tail & brake lights

[T-Ray]

I am hoping ya'll can help me. I have a 1964 Bird, headlights and dashlights work OK but the tail lights and brake lights don't work at all. Is there a common place to start on these cars? I.E. do they have a conventional brake light switch or is there a fuse that controls the tail and brake lights? Any help would be appreciated.

Also, when I try to start the car, all I get is a clicking sound. Battery is fully charged and I have good battery connections. Is it probably the starter solenoid?

thank you.

 

[shemp]

Sounds like you could use a shop manual. It is an invaluable resource.... To start, just check all the fuses and wiring harness to the rear lights. As far as the clicking, it could be the relay or a bad connection. Check/clean ground connections to block, battery connections and connections to starter and relay. If still bad, you can CAREFULLY short across the relay contacts (essentially connecting the battery straight to the starter) while the key is on to see if it cranks. If it does, the relay is most likely the culprit. Good luck!

[ 03-06-2003: Message edited by: shemp ]

 

[tbird5866]

Do you know where the clicking is coming from? If you have power windows, you may be hearing the safety relay. I would suggest you check the neutral start switch, located on top of the steering column near the firewall. Can you start it with the shifter in neutral? Rather than jumper across the starter solenoid, I would suggest supplying battery voltage to the "S" terminal on the solenoid. If it won't crank there, you can be pretty sure of a bad [email protected]

 

[t-bird-art]

Only on the 64 Bird : Ford put a Stop Light Relay on the Drivers Inner Fender. So many bulbs were on the 64 rear taillights, the current drain was burning out the Stop Light Switch on the Master Cylinder.