tail lights out???

[colby]

wedneday night I leave work with my girlfriend behind me. she gives me a call on the cell phone and says you have no taillights!!! brake lights work, blinkers work, and Im pretty sure the reverse lights work. Great Googley MoogleyGreat Googley MoogleyGreat Googley Moogley??? anything I should really look for? Any replies would be much appreciated!! THANKS

[colby]

anyone??

[jode]

Light bulbs?

[Fornesto]

If both rear tail lights (not side markers) are not working, the problem may be the bulbs, though it is very unlikely that the bulbs would simultaneously go out. The rear side markers are spliced directly off of the rear tail lights, so they should not be working either if you have problems upstream. If you carefully remove your rear interior panels or the light fixtures, you can access this stuff real easy. Test it with a tester. Check all of your lights. Your headlight switch may not be working. Check your fuses too.

[Jlamb]

Have you changed the tail lights? We could tell you things that if COULD be all day long, but you will have to do some testing. Do you have power at the pig tail?

There are no silver bullets, we can only suggest things that it might be untill you do some testing on your own.

[colby]

I have no side marker lights either? im waiting til saturday when i can work inside... Its so **** cold out right now!

[grand_wag_85]

EXTREMELY easy fix. The same exact thing happened on my wag. You blew the fuse.

I popped a new one in &I had side marker lights and taillights.

[woodybeone]

20 amp fuse second row from the bottom ,center on the fuse block for tail/park lamps.

[colby]

thanks alot

[colby]

well......
bulbs-good
fuse-good
me-mad
im to the point where im just gonna drive it. screw the cops and their taillight laws
at least the brake lights work

[Jlamb]

Do you have power at the pig tail. Use a test light

[The Hound]

loose grd at back pass side [jack area]?

[Wagoneerlover]

Hey there I had the same problem in my wagon and fixed it. Unfortunately I found out that the wiring for the tailights runs under the vehicle. (yes on the outside of the vehicle) anyway I guess at some point or another the wire somehow got cut maybe I ran over a rock or something. but after inspecting the wiring on the underside of the body I found that one of the wires was cut. I spliced and soldered it back together and voila let there be light. Anyway I am in the process of re-wiring and relocating the wiring to the inside of the cab. (the wiring for the rear accessories runs under the cab. look under the cab near where the spare tire and fuel tank are and eventually you will find the wiring./

[colby]

all I know so far is everything looks good... but I dont have power at the sokets(sp?)

[woodybeone]

Do you have the factory trailer tow package? If so there is a relay box inline with the harness under the wag in front of the rear bumper. There could be a failing relay controlling the tail lights.
Locate the 6 pin flat harness connector , disconnect and test pin #3 to ground for 12 volts DC. Pin #3 is the third pin from the left with the clip of the connector pointing down(should be a blue wire). If no 12 v the youwill need to start at the front and work your way back until you find the break. Start at the fuse block and test for voltage on both sides of the fuse. Then it goes to an 8 pin bulkhead connector on the left firewall to a 2 pin connector in the rear then to a 4 pin square connector .

[Manhattan]

Originally posted by woodybeone:
Do you have the factory trailer tow package? If so there is a relay box inline with the harness under the wag in front of the rear bumper. There could be a failing relay controlling the tail lights.
Locate the 6 pin flat harness connector , disconnect and test pin #3 to ground for 12 volts DC. Pin #3 is the third pin from the left with the clip of the connector pointing down(should be a blue wire). If no 12 v the youwill need to start at the front and work your way back until you find the break. Start at the fuse block and test for voltage on both sides of the fuse. Then it goes to an 8 pin bulkhead connector on the left firewall to a 2 pin connector in the rear then to a 4 pin square connector .This gets my vote - I "had" the factory trailer harness - it fried and took most of my lights with it. I had a friend (and ex-Chrysler electrician) bypass it.

[colby]

nope. no towing package. mine didnt even come with a back seat. It was a city vehicle. but, someone did hack their own towing harness back there(just noticed) this sucks.

1 more question. there is a 3.5 amp fuse that says acc under it in the fuse block. would this control the washer fluid pump? for some reason the 3.5 amp fuse was pulled out a little? In case you didnt guess my pump doesnt work anymore!

[woodybeone]

Well what do you want, working tail lamps or a clean windshield ? smile.gif
The wipers and washer are fused by a 5.5 amp circuit breaker. If your wipers work and not the pump then check for power at the pump connection. Could be a bad switch or pump.
The 3 amp ACC/LPS is for the instrument panel lamps.

[colby]

wipers work. washers dont. I checked for power at the connection and got nothing. that was with a cheap test light(dont know how accurate it is)
the switch you refer to... are you talling about the multi-function switch(blinker arm)? It had never been touchy before?? Im stumped

[woodybeone]

Yes the blinker/wiper/washer/cruise stalk. You did have someone turning&holding the washer switch ON when you were checking for voltage correct? The switch sends power to the pump. Try jumping power to the pump on the violet/white wire, the black is ground to prove out the pump. You may have a bad switch or broken wire between the switch and the firewall.

[colby]

yes I had someone pulling the switch. ;) I will try the violet wire tonight and let you know
THANKS

[colby]

good news! I plugged washer tank/motor back in. pushed the switch and it worked?!? I didnt do anything?

bad news! I looked under the rear at the hacked in trailer light harness. I touched one connector that appeared to be corroded. when I touched it, it snapped in half!! upon further inspection, most of the wires back there are broken in half!! lots of work to do.

[Kukur]

Yeah... I just got pulled over for no tail lights a couple nights ago.

The wire coming of a main wire harness near the rear bumper was shot (sandblasted by the gravel on the roads probably). I have been working my way from the tail light back replacing some bad wires. Thought I had them fixed... then lost one farther upstream. I picked up some of that black corrugated plastic for wrapping wires. Won't last forever, but should protect the wires for a while.

Oh well. The neighbors probably enjoyed seeing the cops in front of the house! :D

[colby]

good news- my buddy helped to repair the wiring where someone hack a uhaul trailer harness into. We eliminated 3.5 to 4 feet of wire. almost every wire was rotted through. the wire for the tail lights was broke in half.