STILL blowing the tail light fuse!!!!! - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

5150 · 09-09-2005, 10:04 AM

Does anybody have a diagram of the wiring for the rear tail lights on a stepside? I know that there is the 4 wires that are originally back there, but then somebody has spliced them up.

Thanks,

Bryan

Pole Kitty · 09-09-2005, 10:18 AM

Does it blow the fuse as soon as you put it in?

jhow66 · 09-09-2005, 10:19 AM

4 wires
1-Brown--running lights both sides & license plate light.
2-yellow--brake light & turn signal-drivers side
3-dark green--brake light & turn signal-pass. side
4-light green--backup lights

chevyguy_72 · 09-09-2005, 10:32 AM

mine use to do this when i had a tack illumination wire splced on and the tack went bad and it blew a ton of fuses. Had tried everything then i pulled that wire and that did it.

Maximum Overdrive · 09-09-2005, 10:36 AM

Seems to be an aweful lot of these trucks that have had someone hacking into the wiring harness near the taillights. Best thing is to rewire it and then fix the ground for the taillights. I suspect so many people hacking into the harnerss back there because they had problems with the taillights not working and thought it was the wiring when what it actually seems to be is a bad ground setup for the taillights in these trucks.

5150 · 09-09-2005, 11:16 AM

Tell me if this is a good idea. I thought I'd get all 4 wires and cut where they spliced.

Take wire off License plate and Hook it to Brown wire

Take my white wire on Driver's Tail light-Hook it to Yellow Wire

Take my white wire on Pass Tail Light-Hook it to Dark Green Light

Take both black wires on Tail lights and Ground them

Don't have any back up lights so no need for that.

**69TowRig** · 09-09-2005, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maximum Overdrive

Seems to be an aweful lot of these trucks that have had someone hacking into the wiring harness near the taillights.

The rear harness on mine was hacked into to do a trailer wiring plug. Of course whoever did it was NOT an electrically minded person. Much like all the other harnesses in the truck. I haven't found one yet that wasn't cut into somewhere.

sneakysnake · 09-09-2005, 02:18 PM

Theres a plug in the fire wall where the stop/tail plug through, try unplugging it there and replace the fuse, if it still blows then you have a dash problem, if not then you know for sure that its the wire down the frame.

jhow66 · 09-09-2005, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellow69

Tell me if this is a good idea. I thought I'd get all 4 wires and cut where they spliced.

Take wire off License plate and Hook it to Brown wire

Take my white wire on Driver's Tail light-Hook it to Yellow Wire

Take my white wire on Pass Tail Light-Hook it to Dark Green Light

Take both black wires on Tail lights and Ground them

Don't have any back up lights so no need for that.

No. The 2 black wires need to be hooked to the brown wire-these are your tail lights. This will work if the white and black wires connect to the right element in the bulb (brake and turn will be brighter then tail lights-if not switch the whites with the blacks)

LUV2XCLR8 · 09-09-2005, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhow66

No. The 2 black wires need to be hooked to the brown wire-these are your tail lights. This will work if the white and black wires connect to the right element in the bulb (brake and turn will be brighter then tail lights-if not switch the whites with the blacks)

cdowns · 09-09-2005, 07:25 PM

the ground is where the taillight housing bolts to the bed ,, i've always liked to fun new ground wires from the housings to the frame

fastwillie 696969 · 09-09-2005, 11:04 PM

have you tried to see if the brake lite switch is bad

**VetteVet** · 09-10-2005, 12:49 AM

Here's a wiring diagram for you.

----------------------------------------

5150 · 09-10-2005, 08:59 AM

On this diagram is appears there is 6 wires that are going to the rear chasis.

Or do I need to splice the brown and light green?

purple gas · 09-10-2005, 09:28 AM

when I re- did my tail light wires ( the old ones were good near each end but in in the middle of the truck were brittle full of cracks & bare spots ) I went to an auto parts store and bought some 4-wire stuff made for wiring trailers. The colour of the wires was fairly close to what came stock ( brown, green , yellow, white, I think ) I took the plug out of the firewall ( near the gas peddle )and the rear ( off centre in rear frame cross member), took out the whole chunk ( it runs along the inside frame rail with little clips) Then I CAREFULLY spliced in the new wires, solderd, heat shrunk and then taped it real good. I sanded the inside connections on the male & female parts of the plugs, cleaned up the bulb sockets, put in new bulbs, then ran a new ground wire from the box ( bed if yer american) to the frame. Total cost for wire ( long box - 14 feet) bulbs and everything was under $20. Now everything works and should for a long time to come. If your wires are bad right up to the plugs, probly best to buy a whole new piece complete with plugs. That's what worked for me, good luck & stay calm. If you can.

