Your young nephew is sitting in your car pretending to be Mario Andretti (no keys in the car so it's safe). He happens to hit the brakes and you notice only one tail light lights up.
What's the first thing you check?
The other bulb. They can easily die young. Lots of new cars (especially imports, Japanese or German) seem to have that problem moreso than others, and is it just me, or do some of them have some serious wiring faults when it comes to taillights/rear turn signals? I've seen more than one with weird wiring problems....
JS
Turn signal switch......
providing the rear signals share the brake light bulb...
So I guess we still need year, make and model....
Wait... it could be A TRAP... a trick question... a riddle wrapped in a mystery... an open-ended QUESTION-OF-DEATH! :)
Ok, the FIRST thing you check... ok, I can get this... the FIRST thing... first thing... what's the / first / thing...
The other bulb. No, wait!!
His feet? Your EYES!! The mirrors?
If you saw it in a different reflection, such as a window, then the reflective surface!
I think I'll have to stick with "your eyes".
"Hey buddy, do that again."
Then, check the other bulb. ;)
JS wrote:
Hey, that was one of my guesses.
Might also want to turn the key on and check them again.
| > What's the first thing you check? | |
Exactly right! Congrats to you and SWG.
Ok, I know it's not earth-shattering. But in all the years of 'tampering' with cars...rebuilding my '65...and a friend's '70 Cougar XR7...and countless other things on various makes and models, it's the first time I came across it.
And yes, the first thing I did -- other than checking to see if my fuel pump was actually working (I didn't want to incur the wrath of some folk) -- was the hard way ...to take the brake light apart. At least the bezel is easily removed from the outside. The bulb looked fine. I put it back in and still no luck. I got my keys to check the turn signal...turned the key and there goes the turn signal. At least I didn't start tearing into the wiring...
Now, to answer your question...It was my '65 but the same thing happens on my '97 Convertible and my brother's 2004 F-250 Superduty. Could this be a Ford thing? Any other makes do this?
Damn electrical oddities get me (almost) every time.
Hava goodun. Vote early...vote often.
I cannot forecast to you the action of my mind. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma (with apologies to Winston Churchill)
But wait...you left out the parallel Bizarro universe option where there is only one brake light!
But you know...now that I think about it, I may have had one eye closed and just didn't see the other brake light...no...that's not it.
Ok..here goes....you tell the person standing in front of the light you didn't see to move!!
That's not it either....two people got it right. See my other reply.
But I like where you were taking it.
Thanks... I WAS just messing around, and apologize for the apparent mangling of quotes. And DAMN. I forgot about the single brake light possibility!
Question reality, and disbelieve the obvious. It was too philosophical, I guess. The practical people got it right...
I still would have asked him to hit the pedal aga> I cannot forecast to you the action of my mind. It is a riddle wrapped
A nice juicy philosophical episode is good for soul.
And for those who really care about accuracy ... I know the real Churchill quote is about Russia...not 'my m>Thanks... I WAS just messing around, and apologize for the apparent
It is; I agree. I didn't know where that quote came from, to be honest. I need to get another Bartlett's. And I will remember this, because of the clever way in which you presented it.
That reminds me of another Churchill quote- he said, tongue-in-cheek, that "dangling prepositions are something up with which I will not put."
:)
Alright... back > A nice juicy philosophical episode is good for soul.
make sure he does not have just one foot on the brake?????
A lot of mid-80's to mid-90's Fords would also blow the horn if you could press on and off on the cruise control at the same time. Talk about wiring oddities.
This was noted in various Fox Mustangs, and I believe an F250 as well.
JS
The turn signal position, if the turn signal is on only one brake light will light up.
What year the car is because it may be an old 30's car that only has one brake light. StuK
Valid... and informative.
But that would have been too sneaky.
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