leperboy

What is the most eficient way to access the driver side taillight harness on an 86.5? I have an inop taillight and it isn't the socket or the bulb so I suspect water is getting in and damaged the connectors, or the wiring is broken.

Do I need to remove the bumper cover?

Thanks,
Matt

leperboy

Before I start taking off the bumperettes and dig in... anyone?

Matt

brutus

Yes the cover MUST come off.

leperboy

Boooooooo.

Oh well, thanks for the confirmation. I've done this job before so there should be no surprises.

Matt

Landseer

^^^???

No, only as a last resort, that is, if the tailight fixture itself is broken inside.

Driver's side is easy. All the wiring is pretty much accessible along the inside of the trunk/

Left rear marker and left rear taillight are on same feed.
Does the marker work?

I'd be tracing the hell out of the wires before pulling off that bumper cover.

leperboy

The taillight is fine. I don't see any corrosion there. I am not getting power at the connector, so both the side marker and tail light are out. I can trace the harness under the carpet in the rear. Where are the best points/likely weak points to test for 12V?

Matt

Mrmerlin

Hi Matt Happy New Year.,.

If you remove the cargo hold down screw on the left side then the few screws holding down the rear edge of the interior quarter cover you can then pull it back enough to get a look at the wires for the rear tail light. the connector should be under the liner,
and also remove the side marker bulb these sometimes get rusty and take out the tail lights

leperboy

Hi Stan, and happy new year too.

I've already checked the bulb and socket and the connector. Bulb and socket look good. No power at the connector, so the problem is between the connector and the power source.

Does anyone know if a lamp control unit can affect the tail light on one side only?

Matt

GlennD

Matt,

I had a similar problem. I had a spare tail light assembly which I used to track my issue. As you already appear to be leaning to, it was the bulb monitor (lamp control assembly) which caused me issues.

Maybe there is something in my post that may help you

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...ght-fixed.html

Good luck

Glenn

leperboy

Awesome, Glenn. It sounds exactly like my issue and now I have some direction. My next step was to test the control unit since it seems like the next logical place for failure, and you described exactly how to do it. Before my blower was resealed there was moisture down there, so here's hoping it's just a little corrosion.

Very much appreciated.

Matt

leperboy

Thanks for the replies, guys. I went in and cleaned the lamp control unit connections with a wire brush and some DeOxit. Problem solved - no more inoperable driver side tail light.

Thanks for the help.

Matt