Brake lights wont shut off...

...And tail lights wont come on.

74 Challenger. I put a new switch in for the brakes because the car sat in a flood following a hurricane in '97 while the car was in North Carolina. Fresh water flooding, However, due to rain. No saltwater as far as I can tell, but switch was visibly corroded due to moisture inside. "New" one is several years old now, but I'm fairly sure, dry. Car has been in Nebraska since '05. It was working for a few minutes last night, but as we were wrapping up for the night, I notice they were still on. How do they work? Normally un-grounded until brake is pushed? Or???

I (or I should say, Grandson ) tried un-hooking one wire, then the other, then both. Lights still on. They flicker when turn signal is moved but they don't work either. Assuming bad flasher(?)

As for the taillights, aren't they on a fuse?? I didn't see any bad ones but didn't see one marked as taillights. Headlights do work.
Ideas? Thanks,

Scott

Flasher wont affect them except maybe the 4 way but then frts would be on also.Sounds like turn signal switch.Flood cars are a pain.Rocky

Sounds like a bad turn signal switch. Brake lights go through the TS switch to split the power to each side. If you brake light switch is disconnected and the brake lights are still on then the turn signal switch is feeding that circuit meaning the switch is shorted out. Also try working the emergency lights switch.

Like I said if emergengy flashers the frts should be on also as they are connected thru that wiring.Either the TS switch or flood damage.Rocky

Hello Scott. I'm always glad to help my Omaha brother! Tailights (small filament(s) in the 1157 bulbs) originate in the HL switch (1 wire) then go down to the connector behind the DR kick panel & from there rearward. Go in there & jump 12V to that connector to see if the open is upstream or downstream. brake lights originate in the fuse box then to the brake light switch via a pink wire (think hot pink) then the white wire from the brake light switch goes to the TS harness (I'm rusty on how the E flasher is wired). But with the TS stalk in neutral there should be continuity between the white wire & 2 respective (out) wires to the rear pass/dr brake lights (large filaments in the 1157 bulb(s). www.mymopar.com will have wireing diagrams for you. EDIT taillights go from the HL switch to the fuse box then to the kick panel

Thanks Robert, others! going to print this page!

Well I went ahead and put a new signal switch in and I now have working turn signals. Taillights also seem to be working. However, I still have brake lights on all the time. I disconnected the wire from the brake light switch that powers the lights through the turn signal switch and both, 4-way and turn signal flashers as well as the horn relay thinking if any of them were bad they might be shorting power to the lights.
No joy! Brake lights still on. What the hell is powering these lights?? I've disconnected any possible source! Haven't I?

this might be easier to do: start pulling fuses one at a time & see if that shuts em off.

Check the brake light switch. Had this happen to me years ago with brake lights staying on.
If you have the push-in style brake light switch, the switch plunger could be loose and not retracting back because the weight of the brake bracket is resting on it causing the switch to keep activating the lights.
I fixed this by using a heavy duty switch that is adjustable. When the switch is installed it can be screwed in and out in the mounting bracket bringing the switch closer or further away from the from the brake bracket. In my case, I rotated out the switch making it further away from the bracket which solved the problem.

I am with rapid on this one. If you've pulled the wire off the brake light switch that feeds the brakes power, then somewhere in the wiring, another circuit that's hot all the time (assuming brake lights are on without the key in the "on" position), then some other circuit is giving it power.... an "always hot" circuit. That narrows it down some.

Step #2, pull "always hot" fuses like Rapid suggests which narrows it down more.

Step #3 maybe take a look at the big (6-prong?) plug, behind the driver's kick panel, that leads back to the tail lights. If you unplug it & the brake lights go out, then it has to be one of those circuits crossed. While unplugged, check to see which one(s) is hot and you're narrowed it down even further......one of those hot wires must be crossed with the brake light somewhere.

I don't like to be that guy but you may have gotten a bad new turn signal switch. I try and hook up things like that for a test before final installation because you just never know.

Yes the brake lights are always operational even with the key off. On the TS switch/harness, with the stalk in neutral at the column half of the pull apart harness there should be continuity from the "in" wire from the white wire in the other half of the harness coming downstream from the brake light switch to the (2) "out" wires in the harness to the pass & drivers rear brake light(s), large filaments. Grab your meter & ALWAYS a good idea to pull a batt cable BEFORE switching the meter to "ohms"

1. If you've pulled the white wire from your brake pedal switch, there's no way in hell you are looking at power coming from the brake circuit. You are seeing a steady blinker/flasher circuit signal.
2. Now that you've pulled your blinker and flasher cans and your brake pedal wire, what happens when you throw your blinker switch?
3. You said your blinkers were working. Just in front? or are the bright filaments in the rear actually going on and off?

Try lifting the brake pedal may just have to adjust the switch

He said the brake light switch is disconnected so lifting the pedal will do nothing. It helps to read the posts.

Sorry that's my first mistake today!!!

I thought about this but I've disconnected the switch

I had this very thought

Front valance is off right now so no front TS. Will check for signals

You should plug in the front sockets and ground them to frame or body so you can tell what's going on. With them not there it may be messing with the ground and causing feedback somehow. I have seen bad grounds on the front lights do very strange things.

Seems to be a flasher issue. with them disconnected, rake lights gone. The taillights appear to be working normal too. Update to come upon installation of new flasher(s)

Since the flashers have no power till it is applied, hazard button or turn signal, I am skeptical. Sounds like you got the hazard flasher out but hte question is, where and why is it getting power?

Well it seems I was mistaken about lights being still on. I was mistaking taillights for brakes after I took the flashers out, In my frustration, I was jumping to conclusions and had inadvertently left the taillights on.
Anyway, I have tail and brake lights. And since the turn signals were working, I can only conclude the 4 way flasher was the culprit.

Update upon installing new 4 way flasher