No brake lights!!! HELP PLEASE!!!

[LookAtThatSHO]

Guys, I have a serious problem with my SHO. I was told last night by a buddy who was following me that my brake lights were not turning on. He thought I was downshifting, but no one is that good at coming to a complete stop without using the brakes! Basically, my running lights are working fine and the turn signals are all working fine. The problem is when I step on the brake, the brakes are not lighting up! This isn't the first of my problems though. A few months ago, after replacing the factory subwoofer with one that was not blown, the radio worked great (FOR A DAY). Then, out of nowhere, no sound would come from any the speakers, including the sub. BUT, the radio and CD deck still work fine (can insert/eject CDs no problem, power on/off the radio, ect.)! Also, the other day, I just noticed that my rear defroster is not working properly, although the switch on the dash shows power. And another thing, since the radio problem, I've noticed that the fog lights are no longer working, although the fog light switch is showing power (can turn them on/off). And lastly, my buddy who looked everything over today for almost 2 hours, said that when the hazard button is turned on, everything goes out, including the blinkers and signals. I believe at the time I realized no sound was coming from the speakers is when all of these problems happened, all at once, but it has just taken me this long to realize them all! We have looked over every single fuse, and none appear to be blown. The brake pedal switch appears to be working fine. We've checked the grounds on the amps in the trunk and they appear to be fine. I'M COMPLETELY LOST HERE AND HAVE NO CLUE WHERE TO START GUYS!!! Please, anyone who can point me in the right direction on where to start looking or what parts I should start replacing to get everything working again, it would be greatly appreciated!

-Mike
93 Black/Black MTX

 

[hawkeye18]

well damn, I would've said the brake switch, but if that's not it... sounds like you got some serious wire chasing to do. Sorry I couldn't help more...

 

[91 shonice]

Guys, I have a serious problem with my SHO. I was told last night by a buddy who was following me that my brake lights were not turning on. He thought I was downshifting, but no one is that good at coming to a complete stop without using the brakes! Basically, my running lights are working fine and the turn signals are all working fine. The problem is when I step on the brake, the brakes are not lighting up! This isn't the first of my problems though. A few months ago, after replacing the factory subwoofer with one that was not blown, the radio worked great (FOR A DAY). Then, out of nowhere, no sound would come from any the speakers, including the sub. BUT, the radio and CD deck still work fine (can insert/eject CDs no problem, power on/off the radio, ect.)! Also, the other day, I just noticed that my rear defroster is not working properly, although the switch on the dash shows power. And another thing, since the radio problem, I've noticed that the fog lights are no longer working, although the fog light switch is showing power (can turn them on/off). And lastly, my buddy who looked everything over today for almost 2 hours, said that when the hazard button is turned on, everything goes out, including the blinkers and signals. I believe at the time I realized no sound was coming from the speakers is when all of these problems happened, all at once, but it has just taken me this long to realize them all! We have looked over every single fuse, and none appear to be blown. The brake pedal switch appears to be working fine. We've checked the grounds on the amps in the trunk and they appear to be fine. I'M COMPLETELY LOST HERE AND HAVE NO CLUE WHERE TO START GUYS!!! Please, anyone who can point me in the right direction on where to start looking or what parts I should start replacing to get everything working again, it would be greatly appreciated!

-Mike
93 Black/Black MTX

Mike, I had the same problem with my first 95. If you look at the break pedal, you will see a little switch at the top of the pedal. There may be a loose ground right there. With your friend looking at the brakes, hold the pedal down and jiggle the wires. If they turn on, it's just a loose connection. should be easy.

 

[shomtx95]

on my 89 it took me 2 months to figure mine out. it was the harness that plugs into the brake pedal switch, got one from a junkyard, worked fine every since. But i didnt have a problem with radio, foglights etc. hope you get it fixed

 

[LookAtThatSHO]

Thanks for everyones' prompt responses. My buddy who checked everything out today said he checked for power going in to the fuse block and there is no power going IN TO the fuse which powers the rear brake lights (Fuse 1 I believe). He thinks at this point, we're pretty much looking in the dark without looking at wiring diagrams. We pretty much need to trace every wire in order to narrow down what specifically could be the culprit. Could someone please point me to a link where I can view or download our Taurus's electrical wiring diagram(s)? Would a Helms manual, or any other manual of this type, also show these diagrams? I am at a huge loss because of this and am pretty much just asking for someone to rear end this beautiful 93. Again, any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated guys! :thankyou:

