newly aquired 77

bought a 96 z28 6 speed the other week and knew of the problems and have fixed almost all of them. one thing i have not been able to figure out is my lighting issue

all of this only happens on the left side. right is fine both front and back.

-no brake lights, yet the lights are fine when simply ON. aka when i brake i just dont get the brake light/extra illumination i should be getting. also i dont think i'm getting power to my reverse lights.

-when i go to turn left and flip on my turn signal, inside on the dash i get a solid turn signal light, no blinking or blinking noise and no front or rear blinker (again only left side is doing this.)

so i guess half of the lights work or something? the rear lights are aftermarket LED tails and i had them tested and the guy said i'm not getting any power to the rear harness yet the lights work fine as stated earlier when simply: on.

HOWEVER, the other day, (i always use the turn signal even though i know people cant/wont see it..) i went to turn left, flipped on the signal, and it worked! made the blink and blink sound for left. i was so pumped and it worked for a few turns, but then nothing.

any suggestions?! can make a video if need be.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

The problem was quite simple up until you mentioned aftermarket LED tail lights. Either the bright filaments in the bulbs were burned out or there was a problem with the sockets or wires on the left side. The bulbs have two filaments each - dim for running/tail lights and bright for brake/turn signal. Either filament can burn out without affecting the other. When one or more bulbs are burned out, the turn signal goes on but does not flash. So all your symtoms could be explained by the one problem.

Now, with LED replacement lights you add additional possibilities. Normally the stock thermal flasher must be replaced with an electronic one to support LEDs (because they draw so little current they look like a burned out bulb to the stock flasher). However, if you had an electronic flasher then the turn signals would flash even without some of your lights working... which doesn't match your symptoms. The other way LED lights can be used is by adding a load equalizer on each side - basically a resistor that simulates the presence of ordinary bulbs so that the factory flasher still works. In that case, the load equalizer on the left side could be defective or the connections have come loose.

Your best bet is to test the wires yourself. There are three wires on each side - black is ground, brown is running/tail light power, and yellow is brake/turn signal power (left side only, the right side is dark green). Use a test light or multimeter to check that you have power on the brown wire when the parking lights or headlights are on. Check that you have power on the yellow wire when the brakes or turn signals are on. You can probably assume the black wire has good ground because the running lights work but it never hurts to check. If you have good power as described then check for some kind of small box wired between the yellow wire and ground - this would be the load equalizer... make sure it has solid connections at both ends.

If everything else checks out, try swapping the tail lights. I know they won't mount but they will plug in. If the problem moves to the other side then you know the tail light is the problem. If not, it's something in the wiring.

newly aquired 77

thankyou whitebird, there is a grey box on each side that i guess adapts to the LED tail lights, and the stock flasher for the blinkers is still there so that could be what you were saying to make up for the stock flasher.

ill throw up a few pics and or a video if i can because i found a wire that's not going anywhere but not harnessed and doesn't exist on the right side(very strange and i havent identified it as anything significant but maybe there's my problem"

ill use my test light and check the ones you've listed etc.

the guy at autozone simply said i wasn't getting any power to the left harness. now ive met some pretty smart autozone guys that helped me with my 77 camaro, and ive met some dumb ones that say i'm not getting any power to my left harness when the rest of the lighting on that side works.

will post again a little later tonight or tomorrow morning when i do the testing

thanks

ktg22

Hey, I am having a really similar problem in my trans am, except i have stock tail lights. It started today when my right turn signal stopped working, and I assumed I had a bulb out, and when I got out to check, the front right yellow light was out. However later when I got back into my car, it was the light worked again, but my turn signal still didn't. In the tail light, it lights up solid where it should be blinking. Also, I don't know if it matters or affects this, but my exterior and interior lights flicker as rpms increase.. but at idle they no longer flicker. Any ideas??

Sorry to jack this thread, but I didn't want to create another one, on such a similar issue..

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Turn on your hazard flashers and walk around the car looking for the light that should flash but doesn't. I suspect it will be the front right. Then replace the bulb and check the socket for corrosion. Our cars are infamous for corrosion in the front lights because of water intrusion.

newly aquired 77

ok so i took my test light to the wiring harness and came back with the following:

everything worked when you said it should as far as lights to wire color, but brown comes back WEAK.

swapped the tail lights and it still happened on the rear left side and everything else stayed the same

newly aquired 77

ive read up that it could be my ignition switch too?

my radio occasionally kicks out for a few seconds at a time whenever it wants too, never really at a "same time as usual" kind of thing, just randomly.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

When the radio dies, do the windows stop working at the same time? If so, it is probably the relay in the BCM needs resoldered. Relatively common issue, and easy to fix if you have a soldering iron.

What I would check is where the tail light harness plugs in under the car behind the rear seat. Possible that has corroded on the one terminal. Unplug it and check all the contacts, clean them if necessary. Also meter it out there and see what you get to determine whether your harness is bad or if the problem is further up.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

I'm not familiar with how your LED tail lights are wired (mainly because they're much too ricer looking for my taste) but I can offer some possibilities.

It may be perfectly normal for the brown (running/tail lights) wire to have low voltage. Some LED setups make the running lights dimmer by reducing the voltage in an external box. If you have three wires between that box and the tail light assembly then it is likely such a controller and the brown wire is probably only producing about six volts. If the box is connected only to the turn signal wire and ground then it is a simple load equalizer and would not affect tail light voltage.

