No brake lights but fuses are fine

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Old 11-03-2009, 06:24 PM
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No brake lights but fuses are fine

I have no idea what's wrong. I have parking lights, turning signals, hazards, but no brake lights. All other lights work fine including lights up front (parking, turning, high, low, fog). I checked my fuses and relays and they are all working fine. The only thing I haven't checked is the actual wiring from the fuse box to the brake lights individually. Also, I haven't torn apart my steering column to see if something got disconnected from the solenoid. This must have happened recently because I was pulled over by the cops 2 weeks ago and they didn't cite me for no brake lights, oindicating they worked. The only other thing that I noticed to happen recently is my autolock will not re-engage. Matter of fact, when I lock my truck with my remote, it doesn't even flicker the parking lights. Does anyone have any ideas?? Please help! I don't want to pay my dealer to fix my truck! LOL
 
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Old 11-03-2009, 09:41 PM
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Do you have the CHMSL ( Center High Mount Stop Lamp / 3rd brake light ) on the cab operational ?

If not, I would check the Brake Pedal Position ( BPP ) switch on the brake pedal. My ;06 has a yellow C-clip retainer on it.

There should be 4 wires to this, 2 are for the Shift interlock, which is what makes it so you can only take the truck out of Park after pressing the brake, and the other 2 are for the brake lamps ( which feed directly to the CMHSL, the after market CHMSL, the trailer tow brake controller, and to the MFS for the right & left Stop / turn bulbs ).

Remove the connector, and short the Light Green & Light Green w/ Red stripe wires together. This should illuminate the brake lamps ( all 3 ).

The Light Green w/ Red stripe wire is fed from Fuse #2, 20A ( this also has a splice in it that goes to the Flasher, along side the circuit for Fuse #13 ).

I would say you have an issue with the BPP switch in this case, but the Shift Interlock switch contacts are still good.
 
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Old 11-03-2009, 10:14 PM
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One of my friends tried that earlier and it didn't work, no brake lights. He thinks it's in the solenoid in the steering column, so I took it to Ford because it doesn't even have 23k on it, and I bought it brand new so they should fix it. I have all aftermarket LED brake light housings and have for over a year and a half, but apparently I left a friend's house last night and he said my brake lights came on fine. But yeah I'm hoping it's something that standard warranty covers because it just happened, indicating someone brighter than me screwed with my truck, or some freak accident happened.
 
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Old 11-04-2009, 08:54 AM
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Taking it to Ford while it is under warranty is not a bad idea.

Not sure what he tried with the BPP switch, that should have worked with the CHMSL ( this does not run through the MFS ) at least. Not CHMSL, the BPP is the only thing in the way ( and a splice for the other items ).

Not sure what solenoid in the steering column you are referring to.
The MFS ( MultiFunction Switch ) or the Shift interlock.
Shift interlock is the other switch and circuit in the BPP, and the truck would not come out of park, while running ( I think I am missing what your are posting about).
 
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Old 11-04-2009, 03:46 PM
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He mentioned he was tinkering with the "brake pedal position" switch (or that's what he called it) and got no brake lights when he asked me if there were any. He said there's a solenoid in the steering column that clicks at the exact same time as the illumination of the brake lights, and maybe that could cause the malfunction other than a break in a brake wire.

Now, I'm kinda new to "new technology" in my truck. In fact, I just learned how to use cruise control and I've had my truck for 2 years. From what it sounds like you're saying, the solenoid in the steering column is what allows the vehicle to shift out of park. My old Tacoma didn't have that.

I'm supposed to be getting a phone call from Ford sometime today. And if it's not the shift interlock solenoid, then I am absolutely clueless what it is. And I must know. How do you know so much about these trucks?
 
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Old 11-04-2009, 04:20 PM
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The click he might be hearing is the BPP Switch. It does make a noise ( 2 sets of contacts closing ), when the brakes are applied. Don't know if he had the wiring diagram, to know which 2 sets to close together to get the 3 brake lamps to illuminate. Also don't know what he was doing to try this ( smaller connector pins, would take 16/18 AWG wire ).

I was not sure what you were calling a solenoid on the steering column, that is why I asked, but you posted it was the noise ( noted in the paragraph above ).

The shift interlock would have no direct baring on the brake lamps ( only the switch for them. That would be a different set of symptoms.

If it is not the fuse ( as you posted was good ) it has to be either the BPP, or some how the wires got mashed from the BPP to the splice.
Not much distance there, so it would have been from recent work ( none noted ), in that area.
 
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Old 11-04-2009, 09:10 PM
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Well the most recent work I did was wire a CB radio against the knee panel in front of the gas pedal but the antenna, 12+, and gnd wires were wired under the carpet. This was done 4 weeks ago.

I picked up my truck from Ford earlier today. The guy I dealt with called me and told me the technicians were going to work on my truck as they got into the garage this morning, and the brake lights worked fine. This is upsetting because the same guy and I saw my brake lights weren't working, and now I have no clue what it could be. I originally took my truck there to have them fix my autolocking system (it wasn't working no matter how many times I tried engaging and disengaging it) and when he checked my lights, the brakes didn't work. So I told him I would take it home to see if it was the fuses. I replaced them (numbers 2 and 16) and checked the old ones. They had continuity. I checked the lights and they were all good. My friend got to the BPP (or so he said) and tested some wires and it still didn't work. Now Ford is telling me it just started working, this is a bit frustrating because not knowing what went wrong, I gotta check my truck everytime I get into it (which I should be doing anyway but we all know how habit works).

So, it works. But I will check out the BPP like you said and get to know it a little better. And yeah, with slight pressing of the brake pedal there's a "click" sound in the steering column, which was a speculation of the malfunction. But like you said, it's probably the shift-lock which I take it is connected to a solenoid.
 



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