Tail lights

[justken2u]

Hello folks ...

I have a question about tail lights. For those of you who have seen the pictures of my Frankenbenz, I'm just completing the electrical. Everything seems to be working nicely but it's been such a long time since I've seen this 230SL run (17 years) that I can't remember if what is going on with my tail lights is normal.

We have run a completely new Painless wiring harness on the car. All the lights are working. Thing is, when you tap the brakes, both the amber light (turn signal lens) and the red lens for the brake light activate. It actually lights up the back very well, and if you hit the brakes and have the turning indicator on, the turning indicator will flash independently of the brake light. Should the amber light be on when the brakes are depressed? If not, I'm sure there's a work-around to get it to stop coming on, but if it's supposed to be on then we'll leave it alone.

Thanks in advance!

[Garry]

Having a 'euro' car, the rear lights have the amber turn indicator lenses.  They should not light up when you hit the brakes and are only turn indicators.

Are you sure that the actual globes are lighting up and that there is not the spacer/barrier between the brake and turn lens missing that gives the impression that they are both lighting up on braking?

[jeffc280sl]

The amber lights do not turn on when braking in the 280SL.  I don't think it's supposed to happen in the 230SL.  I think you have some wires crossed.  I assume you have a wiring diagram if not I think you can find one in the tech manual.

[justken2u]

Thanks guys ... that was my fear ... back to the wiring board!

Ken

[al_lieffring]

check your ground connections there should be a ground at the pinch weld seam just below each light. And check the grounds at the bottom of the head lamp buckets too.

[Gregory]

And I thought I had the only one that did this light show...My 70 280SL  rear tail light on the drivers side lites up like a xmas tree only when the front lights are on and the brakes are applide...when headlights are off, the drivers tail light functions normal..turn signal seperate, backup and stop all function fine, only when I turn on the front headlights and apply brakes they all turn on...Now working on hesitation at 2700RPM but would like to fix this gremlin forever...replaced all bulbs, checked all grounds and fine..could it be the flasher shorting or the brake sensor...

[justken2u]

I think my situation is a little different from Gregory's. Most of my electrical woes will stem from the fact that I am not using a conventional Mercedes wiring harness. Because of the extensive modifications to the Frankenbenz, I am using a GM "painless" style wiring harness. It worked very well for most of the electrical issues, but I am plagued by this one single issue of having the amber light come on at the same time as the red brake light. It's not overly offensive, in fact it certainly calls your attention to the fact there are lights coming on when the brakes are applied given the fact that the one small red light on either side is just that ... pretty small. And if you have the headlights on (which lights up the other red running tail light) the amber stays off until either the signal indicator is activated, the four way flashers are activated, or the brakes are applied. If the brakes are applied AND the signal indicator is on, the signal indicator takes precedence over the brakes and the amber will flash.

Again, not a huge hairy deal - just more or less a ghost in the machine and I thought there might be a relatively simple answer but given the non-standard nature of this beast there really isn't a simple answer to anything!!!