Taillights not working properly
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
From: Houston TX
Taillights not working properly I’m having a problem with my taillights. Whenever I put the right turn signal the 3rd brake light flashes along with the right turn signal. I disconnected the 3rd brake light at the hatch and now both left and right turn signals come on. And when I’m pressing the brake, the right turn signal doesn’t come on, but once the let go of the brake all the rear lights start flashing how I mentioned up top. I noticed a white wire in the brake light harness going towards the front where the sail panel is but I’m gonna check that out tomorrow. Any help is much appreciated
Moving to electronics.
How long have you had this problem?
Do you have any LED lights installed? If so, have you tried putting conventional bulbs back in?
So, with the 3rd light disconnected, all the lights flash when you take your foot off the brake?
Which harness? The one at the brake pedal? The one at the rear tail lights? Does this look like a non-stock wire? If so, you should definitely figure out where it goes and what it does.
How long have you had this problem?
Do you have any LED lights installed? If so, have you tried putting conventional bulbs back in?
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,328
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Another big question... what kind of car? Firebirds and Camaros have very different wiring because Camaros have separate amber turn signals whereas Firebirds use the brake lights for turn signals.
Assuming Camaro (from your avatar), there is no white wire in the factory tail light harness. First thing I would do is disconnect that white wire. Then I would check the tail light grounds - your symptoms sound exactly like what happens to lights that don't have a good ground... the current back feeds through the other filament in the bulbs and ends up feeding other circuits. That's the only way the third brake light would be affected by turn signals since the two circuits aren't normally connected to each other (other than the tail light bulbs sharing a common ground).
Assuming Camaro (from your avatar), there is no white wire in the factory tail light harness. First thing I would do is disconnect that white wire. Then I would check the tail light grounds - your symptoms sound exactly like what happens to lights that don't have a good ground... the current back feeds through the other filament in the bulbs and ends up feeding other circuits. That's the only way the third brake light would be affected by turn signals since the two circuits aren't normally connected to each other (other than the tail light bulbs sharing a common ground).
