1968 polara front directional lights(running lights) come on when brakes applied

[GOLDMYN]

as title says i know there's probably a short can anyone point me a direction, chg the bulb, no change. back brake lights work, all other lights work

 

[Gerald Morris]

as title says i know there's probably a short can anyone point me a direction, chg the bulb, no change. back brake lights work, all other lights work

Start with some sanity checking on this one. 1.) Does this happen when there is no key in the ignition, like the brake lights themselves will do when you just pump the pedal? 2. Have you tried disconnecting the headlight switch yet? Since the running lights should only be energized through the headlight switch, and since the tail lights are activated at the same time, then I would attend to the white wire leading from your brake light switch to the turn signal switch, AND the Emergency flasher switch. I would look closely for a short circuit in one of these many-wired connectors. The wire is labelled as D4-18W on my '68 Newport, which I think is very similar to your '68 Polara. The turn signal switch itself might also be a short circuit source.

I have a weird short in my left front running light, which I got around by rewiring it to the little corner light in the front bumper. I SHOULD also do the same on the right hand side, and will, once temperatures come down a bit for more comfortable work lying under the front bumper. By connecting the running light to the corner light, instead of the old run off the turn signal stuff, I get my running light on when I have the headlamps on, as well as when one wants ONLY the running lights for fog. Some folks complain about how the front running lights turn off when one switches the headlights on, and I really want everything symmetrical in my lighting, so I should attend to this detail soon.

Why don't you disconnect the top connector on your bulkhead connector, and see if the front running lights then DON'T come on when you press the brake pedal? They shouldn't, and this will be a good place to start.

 

[Big_John]

Possibly ground problem. Run a jumper wire to rear tail light housings and see what happens.

Also could be some sort of weird problem with turn signal switch, but my money is on a ground issue.

 

[Gerald Morris]

Possibly ground problem. Run a jumper wire to rear tail light housings and see what happens.

Also could be some sort of weird problem with turn signal switch, but my money is on a ground issue.

Possibly, but not likely. I have almost the same issue, and have a nice bonding jumper running all the way to my back bumper. I have reason to suspect a short in the damned bulkhead connector, which won't be easily remedied without replacing at least the top tier of it. Disconnecting the left running light from its old feed stopped it, but isn't a proper solution. I DID hack an easy fix for those who like running the running lights with the headlights that way though!

 

[volksworld]

sometimes stuff like this is because somebody crammed a single filament (1156) bulb into a dual filament socket (1157) and the single bottom contact bridges the 2 contacts in the bottom of the socket

 

[GOLDMYN]

thanks everyone.

 

[Gerald Morris]

sometimes stuff like this is because somebody crammed a single filament (1156) bulb into a dual filament socket (1157) and the single bottom contact bridges the 2 contacts in the bottom of the socket

That's possible, but in this instance, I hope it's not so.

 

[Gerald Morris]

thanks everyone.

Good luck! Post us when you find something.