Brake pedal activates front marker lights?

[87BeachCruiser]

Hey y'all, I have a strange happening in my new (to me) 87- when I hit the brake pedal the front marker lights (parking lights on the side) light up. Not sure what could be causing this (everything is stock on the vehicle except the radio). I suppose I'll start by checking and replacing all fuses, bulbs, etc... but I was just wondering if anyone else had come across this, if it's some sort of safety thing indicating I have something else out (I do have one high beam out), or if it's perhaps a quirk I'll have to deal with on a 22 year old vehicle.

 

There's a bunch of threads discussing re-wiring headlights, etc., that I need to sift through here... great site.

[Tungsten]

do the brake lights work??

 

possibly a short circuit but i have never seen this before

[87BeachCruiser]

Yeah, the brake lights work fine, and when I turn on the headlights the marker lights come on as they should and cease being related at all to the brake pedal. I don't really care about this, although there are definitely times when you're pulling in somewhere and don't want any lights in the front of the car.... guess I could just use the hand brake, but still, it's the kind of thing that will annoy me.

[adamzan]

, although there are definitely times when you're pulling in somewhere and don't want any lights in the front of the car...

Who are you stalking?

[87BeachCruiser]

Who are you stalking?

 

Mainly fish and fowl but there was this one redhead....

 

Thanks all, you may be right about the trailer, I'll look into it and report back.

Edited September 29, 2009 by 87BeachCruiser

[Alkorahil]

wiring has gotten crossed somewhere....I am wondering if it is from the factory alarm since it flashes the front and read marker lamps when it is armed and disarmed.

[adamzan]

or if it had an aftermarket

[87BeachCruiser]

Hey everyone. Figured I'd update this in case anyone else was ever searching for the same problem.

 

I thought it was the U-Haul wiring, although that wiring was done up nice and clean... I started fiddling around under the dash, thinking something was crossed up at the pedals.... then just kind of gave up. I don't drive too much (living in the city) and the problem never bothered me enough to dig into the dash. Well, had some brake work done (new pads, caliper, etc.) and when I picked up the truck the mech said I had the wrong bulbs in there, 1158 instead of 1157 or something like that. Sure enough, solved the problem, and my brake lights are brighter compared to tail-lights as well. So there you go, nice and easy. Should've been the first thing I checked...

[Kittamaru]

Weird... I don't know HOW the bulbs would have any effect on this... they shouldn't be getting power when the brakes are pressed... should they?

[silverton]

sounds like someone, SOMEHOW, replaced the dual filament bulbs with a single filament bulb. 1156 and 1157 are the numbers. the dual filament bulbs have a twin post contact setup, and the single just have a big one in the center. so what I'm guessing is that someone forced a single filament bulb in there, which when the brakes were applied, also crossed power to the marker light circuit.

[87BeachCruiser]

That sounds right. When the lights were on, and the brakes applied, it was only slightly brighter (to the point where I'd occassionally hit the hazards when slowing down fast in heavy traffic), and now it's much brighter (second filament). And when the lights were off, when I hit the brakes it would engage the whole circuit, inluding dash lights. Like I said, should've checked the bulbs first, just assumed they were the correct ones, and that the 'only slightly brighter' was why everyone was talking about adding a third brake light.... good thing I never got rear-ended, although I admit there was one REALLY close call at dusk when someone probably couldn't tell the difference.