Re: Brake Wire Issue

Posted by HH56 On 2019/6/16 10:18:37

Power for the reverse light would probably have come from the same aux circuit breaker as the brake lights on a 48 and that may have been what that extra wire with fuse was for. If it was the original power wire for the brake lights that had the fuse and short wire spliced on then going a short distance to the reverse light switch at the bottom of the steering column would make sense. Instead of running the reverse light power wire all the way back to the CB they may have spliced on to the brake wire instead. If the car has the dual function 4 terminal OD safety and reverse switch, do you have two wires on the pair of terminals most distant from the plunger? If the earlier reverse switch was used then just two terminals and two wires.

In the trunk look carefully around the left tail light for the tank and license wires. The body loom comes down the left side to the tail light area and ends in several inline connectors. In a stock car there should be some 3 or 4 position connectors for the stop and tail lights and some singles. The wires for the license light and gas tank should exit thru rubber grommets at the back of the trunk pan and I believe fairly near the area of corner of trunk lid and L tail light. The gas sender may be rusted which is a common problem so the wire or a poor ground is not the only reason the gauge might not be working.

Assuming no fuel issues, verify you have voltage at the coil. On one coil terminal should be 6v any time the key is on and on the terminal going to the distributor should be 6v if the points are open and near 0v if the points are closed. Start cranking the engine and check both voltages again. If the constant 6v terminal voltage drops down and is closer to 5v when the starter is cranking then either the starter motor is pulling excess current or a dirty connection or too small battery or cables could be dropping the voltage to the coil and the spark is too weak to do much. The terminal going to the distributor should have significant movement as the points open and close. If it never changes or only has a minimal change there is a problem at the dist or wire connecting. If voltages are OK it might be a good idea to pull the plugs and check condition. Sometimes lots of cranking without starting will foul the plugs so badly they just cannot emit a decent spark.