All of the lights work except the brake lights. so there is power to the brake switch and when pressed it sends power to the K11 (green w white) but no power out ( green w white also ) but there is steady power at the red wire at K 11 brakes on or off. It appears the PO soldered a wire across the two green wires at K11 so when power goes in it comes out to light the brake lights and they work. Its clear that K11 needs to be replaced but is it OK to run it this way until I get a new K11. Also where does the power for the red wire at k11 come from and should it be there all of the time, thanks Paul.
Paul,
Your post is a little confusing as your first statement says the brake lights don’t work yet your second sentence states that they work.
Is this the same Cougar that you have been working on? I am only asking as in your previous posts, you stated that it was a late 67 build and the K11 Stop Lamp Relays were only used in the Early (pre Jan 3, 1967 ) models, although it is possible that the wiring harness were changed by a PO.
Yes, the red wire at K11 is always hot and is fed from the CB-2 circuit breaker mounted on the window washer motor bracket underneath the steering column/dash
Coach Jack
New car to me so now its a early and a late model cougar. so im working on the early model and it has the stop lamp relay K11. the relay is working with the two green wires jumped, remove the jumper and no stop lights. Also I don’t understand why the red wire is hot all the time. Thanks Coach Jack.
Think of the K11 as a Normally Open (NO) Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) Relay. One leg of the relay is hot all the time (the red wire) and the circuit that you are trying to power when the relay closes (should be a green wire) . The coil needs a trigger wire (the Green-white wire from the brake light switch) and a ground to activate the coil.
Coach Jack
Thanks coach Jack, I think Im finally getting the hang of these lights. I also came across a copy of the ford manual for working on and identifying the parts of the 67 system, its 55 pages and now I know where the terms K7-K11 come from.
I have an early 67 as well. I completely understand how and why K11 is there. K11 has failed recently in my car. My question is: Is it safe to bypass K11 using the signal directly from the stop switch to power all six stop lights? or is it too much current for the switch and/or wire that normally would just activate k11? Do late model 67’s have heavier gauge wires feeding the stop lights? I can replace the relay, but if it wouldnt hurt, i’d like to bypass it.