In any case, low voltage on the brown wire would not affect the brake/turn signal operation so it is not related to your problem.

No, the ignition switch would not be the cause of this problem. The brake lights are battery powered so the ignition switch is not involved and, even if it was, both sides would be affected.

The radio problem is also unrelated. As SparkyJJO suggested, it could be a symptom of the cracked solder problem in the BCM but the BCM has no connection to the brake lights or turn signals.

newly aquired 77

hey whitebird00, i know you say dont pm you about things that can be answered in threads, but could i ask you a few in a pm? ill wait for your reply before taking the liberty to do so.


OK so i fixed my tail light problem both front markers that are in the same amber lensed housing as the turn signals had burnt out. replaced those. replaced my stock flasher with one from autozone: fixed my slow blinking problem. I then took the rear tail light off again to look at the wiring and figured maybe the previous owner had no idea what he was doing for the harness conversion to the LED's so i literally took out the housing for what would be the bulb that lights up for reverse/braking that is now adapted to the LED tail light, and turned it around and put it back in. all of that has now made everything light related on my car work 100%! PLUS as an added bonus, my reverse lights that i replaced 2 weeks ago now work

today was a great day for me and my lights.

next to tackle and try and diagnose/fix:

-replacing the coolant level sensor
-radio randomly cutting off
-MY LOW GAS LIGHT ISN'T COMING ON - IDEAS?!
-replacing the temp sensor and hooking the gauge for that up
-fixing exhaust leak (previous owner put on long tubes and CLAMPED a y-pipe on lead to a glasspack style no name muffler dumped at the rear axle.)
-figure out why my car occasionally idles weak and almost cuts out (i think its fuel related)
and i think that's it

maybe a skip shift eliminator later down the line, a short throw shifter that i try on someone else's car and like, different throttle body, better CAI, i dont know.. some new rear tires , repaint front and rear bumpers, and hopefully a different than stock hood *not too pretty*

thanks for all the suggestions etc guys, really helped me take things up and look around for problematic things.

BLKtA910

OK... everything but my P/S tail light will come on once I turn on parking light, but when I push the brake petal the two center lights go out. I've looked for breaks in wires and there isn't any. Need some help... cuz I'm stumped.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Have you replaced the bulbs? The tail/brake light bulbs are dual filament - a dim filament for parking/running lights and a bright filament for brake lights. Each filament is independent (one can burn out without affecting the other) so I expect you'll find you just have burned out bulbs.

JeepManAL.

Does anyone know what is causing the left brakelight to turn off when braking at night? And when I let go of the brake, the brakelight turns back on but very weak.

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Your Jeep has an LS1 in it?

Two possibilities... the most likely is just a burned out bulb. The brake/tail light bulbs have two filaments - a bright one for brakes and a dim one for tail lights. If the bright filament is burned out it will cause the symptoms you describe. Just replace the bulb.

The other possibility is a bad ground. That will cause each of the filaments to try to ground through each other. When both are on there is no ground path so the light goes off.

BLKtA910

It was the ground. I put a ground wire in the socket and it works now. The sockets ground is messed up, but thanks anyways guys.

Blister

I have an 02 Z28 35th anniversary. Turn signals on both sides, front and back do not operate. 4X flashers work fine on all sides.

I have found the 4 way flasher relay, do the turn signals go through the same relay?

The guy at Autozone couldn't help with that question, not much money, but don't want to replace a part if I don't have to.

Tried search, and found this thread. My concern is that the 96 wiring scheme is not the same as the 02.

Any clues on trouble shooting and fixing without pulling the entire steering column?

Blistered

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

Your car has two flashers - one for hazards and one for turn signals. While there are other possible causes of your symptoms, by far the most likely is the turn signal flasher (it is not a relay). The easy way to confirm is to swap the hazard flasher with the turn signal flasher - they're both the same model flasher. You can get a new one for just a couple of bucks at any auto parts store or even WalMart.

Blister

Whitebird-
replaced the turn signal item but cannot find relay.

It is not on the manual, any idea where it would be, certain that you do?

Cheers!

Blister

WhiteBird00

iTrader: (4)

As I mentioned, there is no relay in the turn signal circuit - the flasher is not a relay.

You will find the turn signal flasher (#1) clipped inside the lower dash just to the right of the opening when you remove the knee panel under the steering column. It is just above the OBD II port (#3).

Mliz8998

So I just got a 94 Formula and I've been reading the threads trying to figure this one out. I have working headlights, turn signals, reverse, and brake lights. The side marker lights in the rear do not blink when my turn signals are on. However, the tail lights work with the blinkers. They just don't light up with the headlights for night driving. Only when I brake or go in reverse do the tail lights work. I've checked the fuses in the dash and engine compartment.

The guy I bought it from had an aftermarket alarm removed when he got it. I also think the fog lights on it (which don't work either) we're aftermarket as well. I'm pretty sure when the person removed the alarm he cut something that interrupted a circuit. I'm just baffled why all that other stuff would work, but not the normal night illumination tail lights and side markers. All of the interior lights/ dash lights work as they should.

Pretty sure it has something to do with the alarm that was taken out.