Tail light woes

[Turbo4whl]

So what do you guys think about the tail lamps? Could it be the switch? Or a ground? I don't know how it'd be anything else but the switch if the brake lights and turn signals work. Is there a way to test the switch?

Earlier you said you replaced the burnt brake/turn lamp fuse. Did you check the parking light fuse?

 

[ceejay]

Earlier you said you replaced the burnt brake/turn lamp fuse. Did you check the parking light fuse?

Just checked it again now, still good.

 

[AuroraGirl]

There is just one fuse for the marker/parking lights. The front side markers are wired with two hot wires, one from the parking light circuit, the other from that side turn signal.

When the parking lights are off and you turn on the left turn signal, the front turn lamp blinks on/off. So does that side marker. It gets it's ground from all the other parking light bulbs.

When the parking lights are on, and you turn on the left turn lamp, the marker will blink off. Two positive and no ground.

So the front side markers will not work if there are no bulbs in the turn lamps, or those bulbs are burnt out.

beat me to it.

 

[AuroraGirl]

So what do you guys think about the tail lamps? Could it be the switch? Or a ground? I don't know how it'd be anything else but the switch if the brake lights and turn signals work. Is there a way to test the switch?

i wouldnt expect your tail lights to work if the circuit cant complete. i know the front harness is separate but make sure you have that front squares away and working. Like, make sure side markers, running lamps(turn signal/side marker but not turning) working, including roof lights if you have them. make sure your interior lights work properly with switch or door. that would eliminate switch imho, then look at your rear. if tails do not work after all that, then find the wire at the connector on the bulkhead, see if it has power. then check the socket wire. if no voltage, your line has a break somewhere up the line, which i would suspect highly of your connector that was swiss cheese from PO

 

[ceejay]

i wouldnt expect your tail lights to work if the circuit cant complete. i know the front harness is separate but make sure you have that front squares away and working. Like, make sure side markers, running lamps(turn signal/side marker but not turning) working, including roof lights if you have them. make sure your interior lights work properly with switch or door. that would eliminate switch imho, then look at your rear. if tails do not work after all that, then find the wire at the connector on the bulkhead, see if it has power. then check the socket wire. if no voltage, your line has a break somewhere up the line, which i would suspect highly of your connector that was swiss cheese from PO

I'm going to test the tail lamp connection at the bulk head with a test light tomorrow. Before cleaning up that rear harness, they were the only thing working. I'm thinking I didn't get a good enough connection with that wire.

 

[Matt69olds]

Check the taillamp fuse first, with a test light. There should be power on both sides of the fuse at all times.

check for power on the brown wire at the junction block under the hood. It should show power with the park lamp switch pulled. If so, everything under the dash is working correctly, the problem is between the junction block and the park lamps.

 

[ceejay]

Check the taillamp fuse first, with a test light. There should be power on both sides of the fuse at all times.

check for power on the brown wire at the junction block under the hood. It should show power with the park lamp switch pulled. If so, everything under the dash is working correctly, the problem is between the junction block and the park lamps.

Just tested both with a test light. Both are good.

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[ceejay]

Could this be a ground issue? Should I add some sort of ground between the tail lamps and frame?

 

[crpntr78]

I had the same problem. I attached a ground wire from the one inside the taillight housing to the frame and worked like a charm. Even cleaned up, the ground in the housing would not light my tail lights.

 

[ceejay]

I had the same problem. I attached a ground wire from the one inside the taillight housing to the frame and worked like a charm. Even cleaned up, the ground in the housing would not light my tail lights.

Did you just run a ring terminal behind one of the screws to the housing?

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[ceejay]

Did you just run a ring terminal behind one of the screws to the housing?

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Edit: just ran one directly to frame. Still no lights! Well i ran it behind one of the screws. I'm gonna go try to attach it to the factory ground behind the tail light housing and see if that works.

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[geolee]

I had a problem when I put new bed sides on and just attached the ground to the bed sides behind the taillamp with a bolt and nut after sanding down the paint and all lights work fine

 

[Matt69olds]

Check for power at the brown wire at the junction block under the hood. I think there are 2 brown wires, one for the tail light harness, the other for the front light harness.

 

[ceejay]

So I tested the light switch earlier and when I put the test light (while the switch was pulled on) on the brown wire on the back of the switch, the test light lit up. The manual says if that happens I have an open circuit. I'm thinking there's some kind of problem at the plug right at the tail lights. Maybe the brown wire is loose back there?

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[ceejay]

Figured it out! Took apart the connection that I repaired at the plug in the back only to find out that the brown wire was loose (I guess I didn't have a good crimp on it in the butt connector). Everything works now. Thanks for all your help guys.

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