One brake light wont work
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One brake light wont work
I have a 1997 Ford Ranger XLT. The driver side rear brake light will not work. All the other rear lights work fine. I checked the bulb and the fuses and there's no issue there. The instrument panel light is out as well, not sure if there is any link between the two issues but i figured I'd mention it just in case. This is my first post on here so thank you in advance for your feedback. Any help is appreciated.
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From: SW Va
Welcome to FTE.
Use your multimeter on the 20VDC scale to check for 12 volts B+ at the lamp socket to a good unpainted, unrusted, clean chassis ground point. If you have B+ to the socket contact, then the problem is with the lamps ground connection. So turn power off to the tail lamps & using your multimeter on the ohms scale, do a resistance check on the socket ground wire to the chassis ground point you used for the B+ test. If the ground lead is high resistance, look to its ground point for rust, corrosion, or a loose connection. If you get infinite resistance/open circuit reading, look for a cut ground wire.
If you Don't have B+ to the lamp socket, look for an open circuit in the B+ wire feeding the lamp socket. Let us know what you find.
Use your multimeter on the 20VDC scale to check for 12 volts B+ at the lamp socket to a good unpainted, unrusted, clean chassis ground point. If you have B+ to the socket contact, then the problem is with the lamps ground connection. So turn power off to the tail lamps & using your multimeter on the ohms scale, do a resistance check on the socket ground wire to the chassis ground point you used for the B+ test. If the ground lead is high resistance, look to its ground point for rust, corrosion, or a loose connection. If you get infinite resistance/open circuit reading, look for a cut ground wire.
If you Don't have B+ to the lamp socket, look for an open circuit in the B+ wire feeding the lamp socket. Let us know what you find.
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Thank you Pawpaw, I really appreciate your help. I fear that your advice goes a bit over my scale of knowledge and abilities. Electrical issues is not my forte and I don't have the equipment to test the connections. I was hoping that there would be a less technical test and fix. Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks All....
Thanks All....
Tuned
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 399
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From: Grand Rapids, MI
Basically you need verify there's power going to the lamp when the brake is pushed and then verify there's a good ground. It's actually fairly easy to check with a multimeter, which can be bought for around $20-$30 at Sears or most any other tool store. Since you said all your other lights in that corner are working properly I might add that the ground is likely ok with the brake positive wire being the prime culprit. It also might be helpful to borrow the known good bulb from the other brake light just to be certain the bulb isn't your problem.Welcome and good luck.
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From: SW Va
OK, you don't feel comfortable using a multimeter, so do you have a 12 volt test lamp??? If so, remove the brake lamp & use the test lamp instead of the multimeter, to determine if you have 12 volts to the lamp socket. If you don't have a helper, you can use a piece of wood wedged between the brake pedal & seat to turn the brake light on, or if you don't want to do that, turn the emergency flashers on & they'll cause the brake lights to blink, so your test lamp will blink if its getting 12 volts B+ to the lamp socket contact.
If you haven't already done it, good idea as Josh S has suggested, to swap another lamp in to make sure there's nothing wrong with the lamp in there now.
Harbor freight has a multimeter for about $5-$10 thats good enough to use for this & other around the house testing. The forum can likely help talk you through using it to learn something new, that'll likely come in handy later on other problems too.
If you haven't already done it, good idea as Josh S has suggested, to swap another lamp in to make sure there's nothing wrong with the lamp in there now.
Harbor freight has a multimeter for about $5-$10 thats good enough to use for this & other around the house testing. The forum can likely help talk you through using it to learn something new, that'll likely come in handy later on other problems too.
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Joined: Oct 2007
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From: Ishpeming Mi.
The multi-meter is a solid investment that will prove useful in places beyond the truck. I picked up my RS Micronta 25yrs ago and I'm glad I did. To this day I still use it pretty much every week, and I'm not an electrician by any stretch of the imagination. One from Harbor Freight is good enough for most needs although not something you're going to troubleshoot an aircraft with. A simple tool to use, not something you should be intimidated by.
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