Taillight problem
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Taillight problem
I have an 85 f150, while putting in a new cd player I accidently blew the flasher fuse. So after replacing it, my taillights only work when braking and when I use either turn signal both tail turn signals blink at the same time, also the reverse lights also dont work at all. The front lights all work correctly. I have no idea whats wrong please help. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Last edited by Wear; Aug 30, 2006 at 10:39 PM.
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From: Virginia
There are too many different types of problems going on in your post at once. What was involved in putting in the player? Why did you blow the flasher fuse, this circuit has nothing to do with the stereo circuit.
If I had to guess, it sounds like you have gotten into the steering column wiring somehow. The flasher does go to the steerin column as well as the turnsignals to the rear.
If I had to guess, it sounds like you have gotten into the steering column wiring somehow. The flasher does go to the steerin column as well as the turnsignals to the rear.
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when i took the stock radio out I accidently touch the power wire to a metal bar in the dash which is connected to a ground wire, some how the flasher fuse blew I dont know why, and i replaced the fuse, still no fix. But today I found a bad bulb, the one on the passenger side, its not on the front of the truck its on the side. Also today I tried to follow the wires from the rear to the front looking for a bad ground but could not find any ground along the frame, i looked every where all the way to the front and lost the wires in the firewall. If its in the steering column what would I look for. Thanks
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From: Virginia
If you hit the brake, and both rear lights light up, then that tells you the wiring from the turnsignal switch to the rear lights is ok. The brake power goes through the turnsignal switch in the column.
Both sides blinking seems like there is a wire melted together in the harness, or the turnsignal switch is bad.
Both sides blinking seems like there is a wire melted together in the harness, or the turnsignal switch is bad.
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From: Virginia
Originally Posted by Wear
When the head lights are on the brake lights dont work but with the headlights off the brake lights do work.
Since it's both sides, i would be suspicious that if the bulb grounds go to the bed, then the bed may have lost it's ground to the frame.
What's happening now is the brake lights are using the running light circuit for a ground path, since the real ground is gone. As soon as you turn on the headlights, power is sent to the running lights in the rear, so the brake lights lose the ground path they had found, so they quit working.
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From: Virginia
I forgot the running lights did not work in the rear.
This is a very confusing problem you have here. Certain circuits usually have certain failure modes or patterns. If everything worked before, and now doesn't after the stereo install, then that throws a whole monkey wrench into the troubleshooting and diagnosis.
Let's back up here a little bit. Everything worked perfectly before the stereo install? And right after the stereo install and replacing the fuse, you had all the problems?
The reason I am asking is I do not want to throw in the most common failures like corroded grounds and such. It could be something like that, but it would be an unusual coincidence if everything went haywire right after the stereo install. And since the stereo power wire has nothing to do with the flasher circuit, I feel there is something else going on here, like other damaged wires.
I am curious. Does the cd player actually work correctly?
This is a very confusing problem you have here. Certain circuits usually have certain failure modes or patterns. If everything worked before, and now doesn't after the stereo install, then that throws a whole monkey wrench into the troubleshooting and diagnosis.
Let's back up here a little bit. Everything worked perfectly before the stereo install? And right after the stereo install and replacing the fuse, you had all the problems?
The reason I am asking is I do not want to throw in the most common failures like corroded grounds and such. It could be something like that, but it would be an unusual coincidence if everything went haywire right after the stereo install. And since the stereo power wire has nothing to do with the flasher circuit, I feel there is something else going on here, like other damaged wires.
I am curious. Does the cd player actually work correctly?
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So I found out today that one bad bulb can throw all my tail lights out of wack. Al I did was replace all of the bulbs in the tail and they all work now, funny how what you least expect the problem to be could the answer. Thanks for all you help guys.