is there a way to test a used TSS without complete install?

[kilog55]

im pretty sure i have another TSS laying around is there a way to test it fully without removing and installing them?? it would save alot of time and frustration

[fordman]

i guess you could try plugging it into your harness and see what happens.

[kilog55]

does the switch itself need to be grounded??

[Thunderfoot]

No the switch doesn't need to be grounded to work... If you have an Ohm meter you can check that the switch makes connection with the appropriate wires in each position...

[kilog55]

i have a digital multi meter

[kilog55]

the TSS i have is for a dentside with column mounted emergency flasher so that one wont work, nothing like tearing into a steering column on both vehicles to find nothing

[kilog55]

ok i have power going to the TSS for the brake lights.....but i broke my switch so ill have to get another one.

but i also have no power in the brake light wire under the bed, everything else works. if i run a jumper from the parking light wire to the brake light wire they light up, and if the turnsignal is on it works fine so i need to run new wires from the front to the rear. sounds like fun...

[Thunderfoot]

Unless I read what you said wrong...
There is not a separate wire under the bed for the brake lights, it runs in the same wires (2) as the turn signals... If your back turn signals work then your wiring is ok and the problem has got to be in the TSS or this power wire in the column, as you said you have power going into the TSS from the Brake Switch.

[fordman]

yes i say the same. if no power is coming out of the turn signal switch then the switch is dead. it can go in. but it also has to come out via the turn signal wires. since they are the same circut or element in the bulb.

[kilog55]

pretty sure i have 5 wires in the sleeve going to the rear and 6 IIRC going to the lights, when i run a jumper from the parking light wires brown i think??.....to the green wires my brake lights glow bright. with the brake switch "open" i have no power coming to the rear.


PO really hacked up the wiring at the plugs in the rear for a trailer harness so i tried to wire everything back using the wiring schematics on here. not sure if i did it right though cause the factory connectors were so brittle they came apart.

if i hook my meter up to the 2 black wires on the chassis end of the TSS harness i get power with the switch disconnected if i depress the brake switch i get 0 volts, with the switch connected i get power at the TSS at the top of the column so i assumed all that was working correctly. but i do have alot of crimp inline connectors under the dash.

last resort is a complete chassis rewire which is starting to sound more like an option :/

[fordman]

yes brown is tail lights the brake/turn signal wire colors are yellow and green. then ther should also be white wire as ground. if the switch is open. as if the pedal was depressed and no power. then the brake light switch is bad.

[kilog55]

i only show voltage at the switch when the switch itself is pressed in/brakes off, if i apply the brakes i get no voltage on both of the switches i tried, one new one old.

ill have to take a look at the wires out back again kinda hard to tell what color they are but i know all the colors are matched to its corresponding color.

[fordman]

the brake light switch is what i call a pass through switch. when the brakes are off. the switch has one wire with power going to it. when the brakes are on the power is sent through the switch to the other wire.

[kilog55]

ill have to check it all again tomorrow IIRC i only have power when the switch is closed/not brakes applied. wiring is not my thing

[70_F100]

When the brakes are not applied, the switch would be considered to be in the "open" position.

When the plunger is released, the switch goes to the "closed" position.

Think of it like an "open" circuit, which would mean that the circuit is broken, and a "closed" circuit would be a "completed" circuit.