Taillight Question?

On my 64 one of the taillights is messed up. I kept blowing the fuse when I would have the lights on and would hit the brakes. I found that if I unplugged one of the bulbs it would be fine, so I replaced that light socket. It takes 1157 bulbs and now when I turn on the lights both elements light up. It's like I have the brakes on all the time, but only with that one bulb. It also doesn't flash when the turn signal is on. What would cause this?

Usually, inside a double contact socket, like an 1157 bulb goes in, there are two contacts. One is for the brake/turn signal function, the other for taillights. The ground is through the base.

It sounds like something is making contact where it shouldn't. I would buy one of those $ 5.00 12 volt test lights that look like an icepick with a wire and alligator clip on the end. Use it to probe inside the socket to see if the contacts are putting out the signal they are supposed to , when they are supposed to.

Make sure the socket you used is indexed the right way so that your bulb contacts are not half way between the base contacts. There are two kinds of bulbs and bases. One has little points sticking out the sides of the bulb that are straight across from each other, and the other one has points staggered, one below the other.

Your test light will be the best way to do process of elimination.

Don

If you're blowing fuses, then a hot wire is touching ground. On a car that old sometimes the insulation on the wire shrinks back and the bare wire touches the metal housing. If it shorts out only when you step on the brake, that narrows it down to the brake light section. Use the tool Don suggested. Start at the socket and work your way back to the voltage source. Don't forget to check the switch on your brake pedal.
On an 1157 bulb if both elements light up there's a good possibility that the bulb is in the socket incorrectly. If you look at the base of the bulb, it has two alignment pins, one high, the other low. Sometimes the socket can get spread out and the bulb feels like it's in right, but it's in backwards.

By the way, try reversing the wires. You may have the turn/stop light on all the time and the regular tail light is blinking, but you just can't see it.

I was gonna try reversing the wires, but I thought that it didn't matter. I'll try that tomorrow.
Thanks