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all my tail lights are out

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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 03:46 PM
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Unhappy all my tail lights are out

does anyone know what the problem might be?
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 03:58 PM
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argh...this keeps getting pushed down and I really need the answer...does anyone out there know? I'm guessing it's a fuse but I'm not sure which one.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 04:02 PM
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are all of the other lights working? do they come on if you hit the headlight switch a few times?
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 04:16 PM
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I'm not sure...as soon as someone helps me out, I'll give the head light thing a try.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 04:55 PM
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Originally posted by SteveRanieri
I'm guessing it's a fuse but I'm not sure which one.
Just check them all!
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 05:11 PM
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Does your hand brake light come on, the one on the idoit cluster, when you press the brake pedal? If that is the case then you have bad bulbs.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 05:13 PM
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one night all my lights went out exept for the headlights and the brake lights...none of the interior lights worked, or any of the running lights. The headlight switch had a bad connection, so i had to take the dash apart and take the switch out...the connector was bad so i just soldiered the wire straight to the circuit board, bypassing the connector. haven't had a problem with it since.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 05:43 PM
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If all your interior lights and running lights are out and only your brake lights(when brakes are on) and headlights are working its your headlight switch. Take off you the dash moulding disconnect i think four connections and look at the light switch if its burnt than thats your problem. Happend to me twice thats my guess. Post your outcome
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 09:41 PM
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Ok...all my lights, everything work except the brake lights. I checked fuses, at least the ones that seemed like I should check, and they all looked ok. The ONLY thing that doesn't work are the damn brake lights....I'm baffled...I may just take it somewhere and see if they can figure the damn thing out. I just feel like a tard going to someone w/ this problem:\
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 10:05 PM
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A similar problem is happening to me but my driver side headlight keeps dying. First the low's went, and I put a new bulb in. The low's stayed gone and then the high's went.

I don't have access to a multimeter until wednesday so what should I look for.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 10:21 PM
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Originally posted by SteveRanieri
Ok...all my lights, everything work except the brake lights. I checked fuses, at least the ones that seemed like I should check, and they all looked ok. The ONLY thing that doesn't work are the damn brake lights...
First you said "all my taillights" (which could be a number of things), now you say "everything works except the brake lights"! You're not making our job easy!
If it's just the brake lights, it's probably the switch on the brake pedal that's gone bad. Check if it has continuity when you push the pedal, if not replace it.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 10:23 PM
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Check your CPU (both of you) for broken solder points. A lot of non-engine electrical probs are caused by that.

When your marker lights go like that (and sometimes you may lose your headlights with them) it's either the headlight switch itself or a short in the wiring between the switch and the CPU (the harness is less than 2' long and easy to pull out - or so I'm told.)

I fought with this 2 summers ago and it turned out to be the contacts in the switch - they were wearing down.

Brake lights disappearing - fuse, short in the wiring, bad switch on the pedal, bad soldering in the CPU, loose ground wire (easy to check for that in the spare tire well) or failing bulbs.

Not to be a **** or anything, but would it have killed you to have at least looked at the fuses before posting? Take you all of 2 mins and might have solved the prob right there...

ttyl,
Amur_
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 10:34 PM
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From: Rochester NY
Originally posted by NZConvertible
First you said "all my taillights" (which could be a number of things), now you say "everything works except the brake lights"! You're not making our job easy!
If it's just the brake lights, it's probably the switch on the brake pedal that's gone bad. Check if it has continuity when you push the pedal, if not replace it.
My bad...I'm guessing that's what it is too...any idea how much that will cost?
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 10:42 PM
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Same thing happen to me, I just walked into a wreck yard and picked one up for $5 (dealer cost was over $300?) Yeah before the fix, not only the tail light didn't come on but the dash light didn't either so I had no idea how fast I was going. Thank god for wreckyards and this forum.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 11:26 PM
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Originally posted by SteveRanieri
My bad...I'm guessing that's what it is too...any idea how much that will cost?
No worries!
Just do what ka8legend did, pick one up from a wrecker. Test it before you buy it.
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Old Apr 7, 2002 | 11:42 PM
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i love junkyards..without them my car wouldn't be with me today
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Old Apr 8, 2002 | 08:41 AM
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From: Rochester NY
Originally posted by NZConvertible
No worries!
Just do what ka8legend did, pick one up from a wrecker. Test it before you buy it.
ya don't have any clue how easy or hard it is to install, do ya?
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Old Apr 8, 2002 | 08:47 AM
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Remove your drivers side kick panel. you will see a black box by the fuse box, take off the nuts holding it on and unplug connectors. About 1/2 hours work. Very easy! Now taking the box apart to resolder the connections is a little bit harder
Hope this helps!
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Old Apr 8, 2002 | 09:55 AM
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thanks joe...anyone know what fuse is connected w/ the brake lights...just to make sure I looked at the right ones b4 I try and find a switch.
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Old Apr 8, 2002 | 12:53 PM
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From: Rochester NY
anyone?
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Old Apr 8, 2002 | 06:15 PM
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Originally posted by SteveRanieri
thanks joe...anyone know what fuse is connected w/ the brake lights...just to make sure I looked at the right ones b4 I try and find a switch.
Just check them ALL, there's not that many! And swapping a brake light switch is pretty easy. While you're checking your fuses you'll be able to have a look at that too!
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Old Apr 13, 2002 | 01:37 PM
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this happened to me twice!

I had the same problem, dash lights, tail lights went out. My headlights blinkers and brake lights still work tho. I then replaced the headlight switch and three days later everything went out again! Is this a solder point problem on my ECU, or a short in the wiring system?
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Old Mar 16, 2004 | 11:14 PM
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Does anyone have a diagram of the wires from the light switch?
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Old Mar 17, 2004 | 01:56 AM
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Originally posted by hyperdaddy7
so i had to take the dash apart and take the switch out...the connector was bad so i just soldiered the wire straight to the circuit board, bypassing the connector. haven't had a problem with it since.


by chance you didn't happen to do a write up on that for us that don't know where to bypass the connector to the boar. if not a write up would be great.






also i had the same problem. just got a switch from the junk yard and then replaced the illum 15amp fuse and WALA my tails worked.

Last edited by cezonetheillest; Mar 17, 2004 at 01:58 AM.
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