Brake light question

[bcgreen]

'76 Carrera.
Tail lights work, license plate lights work, turn signals work, drivers side brake light works, but the passenger side brake light does not work. Where to start?

[pampadori]

i have found that the prongs that contact the bulbs sometimes need to be pulled/bent to make better contact. i use a little curved pick tool to grab the prong and pull it out a little more. make sure the key and lights are off unless you like blowing fuses.

[bcgreen]

Originally Posted by pampadori

i have found that the prongs that contact the bulbs sometimes need to be pulled/bent to make better contact. i use a little curved pick tool to grab the prong and pull it out a little more. make sure the key and lights are off unless you like blowing fuses.

Will do and report back on my progress.
What's the best way to access - behind the bumper or take off the tail light assembly?

[timmy2]

No need to remove the housing.
Take off the lens cover, pull the bulb and use some skinny needle nose to pull/bend them out a bit.

[bcgreen]

Originally Posted by timmy2

No need to remove the housing.
Take off the lens cover, pull the bulb and use some skinny needle nose to pull/bend them out a bit.

Took bulbs out from each side. Cleaned contacts on bulbs and pulled the prongs and scratched them a bit.
When I hit the brake pedal, only the passenger brake light comes on.
Now if I turn the driving lights on, I see all driving lights are on. When I press on the brake pedal the driving light on the driver's side goes out and the passenger brake light comes on.

Update: Clean the driver's side brake light some more (aggressively) and now it works. So it came down to basically cleaning contacts.

Next up is the back up lights. I suspect it is going to be the switch, but presently I am trying to get the car up high enough that I can get under there to take the support bar off. Looks like I may have to look for someone who has a floor jack that goes up high enough.
Thanks for the help.

[RDM]

With the lenses off, it's easy to check if you have voltage to the back up lights when the car is in reverse. If not, then trace the wires back until you find where your connection is lost (which, as you noted, involves laying under the car).