taillight wiring
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:58 am
which terminal is brake?which one turn? 
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Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:41 am
The only sure way to find out is to put a bulb (21w/5w-12v) in and put a battery between either terminal and the ground (any part of the reflector). The brake light will light brighter.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:49 am
Brake and turn are both the same filament. The other filament is for your tail light. If you have a test light, you can tell which is which with that.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:12 pm
The brake/tail (2 filiment-1157) and turn (single filiment-1156) are 2 different bulbs in a 62 to 67 VW taillight.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:02 pm
eanny meanny minny moe !?
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:41 pm
My eyes may be decieving me but I think you have a 1157 recepticle. One side is Batt voltage and the other would therefore be the ground side. Light bulbs aren't polarized so I dont think it would matter which is which.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:30 pm
If you are referring to the two bottom contacts, both are hot (dual element light) and the side of the bulb is your ground. (Negative grounded cars).
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:32 pm
Hard to explain, even harder to find anything in my quick online search. So I did the next best thing: took a picture. You'll have to work things backwards, but I think you should be able to figure it out from this. The 1157 is a dual contact bulb with a set of locating pins offset from one another. This feature makes sure you get the bulb in the right way when changing it. Each contact is one side of the filament and the other sides are tied to together and connected to the brass shell, which in turn is grounded. It may be hard to see the annotation in my photo, but the bulb is facing up with the locating pin closest to the base. The other pin is higher up on the shell. Hope this helps!
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:45 pm
Thanks for the correction Tim. I'm actually smarter than I post. Minor brain fart there. 
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 2:07 am
thanks guys!!!!
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:29 am
Like NM 59 said, the fixture looks like it is a two bulb/three filiment set up. the picture is upsidedown and cut-off for the upper turn indicator. The pictured lower two-filiment bulb mount (1157) has the smaller filiment for the running light, and the larger filiment for the stop/brake light. The top single-filiment bulb mount (1156) is specifically for the turn indicator. Now, if you want to wire it another way, then that's another story... :driving:
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:51 am
thanks!! Here is the plan: 