[mrdreex]

Ok, so I got my Nova running. I have most of the electricals figured out, but I figured I may see if anyone else has had this problem before. Every time I push my brake pedal down (as in to stop), ALL my lights come on, and when I let go of the brakes, all of them turn off. The best way I can explain it is if you turned your hazards on, and those lights coming on, minus the blinking. My hazard switch in my dash is a bit iffy, and will most likely need to be replaced, as it doesn't seem to be switching anything...really hard to tell. It is kind of just 'hanging' on the dash, and if I push it in hard enough with the brake pedal being depressed, the blinker 'indicator' lights turn off in the dash, and as far as I can tell, the associated lights in the front turn off as well. If I try to use a turn signal switch when the hazard switch is in that position, it STILL won't give me a blink... I also checked both flashers (one in the fuse box for the hazards, and the one mounted in the dash for the blinkers) and they both work fine in my '79 GMC truck.


Where do I begin to find these gremlins??

[gizmo-1948]

Any time I've run into a similar problem, Its been the turn sig. switch. Its shorted inside allowing your lights to come on with feedback power from your brake light switch. Replace the turn switch assy. and go from there.

[mrdreex]

Originally Posted by gizmo-1948

Any time I've run into a similar problem, Its been the turn sig. switch. Its shorted inside allowing your lights to come on with feedback power from your brake light switch. Replace the turn switch assy. and go from there.

Does it help to say that when I turn my left (or right) blinker switch on (as if I am going to turn left or right), my brake light in the back (still on because my foot is depressing it) 'flickers' at exactly the same time I hit the turn signal switch. It's not a blink, as in the light goes completely out, and then back on, but a flicker, as in the light gets dimmer and then brighter in about half a second.

[gizmo-1948]

When you flip your turn sig. switch with the brakes on, all you are doing is giving your lights redundant power. With all your lights working, the wiring and bulbs are good. You are dealing with electrical flow control, and thats taken care of by the switch. I would still replace the switch--and always remember that 90 percent of electrical problems are due to faulty grounds, so be sure and check those out. I don't think you have a ground problem because everything works, you just have no control via a bad switch.

[mrdreex]

Originally Posted by gizmo-1948

When you flip your turn sig. switch with the brakes on, all you are doing is giving your lights redundant power. With all your lights working, the wiring and bulbs are good. You are dealing with electrical flow control, and thats taken care of by the switch. I would still replace the switch--and always remember that 90 percent of electrical problems are due to faulty grounds, so be sure and check those out. I don't think you have a ground problem because everything works, you just have no control via a bad switch.

At the risk of being told to RTFM (which I will), does the switch on the column send the 12v+ to the flasher? Where does the flasher come into play, before or after the switch (in the physical circuit)? I tested the flashers in my truck, both blinked wonderfully. I don't get any blinking in the Nova.

Thanks gizmo.

[T-bucket23]

In most cases the brake lights go through the turn signal switch. When the switch is turned to left or right the power from the brake light switch is broken to the appropriate bulb and it is then fed buy the flasher. This is the way most systems that use the same bulb filament for the brakes and directionals.
From what you have explained it sounds like your brake light switch is wired directly to the lamps so the switch is doing nothing.

You would do yourself a big favor by locating the wiring diagram and look real hard at the brake/directional circuits.

There is a site that has most of those old schematics free for the downloading. I dont have the link handy but a google search will probably produce the site name. Maybe someone here who is more organized than me has the link handy

[Joe G]

Question:
You're not running LED bulbs and regular flashers, are you?
Probably not...

I've found that changing a turn signal switch can be tricky if not altogether frustrating. I wouldn't change it unless I was absolutely sure it was bad.

From what I've read of your symptoms, my first instinct was that it had no ground in the rear lights. So when you step on the brake, the power in the brake lamp filaments is grounding through the tail light elements, traveling up the tail/park light wire, and through the front park lamps to ground - thus lighting all four corners.

You also said that the hazard light switch was a bit iffy. If it were bad, it could also cause the problems you spoke of. What happens on most cars when you step on the brake with the hazard lights on?...All the lights light up and stop blinking. Sound familiar. If the hazard light switch was either defective, or was in the wrong position and had a bad connection to the flasher, it could cause the problems you see in your car. I would at least secure the hazard light switch to keep it from moving around.

Checking the turn signal switch is not hard to do. With a jumper wire and a test light, you can check the TSS in about a minute. It might take up to an hour to change it (depending how lucky you get fishing the new wires down through the column).

I'd be surprised if the procedure for checking a GM turn signal switch isn't on this site somewhere already. It's just a matter of finding it. Otherwise, I'd be glad to post the testing procedure (at least how I do it) if you want...let me know.

Good Luck

Joe G.

[mrdreex]

Originally Posted by Joe G

Question:

You also said that the hazard light switch was a bit iffy. If it were bad, it could also cause the problems you spoke of. What happens on most cars when you step on the brake with the hazard lights on?...All the lights light up and stop blinking. Sound familiar. If the hazard light switch was either defective, or was in the wrong position and had a bad connection to the flasher, it could cause the problems you see in your car. I would at least secure the hazard light switch to keep it from moving around.

That was exactly it, and that's exactly what I thought of at first. The hazards were stuck in the 'on' position, because the actual switch outside of the column was broken. I moved it to the 'off' position (although, the hazard flashers still won't work, but I think it's another problem related to the switch). After doing that, and checking voltage/adjusting wires from the actual flasher, I heard the blinker sound, and sure enough, I had blinker. Both front and back lights illuminated with the appropriate blinker, as well as the dash. The car had been sitting for some time, but nobody had torn into it (much, atleast). Thanks for all the help guys!