Brake lights

[kooblekidz]

Hi all,
I have had nothing but successful advice from this forum, so here goes again! My brake lights won't light. The fuse is fine, the switch seems fine, (I took it out and touched the wires together and nothing). When I discovered they were out I went to put my flashers on and they sped up, finally resulting in a very fast blink which ended with a thin wisp of smoke coming out of the steering column. I replaced the flasher and the hazards work & the ground was checked, plus all the other lights work. Any theories? I've got a pretty good mechanic at my disposal, & I can turn a wrench when I need to, but auto electrics has always sort of been like greek to me.
Thanks,
Eric, Tina and Kierstin '84 345 coach in No. Georgia

[Chas]

Do you have a steering wheel puller?

Like they say where there's smoke there's fire and I suspect something shorted in the column. Your brake lamp switch output goes up into the column where the signal is separated from the turn signal if applied. For example, if you are signaling a left turn your left brake lamp becomes a left turn signal and your right brake lamp remains a solid brake lamp.

Chas