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I noticed while coming home from a cruise in that my brake lights are not coming on, running lights and reverse work, I did turn the headlite dimmer to brighten the dash and noticed that the gauge lamps went off and flickered a bit, turned the h/l knob a bit more and dash brightened up, possibly the switch, maybe clean all the contacts at the firewall junction and m/c switch?
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your brake light switch is probably bad. its a hydraulic switch that has two places to attach wires. Any auto parts store should be able to get you what you need.
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Just don't be using any other than DOT 3 brake fluid in the over the counter switches, they fail if not using what the switch manufacturer specifies.
Please don't ask me how I know...
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You didn't say if the turn signals worked. The brake lights and turn signal use the same filament in the lamp (bulb), while the tail lights use the other filament. Check the lamps for a burned, or broken filament first, if the turn signals do not light. I'm guessing an 1157 lamp.
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oh thats a great point I have also seen it (quite rare) where a bad turn signal switch causes brake light issues
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I had a NAPA switch on my '59 and it took a ton of foot pressure to make the brake lights work. Now I'm using one that trips at 45 PSI, got it on eBay, actually got a spare too. Only like $13.
Old headlight switches can be troublesome. I put in a new one when I did my harness. The old Ford ones had some funky fuse on them. I didn't trust it. If you have to take it out to clean it, may as well replace it.
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