod]

Did you wire in the tail light adapter? It turns the rear lights from 4 wires to 3. Im assuming you wired in the brake switch at the pedal?

Henry

Neither the hot rod nor the truck require an adaptor. The use of an Ididit steering column with internal wiring makes these builds different than the roadster and coupe.... Looks like Paul (EdwardB) is working through it with him

Steve

[Chris Wingardh]

Paul, Thank you Thank you. Problem fixed. There was no second leg from the brake light switch to the IDIDIT connector. I installed it and all works as advertised. I dont know if the second leg should have been included in the harness or not. I just snipped the long purple-dead-anyway and conected it this way.

Thanks again, with out you I would have been totaly bald!:rolleyes:

Thanks

Chris

[edwardb]

Paul, Thank you Thank you. Problem fixed. There was no second leg from the brake light switch to the IDIDIT connector. I installed it and all works as advertised. I dont know if the second leg should have been included in the harness or not. I just snipped the long purple-dead-anyway and conected it this way.

Thanks again, with out you I would have been totaly bald!:rolleyes:

Thanks

Chris

Can't explain why the harness was missing that wire. But glad it's working. And lets not bring the hair situation into the discussion. :p

[Chris Wingardh]

No worries... thanks again.

[Jerry Lee]

Can't explain why the harness was missing that wire. But glad it's working. And lets not bring the hair situation into the discussion. :p

The problem I’m having is brake lights and turn signals work as they should however, when I push on the brake pedal my front turn signals light up solid as well as my dash turn signal indicator lights light up solid as well. This has got me so confused. I’m trying to figure out how pushing the brake pedal sends power to my headlight turn signals.

[Lew]

I had a similar problem that turned out to be a short in the turn signal switch.

[edwardb]

The problem I’m having is brake lights and turn signals work as they should however, when I push on the brake pedal my front turn signals light up solid as well as my dash turn signal indicator lights light up solid as well. This has got me so confused. I’m trying to figure out how pushing the brake pedal sends power to my headlight turn signals.

I assume in the last part you mean front turn signals. You're dealing with three completely separate circuits here -- turn signals/hazards, brake, and headlights. Getting an interaction between any of them is most likely a wiring issue of some kind. Could be something you did. Or could be a mis-wired connector from Ron Francis. There have been several reports of that lately. Time to start tracing wires and find out if they are exactly like the wiring diagram in the RF instructions. Look at each connector and make sure the color going in one side matches the color on the other side for every wire. Start with the brake light wires. That's a relatively simple battery circuit with only power to the rear lights switched on through the switch on the brake pedal. Also, are you using the trailer converter? I personally haven't wired one of those yet, but check that too.

[Chris H.]

I had a similar issue and the fix ended up being the section that tells you "Cut the yellow and white rear turn signal light wires off the turn signal connectors that are for the dash
turn signal switch so that the turn signal lights do not back feed and light the front turn signals when the brakes are pressed." pg 249.

[Dgc333]

The problem I’m having is brake lights and turn signals work as they should however, when I push on the brake pedal my front turn signals light up solid as well as my dash turn signal indicator lights light up solid as well. This has got me so confused. I’m trying to figure out how pushing the brake pedal sends power to my headlight turn signals.

The RF harness is wired to use a toggle switch for the directionals. There is section in the manual that directs you to cut a couple of wires loose from the spade connectors in the dash harness. That will fix the issue of the front directionals coming on when you step on the brake.

[DonImbimbo]

Jerry Lee,

Make sure you have your dash directional indicators connected to the "FRONT" directionals and not the REAR. They should be running off the DK GRN and LT BLU wires in the dash harness and the same colors in the main harness.

Also make note of what Lew said (and what I posted today). There has been issues with the ididit hazard switch where it connects the brake signal to the LEFT FRONT directional.

Don