Tailights always on, even with fuse removed

I don't have any answers other than start tracing the wires to see if wiring is done wrong. That's what I'd do. Then if I can't figure it out I'd take it to a reputable shop.

You got 2 wires on the brakelight switch circuit the pink + Hot .And the white for the brake lights This 69 charger diagram should help you trace the wiring
http://www.1969chargerregistry.com/wiring.html

The white wire from the brake light switch feeds to the turn signal switch.. Please clarify the brake lights come on when the car is cranked... Do you mean while the starter is cranking or anytime the car is running? The starter feed runs along side the turn signal wiring in the column.... I can't think of a more obvious place to start...

The brake (or tail lights) stay on even when both wires from the brake light switch are unpluged.

Well if power is being applied through a different source than unplugging the brake light switch wouldn't matter... Again are the brake lights on all the time, only when cranking the engine, whenever the ignition is in the run position.... More info would paint a better picture & help us help you........

Then the white wire needs to be investigated for being messed with.
Or the Turn signal switch has a issue somewhere

You could unplug TS switch from main harness.And supply power to the white wire and check brake light action

I can't tell if its the brake light or running lights by brighness. Sorry I wan't clear in orginal post here is a better rundown:

With all fuses in:
Their is a drain when car is cut off
With ignition on or engine running the tail or brake lights are always on (they don't get brighter when you depress the brake but can tell if it is brake or running lights)

With fuse marked "tail"/"stopr"(?) pulled:
All of above except no drain on battery

The white wire is wraped tightly in electrical tape after it leaves altenator and after it leaves brake light switch.

Their are 4 wires to rear lights. It looks like dark green and dark blue go to driver side and a black and dark brown to passenger side. The black wire is cut. Their appears to be a black wire running from the center bulb of each light panel.

Both turn signals work, the rear lights are always on but they flash darker.

Thanks everyone for the comments so far.

brake lights on all the time...

man I hate electrical gremlins!!

you have 1 of 2 problems somewhere. the hard part is always finding out WHAT, and WHERE!

either A--you are getting power from somewhere into the wires that feed the brake lights or turn signals. could be a short, or wires hooked up backwards/incorrectly. or B--you're getting backfeed, where positive electrical current seeks out the shortest ground, even if that means going "backwards" up the ground and into the lightbulbs.

I had a problem one time where a crusty light bulb socket created a bad ground, and my parking lights were actually grounding up through the turn signal switch in the dash, which also lit up my turn signal indicators. talk about weird...turn the headlights on and both turn signal indicators would light up solid.

you might have something like that going on as well, so also check for bad grounds all over.

The turn signals & the brake light use the same filament of the bulb so the fact you still see the turn signals flash points to the tail lights being the issue.....

The tail light wires are the black ones... If they are getting power the license plate light & the front parking lights should be lit too....

Knowing which circuit will eliminate chasing the wrong problem....

Ive done many gremlin mopar wiring issues cars

What about the rear lighting harness connection behind leftside plastic kick panel.Ive unplugged there and ran power into the rear harness lighting terminals and check all the functions and eliminated the rear harness when troubleshooting .The bulbs and the sockets should be checked aswell as the grounds

Just get a diagram and check one wire at a time .Dont power the dark blue wire which is the gas gauge.Ground the harness and power the selected wires and check the functions Ive seen where wires have rubbed through and shorted out inside the bulb socket

Its not hard get a diagram + 12 volt testlght testlight And ask as many questions you need to resolve

This is most likely a bad turn signal switch, faulted in the middle position to supply power to rear lights when it shouldn't.

Unplugging the T/S switch from main harness.And testing that connection .Or plugging in another switch.Would prove the bad switch theory

I unpluged the turn signal switch and the tail lights were still on. Should that happen? Advance and Autozone do not list this part on website.

You need to ask yourself, "can this happen?" The turn signal switch normally should NOT have anything to do with tail lamps, only stop/ turn. Why would it be the brake light switch? You say the lamps are only on when the car is "cranked."

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??

"cranked?"

Do you mean when you are cranking the engine on the starter?

Do you mean when the ignition switch is in "run?"

Do you mean only when the engine is running?



I think you have multiple problems. You mentioned a former problem where "something got hot." All these cars use inexpensive thermoplastic insulation, which, when involved with a short/ heating, can melt insulation off of adjoining wires back into the harness(s.)

Have you got the service manual? There are a couple you can download. You can get "useable" diagrams over at "My Mopar"

Take about a week and tear down the car. Take out the back seat, remove the sill plate and kick panel(s) glove box and cluster. I always used to drop the steering column into the seat.

Rig the battery so you can disconnect it easily, and get yourself a 12V lamp and a decent meter if you don't have one.

Check along the way to see if your "draw" goes away. One way to protect the car from damage is to "rig" a BIG lamp in series with the battery ground, so you can see the draw, and if you short something, it won't matter--it will just light the lamp.

Depending on what I'm doing, sometimes I use a 12V test lamp, sometimes I WANT more draw in the lamp. Sometimes I take a junk tail/ stop socket with both wires twisted together, clamp a wire to the socket, and use that. Both filaments together draw more. SOMETIMES I use an old headlamp

Check along the way to see if your draw went away

Remove ALL tail/ stop/ marker/ park lamps and examine the bulbs and sockets As to the bulbs you might even check them on a battery, one at a time, to see that they light properly. IT IS POSSIBLE for a stop/ turn bulb to become welded together internally SO THAT both filaments are connected together.

Look at your shop manual and identify "main" connections, and separate them to see if the problem goes away.

In your case, BECAUSE you seem to have had previous troubles, I would even go so far as to:

Pull loose all the sections of the bulkhead connector, to isolate the engine bay. Identify the pin in the bulkhead that is the "battery feed" that is the one going into the bulkhead from the starter relay/ battery. Rig a temp connection (clip lead) so you can feed power INTO the car interior without having ANY of the rest of the engine bay connected.

STOP THERE and see if the problem still occurs, both the lamp problem and the "draw" problem.

If not, start unhooking major connections--the kick panel connection to the rear harness was mentioned.

If none of this gets anywhere, I would pull out (at least part of) the dash harness and untape it in the major sections

feeding the ignition switch, the ammeter

the headlight switch, the turn signal switch

and of course down to the brake light switch.

You are looking for "melt" damage. Sometimes you can see this before you untape the harness.

Remove and inspect the fuse box, too.

I had cars no brakelights at all.And replaced the TS switch brake lights worked afterwards .All those related wires go back into T/S switch And incase you get only onside of the brakelights .Check the position of the T/S lever

Do you have the factory radio? If not unpug the aftermarket and see what happens.

You may have another problem somewhere. I still would disconnect and evaluate the rear light harness for tampering.A reason for dim lights you describe . Could be bad ground .Or your only getting parking or running lights the low side of the 1157 bulb.The brighter side of the 1157 bulb is turn signals emergency flasher and brake lights

This is not a "bad ground problem." I'd bet money on meltage in the harness

Thats probably the case .When harness tape is slit open the wire you find with the least plastic coating remaining got the hottest .Thats the one that started things off

Any updates Found the cause yet? .Its most likely as mentioned above in the main harness power distribution.Which requires some labor to remove it.Its less labor to go through the rear harness evaluation bulbs socket conditions grounds.And finish up with main or underhood wiring corrections.As Ive seen rear wiring harness get screws into wiring under rocker sill plate damages from carpet installed .Chaffed or tapped into. Stay with it keep us informed