-Mike

 

[Shopower400]

First your foglight bulbs probably just burned out. When they get old the seals tend to wear out any water could get in, but most likley they just burned out.
Second your sub problem just sounds like a loose wire. I would try retraceing all your wiring, starting from what you touched, and working your way back from there.
Third your brakelight problem is probably what was mentioned above. If that dosn't work though you may want to replace the headlight switch.(that can give you similar symptoms.) Finally if neither works for you, you may have a bad "blinker assembly" Basiclly controls your blinkers, highbeams, windshield washers. I had many problems, and finally subjected myself to takeing it to the local garage Fortunatly one of the mechanics was familar with the SHO, so i felt a liitle better. 250 for the piece and 150 for 2hrs. labor & i was all fixed! I'm not an electical person so i definatly wasn't trying to tackle this one. Hope this helps!

 

[ManySHOs]

Thanks for everyones' prompt responses. My buddy who checked everything out today said he checked for power going in to the fuse block and there is no power going IN TO the fuse which powers the rear brake lights (Fuse 1 I believe). He thinks at this point, we're pretty much looking in the dark without looking at wiring diagrams. We pretty much need to trace every wire in order to narrow down what specifically could be the culprit. Could someone please point me to a link where I can view or download our Taurus's electrical wiring diagram(s)? Would a Helms manual, or any other manual of this type, also show these diagrams? I am at a huge loss because of this and am pretty much just asking for someone to rear end this beautiful 93. Again, any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated guys! :thankyou:

-Mike

As was mentioned, the BOO (Brake On/Off) switch wiring probably melted and came apart. It's a common problem on these cars. I replaced the terminals on mine with Radio Shack crimp on spade terminals. I suspect that they melted, shorted and tripped a fuse. It's mounted on top of the brake pedal.

Did your buddy check for a blown fuse?

Ian

 

[Eric VerValin]

Thanks for everyones' prompt responses. My buddy who checked everything out today said he checked for power going in to the fuse block and there is no power going IN TO the fuse which powers the rear brake lights (Fuse 1 I believe). He thinks at this point, we're pretty much looking in the dark without looking at wiring diagrams. We pretty much need to trace every wire in order to narrow down what specifically could be the culprit. Could someone please point me to a link where I can view or download our Taurus's electrical wiring diagram(s)? Would a Helms manual, or any other manual of this type, also show these diagrams? I am at a huge loss because of this and am pretty much just asking for someone to rear end this beautiful 93. Again, any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated guys! :thankyou:

-Mike

I'd be curious to find out what you figure out is the problem. My truck is a 89, and has the same kinda deal. No power to the number 1 fuse at all. And by the looks of the diagrams I have, its a common feed with other fuses around it. Its like the connection is melted inside my fuse block. I however lost my dash lights, turn signals, and hazards.

So in a pinch being I needed my truck, I ran a seperate fused 12v feed to one side of the BOO switch, and then everything worked again. And to be honest with ya.. I've been driving around with it that way for a long time now... always meant to go back and check on that..

I wonder if its your turn signal switch.... almost everything goes thru that damn thing too. Good luck I know how electrical gremlins can be.



And check your PM's too btw

 

[LookAtThatSHO]

Okay, so me and my father found the culprit. We used a voltage tester to test the volts going in to the #1 fuse. Interesting enough, there was only 1 volt coming through. We then traced back up to the fuse block under the hood (where the 40 AMP fuses are. Still only 1 volt on the wire. We then traced the wire back a little more going in to the large wiring harness behind the batter, and what do you know, 12 volts. Thus, the 14" segment of wire going from the fuse panel under the hood to the wiring harness was no good. We cut out the segment and replaced the wire with new wire and directly connected the wire to the top part of the fuse panel directly. Hopefully, this won't cause any electrical malfunctions, but I've never seen a situation where any of the 40 AMP fuses have blown. We are thinking if something goes "hay-wire", the #1 fuse will blow in the fuse panel by the pedals. But now the fog lights work, the rear defroster works, and the brake lights are working again! And for the radio, I definitely should have paid more attention to the fact that one of the plugs that go in to the back of the radio was unplugged. I plugged it back in, and everything works fine again! Thanks again to everyone for their prompt assistance, and I hope this thread will help anyone else who runs in to this problem!

:thankyou:

-Mike