Stoplight Switch wiring; other disconnected wire problem

[Sequim Steve]

Hello. First time poster and very inexperienced working on cars.

Problem 1: I've had a brake light problem for a couple of weeks. All other lights work. I've installed a new stoplight switch, which did not solve the problem, followed and checked and re-checked wires for breaks, etc., and found nothing--until today. (see pics 009 and 010).

brake switch2 009.jpg

brake switch2 010.jpg

I don't know what this black item is called, nor what to do with it once I find a replacement. I'm assuming there isn't enough visible wire to work with at the top of the piece. Can anyone tell me what it is called, and what I need to do to restore power to the stoplight switch? Again, I'm relatively new to automotive repair.

Problem 2: When I was tracing wires for problem 1, I was removing fuses to inspect them, when I noticed this dangling wire. The bare wire was curved, as if it were wrapped around a fuse. If so, it was probably wrapped around the fuse on the lower left, which is not in its slot in the picture. (see 004).

brake switch2 004.jpg

But I am not sure where it was, however. I only noticed the wire after removing the lower left fuse, which controls the cigar lighter and dome light. But I didn't spot it immediately after removing the fuse. About 20 minutes later, when I returned to the truck, I spotted it dangling near the fusebox.

One of the two wires is fastened to the bottom of the fusebox. The paired wire(s) lead to the rear of the truck, underneath the bench. All lights on the camper and in the rear work. The reserve tank guage works. I don't know what other electrical components there are with respect to the reserve tank.

Any comments or help would be greatly appreciated.

[fordman]

the stop light switch plug with the broken red wire can probably be fixed by removign the metal tang otu of the black plastic plug. to do that you need a very small screwdriver or pick to depress the tang that is wedging the metal plug into the plastic plug. once the metal plug tang is out where you can work on it. you can either find a replacement. kind of hard to get an exact one. you can do two other things. one you cna put a regular spade plug on both red wires and plug thm into the brake light switch. or take apart the old metal spade plug and put the red wire back into it and mash it back shut. and then put it back in the black plastic plug.

the inline fuse hanging down by the fuse box is probably to and old radio or amp that soemone put under the seat. follow the wires. they probably arent hooked to anythign anyway. so you may be able to just remove them entirely.

[Sequim Steve]

When you say "tang", are you referring to the prong that is inside the black plug? Can it be easily removed from the plastic plug and then put back in securely? When I inspected the plastic harnesses, I could not see any way to take them apart without destroying them or the wires or both. I was hoping that there was some way to extend the broken red wire at both ends and then twist (solder?) them together. Either that or purchase the plastic harnesses and plugs, and attach the wires.
Sorry. I'm new to all this. I had to do a google image search to see what a "spade plug" looked like.

If I hadn't already spent thousands of dollars on this truck at the mechanic's garage in the last couple of years, I'd bring it there. It 's no longer an option, unfortunately. Three weeks ago I replaced the heater core myself. I'm persistent if not knowledgeable.

[fordman]

it is hard to see the release tang on the metal spade inside of the black plug. it is down in there a little bit. i did it to a harness where i replaced the entire wire from the fuse box all the way to that plug. the fuse box end was bad. i took it from another harness and put it in the good harness. edit: here is a picture of the one i took out. you can see the tang on the spade connector.