Tail light stays on

[oldforder]

I recently bought a 29 A Tudor. All the lights worked except the tail light. Figured it was just the bulb. When I took the lens off, I found the bulb for the taillight just laying in there. Put it in, and it burned all the time, no matter where the switch was positioned. Then suddenly it started working ok. Took the car out for a drive today, and when I got home, the taillight was on again. couldn't get it to go off, so took the bulb out again. I suspect the switch, but don't know how to go about repairing it.

[Dave in Petaluma]

Are you sure it's not the brake light bulb that stays lit? A common problem with A's.

[Marshall V. Daut]

I agree with "Dave in Petaluma". A friend's car I just worked on had the taillight and brake light wiring switched so that when you hit brakes, the taillight came on, not the brake light. When the lights were turned on, the brake light bulb illuminated = bass akwards. The pedal also did not return all the way to the top consistently, so the "taillight" was on quite a bit until I switched the wiring to the way it should be and cleaned/lubed the brake light switch plunger rod. I also added an auxiliary brake pedal return spring. That solved the problem.
In your case, a '28-29 brake light switch has some adjustment that a '30-31 switch doesn't. Loosen the two switch mounting bolts on top of the shifter tower and slide the switch forward as much as the oblong holes will allow. This will give the brake pedal a little extra travel distance to shut off the switch. Also ensure that the brake pedal is returning all the way back to the top. When you notice the taillight (brake light until you switch wires) is still on, pull the pedal back all the way and either look at your ammeter's discharge below "0" or physically go around to the back of the car and see if the light is still on. If so, adjust the switch and fix the pedal so it will return to the top on its own.
Marshall

[1931 flamingo]

WELCOME to the Barn ! !

Do yyou have any repair manuals. There's the "Red" Book (vol 1) a must have for the newbie. Geez for the life of me I can't remember the author. It's available on Amazon, the national clubs and any part vendor.

Someone else will chime in with the author and more info.
Most likely the switch (accessable if you remove the floor boards) is out of adj.
Paul in CT Where are you located??

[Patrick L.]

Have you tried to check it with a test light ?

Which filament is being lit ?

How many rear lights do you have ? The left side or both sides ?

Like the others have mentioned, its kinda common to have a stuck brake light switch.

[Licensed to kill]

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I don't know what you meant by "no matter where the switch was positioned" but, if the brake rods are adjusted properly, the plunger that pushes on the brake light switch should be almost touching the cross member (1/16") or just touching. If you have more than 1/16" clearance your brake rods need adjusting. If you are not sure which light is lit, you can take a wire off of the brake light switch and see if it goes out. If it does go out and your rods are adjusted as above, the switch is fubar. If it does not go out, it's a tail light issue and.................idunno

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

I put a 12 X 12 mirror tile on my garage door, so I can know the lights are OFF!
Bill Lookinggood

[Fred K-OR]

Welcome to the Barn. You will find many ideas on this site.

Like mentioned above, it could be your stop light rather than your tail light. When the light is on, you may want to try moving your brake peddle around, back and forth and see if the light goes out. If it does, then if could be your bake light switch that is either bad or out of adjustment. It is located next to your tranny under your floor boards.

[heneste]

A lot of the time the brake pedal can drop and keep the brake light on. As Fred mentions, it may just be the position of the brake pedal that is setting off the switch. If so, Snyders and the rest do sell a return spring that will help keep the pedal up while you're not pressing the brakes. If you're by yourself, you can always temporarily jam something under the pedal to see if the brake light is on.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Stop light switches can be a PAIN!
Some Guys use an old Chev, lever type switch & just screw it under the floorboard & the brake pedal works it.
Bill Quick

[oldforder]

IT is NOT the brake light. I know which bulb is which. The brake light works properly, and sometimes the taillight works properly also, but mostly the TAIL light wants to stay on when the lights are off. I guess if nothing else, I will put a switch in the wire back by the taillight, and just turn it on the rare time I wish to drive at night. It only has one light on the left side.

[SeaSlugs]

that light is only powered thru the light switch thats probably full of oil and brass particles shorting it on. pop it loose and clean it out along with the backside where the connectors are. it should only be on in every headlight and parking light position and off in off position. id focus down there and or try rocking the ligt swich left and right in the off position and see what it does. contact rivets could be loose as well so check for tightness when cleaning.

[denniskliesen]

Sounds like your light switch is in a position that it is shorting to a power terminal. You said you have a 29 Tudor. The early 29's had a switch that had 4 prongs that made contact to the terminal ring where you light wires are. You might look to see what your harness has on the ring. Pop the bail off the end of the switch housing and separate the cover from the switch. If the terminals are in clusters of 3 and you have a 4 prong switch then that could be your problem. What could have happened is the harness got changed to a later style and the switch remained for early style. It would be a good idea to install a battery disconnect switch and turn it off when not driving your car.

... well SeaSlugs posted just before me...

[1931 flamingo]

The books are mentioned are by Les Andrews. They are must haves.
Paul in CT

[oldforder]

Well, I took the switch all apart and cleaned and looked it over. Even with it all apart, the tail light stayed on. Wiggled and tried to see some wires touching, and still on. Put it all back together, and worked properly for a couple of on and offs, then stayed on continuous again. Unhooked the battery for now. Looks like I may have to settle for my switch by the taillight idea.

[Patrick L.]

The problem can't be hard to find. Just print out a wiring diagram and go to work with the test light.

Kinda sounds like an extra wire to 2 has been stuck in somewhere thru out the years.

[tinkirk]

Originally Posted by oldforder

Well, I took the switch all apart and cleaned and looked it over. Even with it all apart, the tail light stayed on. Wiggled and tried to see some wires touching, and still on. Put it all back together, and worked properly for a couple of on and offs, then stayed on continuous again. Unhooked the battery for now. Looks like I may have to settle for my switch by the taillight idea.

take the light switch apart on the bottom of the steering box and clean it
reinstall and see what happens, strange that only one is on unless you only have one.
good luck
Tinkirk/Terry

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

My arm brushed the light switch as I pulled out in front of a COP. Everything was working, EXCEPT the tail lights. Moved the switch proper & everything was OK!
Bill Noticket

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by oldforder

Well, I took the switch all apart and cleaned and looked it over. Even with it all apart, the tail light stayed on. Wiggled and tried to see some wires touching, and still on. Put it all back together, and worked properly for a couple of on and offs, then stayed on continuous again. Unhooked the battery for now. Looks like I may have to settle for my switch by the taillight idea.

gotta have something shorting to something else...start following wires from the taillight back. Is this a ford blueprint wiring harness or someones homemade mess? I'm going to guess you dont have any remnants from a turn signal switch?

and your absolutely sure nothing on the backside of the switch (push bundle of wire thru to pop the lower cover off and expose the terminal side of the light switch) is touching??? taillight gets power directly from one of those terminals - thats it. Unless your wire bundle has rubbed miraculously thru to an always hot wire I dont know what else to check.

putting a switch in is a fire waiting to happen and a very poor repair. you wouldn't put a random switch in for your modern car right? FYI if you get rear-ended and the person that hit you can prove (dash cams are $30 and gaining popularity) your only single light you have on the entire rear of your car was not working when it should have been YOU are 100% at fault.

[Licensed to kill]

What I find odd is that these cars don't have a park lights switch position which would power the tail light and not the headlights. If the tail light is on, whatever is causing it SHOULD also be feeding power to the headlights should it not? I haven't gone through the wiring on one but it seems to me that the headlights and tail light should be on the same circuit so if one is getting power, the other should regardless of whether the power is intentional or not. Yes...No???