No brake lights and turn signals

[Lightnin]

The 1970 Ford F100 that I am about to purchase does not have working brake lights and turn signals. One of the tail lights is also out. I called the mechanic who had worked on it in the past and he said there are no major problems with the truck except the brake lights and turn signals going out has been a recurring problem. The guy selling it attributes the problem to a short (probably in the tail light that's out). I can buy the truck "as is" for about $800 or he can get it fixed and sell it to me for $1,200. So, if I buy "as is" what are the chances of a mechanical dope like me figuring out what the problem is and fixing it? Is this going to be something terribly complicated that I'll wind up paying someone $500 to fix? Any insight is greatly appeciated.

[68F250]

Personally I think it's worth $400 of misery trying to figure it out yourself with the help of the forum members here, just don't call us lazy!

[SmokeyBear]

Personally I think it's worth $400 of misery trying to figure it out yourself with the help of the forum members here, just don't call us lazy!

LOL!



























btw I'm too lazy to type a response...


























oops

[Lightnin]

Thank you for the brilliant insight Any idea what might be causing problem?

[qman]

Turn signal switch. It's the culprit on brake lights and signals almost all of the time. The turn signals and brake lights are wired through it. It wears out and gets enough play in it to first be an intermittent problem and then it wll fail. You can test it by disconnecting it's harness from the truck and checking the continuity through it. A new one is $60-70 and will take about an hour to install. Then everything works great. So if a mechanic does it you're looking at about $150 parts and labor, not $400.

[Lightnin]

Thanks, Qman. I'll have to check again but I'm pretty sure the switch was replaced last year. Supposedly, its a recurring problem that after its fixed, happens again. The mechanic who fixed it originally said to send it to someone specializing in electrical work. The guy selling the truck says its probably a short caused by something not being properly grounded but I imagine that could be anything. At any rate, thanks for taking the time to respond and if I can get more information, I'll pass it along. I think I'll probably just have to get my hands durty and go through a number of trial and errors.

[68F250]

The guy selling the truck says its probably a short caused by something not being properly grounded

Well, that doesn't really make any sense unless he's trying to say there's a backfeed problem. Nonetheless, the wiring on these trucks isn't that complicated and I'm sure we can get it all sorted out, don't worry.

[19674x4]

check your fuses, i just had one fuse that did not make contact with the clips and i had no brake lights or blinkers. Also check your turn signal cam.

[mrsnicks]

Don't pay him to do it. Check the basics.. grounds, shorts/brakes in the wires, light/dimmer switch, brake light switch (near the brake pedal under the dash). There is no way I would pay anyone to do that work.. especially that ammount of money.. It's just a matter of tracking down the problem and eliminating it. I mean hell you can buy a complete wiring harness from painless for less than what he was going to charge you.

Patrick

[qman]

If he replaces the turn signal switch and it goes away for a little while and then comes back then there's a chance he's not doing it correctly. There's a small retaining clip that is the last thing you install and it holds the turn signal cancelling cam down tight. That clip is a bear to put back and if it doesn't get put back correctly and the cam is allowed to pop up a small amount, the lights won't work. So what I did was take the small aluminum (I think) pivoting thingy that the turn signal arm screws into, and drilled out the part that the retaining clip clips to and tapped it for a small bolt and washer. Now everything works great. I replaced my switch a year ago and then my front signals stopped working about 6 mos later. It turned out to be that the cam wasn't being held down tight and that was all. The small bolt and washer took care of that.

[Lightnin]

Great - thank you for all of the responses. This site rocks With the wealth of knowlege available on this board, I feel much more confident about buying the truck and fixing the problem myself. I'll let you all know how it goes. The guy is now saying he wants $1,000 for it as is. I understood him to say he'd take $800, so I'll probably wait it out and offer him $800 at the end of the week. Then again . . . "he who hesitates is lost." At any rate - thank you all again for the wealth of information.