BubbaGreen · 09-10-2005, 07:52 PM

Might have a defective turn signal CAM switch inside the steering column, ie, rotating the steering wheel might be blowing the fuse by shorting out somehow.

gator2511 · 09-11-2005, 12:27 PM

Disconnect the negative battery lead. Try going to the back of the truck and removing all the lamps. You should have a plug on the drivers side back near the rear bumper. Un plug this harness and this will isolate the rear wiring from the rest of the truck. Then use an ohm meter and hook one lead to ground and touch the other lead to both sides of the contact in each lamp socket. Only one side should give you a reading to ground.If you get a reading on both sides of any socket check the wire color to see which one should not be grounded and follow it to find the ground. If you do not find a ground then check the wiring from the rear plug for grounds. None of the wires going back to the front of the truck should be grounded. If you find a ground in the harness going back up front then unplug the harness at the firewall to isolate the wires from under the dash. Check the wires for ground again. If you still have a ground on the harness then you have a bad harness. You may be able to follow it along the frame and fix the bad spot. If you have no ground on the harness going to the rear then check the wires going into the dash and find your ground there. You should look for any wires hooked into the wiring that shouldn't be there.

FRENCHBLUE72 · 09-11-2005, 09:01 PM

Thanks for the harness diagram just what I needed to finish up my taillight's today..

**VetteVet** · 09-11-2005, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FRENCHBLUE72

Thanks for the harness diagram just what I needed to finish up my taillight's today..

If you mean me then you are more than welcome, glad I could help.

09-09-2005, 10:04 AM	#1
5150 C10 Club Tennessee Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: White House, TN 37188 Posts: 8,281	STILL blowing the tail light fuse!!!!! Does anybody have a diagram of the wiring for the rear tail lights on a stepside? I know that there is the 4 wires that are originally back there, but then somebody has spliced them up. Thanks, Bryan __________________ Bryan www.gmtruckshow.com Project "Andes"-Halen's First Truck Project: Patina Burb for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4

09-09-2005, 10:19 AM	#3
jhow66 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Knoxville Tenn. Posts: 3,058	4 wires 1-Brown--running lights both sides & license plate light. 2-yellow--brake light & turn signal-drivers side 3-dark green--brake light & turn signal-pass. side 4-light green--backup lights __________________ 56 Chevy Bel-Air 2dr. HT (purchased new) 71 Chevy Cheyenne SWB PU (502HO) 65 GMC short bed step--work in progress and my gofer

09-09-2005, 10:32 AM	#4
chevyguy_72 Vintage Evil Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Hastings, Nebraska Posts: 956	mine use to do this when i had a tack illumination wire splced on and the tack went bad and it blew a ton of fuses. Had tried everything then i pulled that wire and that did it. __________________ Current Rides: Vintage Evil - 72 Chevy C10 (Always a work in progress) Vintage Evil Build Thread EvilK5 - 71 K5 Blazer Evil Twin - 2006 Suzuki M109R EvilDmax- 2018 GMC 2500 Denali Duramax

09-09-2005, 10:36 AM	#5
Maximum Overdrive December 21, 2012 Join Date: Apr 2000 Location: Black Eagle, Montana Posts: 1,633	Seems to be an aweful lot of these trucks that have had someone hacking into the wiring harness near the taillights. Best thing is to rewire it and then fix the ground for the taillights. I suspect so many people hacking into the harnerss back there because they had problems with the taillights not working and thought it was the wiring when what it actually seems to be is a bad ground setup for the taillights in these trucks. __________________ *"!Ama Sua, Ama Kjella, Ama Lllulla!"*

09-09-2005, 11:16 AM	#6
5150 C10 Club Tennessee Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: White House, TN 37188 Posts: 8,281	Tell me if this is a good idea. I thought I'd get all 4 wires and cut where they spliced. Take wire off License plate and Hook it to Brown wire Take my white wire on Driver's Tail light-Hook it to Yellow Wire Take my white wire on Pass Tail Light-Hook it to Dark Green Light Take both black wires on Tail lights and Ground them Don't have any back up lights so no need for that. __________________ Bryan www.gmtruckshow.com Project "Andes"-Halen's First Truck Project: Patina Burb for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4

09-09-2005, 10:18 AM	#2
Pole Kitty Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Denton, Texas Posts: 44	Does it blow the fuse as soon as you put it in?

09-09-2005, 02:18 PM	#8
sneakysnake It's a catastrophic success. Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 2,077	Theres a plug in the fire wall where the stop/tail plug through, try unplugging it there and replace the fuse, if it still blows then you have a dash problem, if not then you know for sure that its the wire down the frame.

09-09-2005, 07:25 PM	#11
cdowns Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: daytonabeach Posts: 22,956	the ground is where the taillight housing bolts to the bed ,, i've always liked to fun new ground wires from the housings to the frame __________________ 71c-10 350/2004r/4:11 lowered3/4 longbed/dead by hurricane MEANING OF DEATH::::: SOMEBODY ELSE GETS YOUR STUFF DONT BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU THINK TAKE MY ADVISE;I DON'T USE IT ANYWAY

09-09-2005, 11:04 PM	#12
fastwillie 696969 ~Rest In Peace~ Join Date: May 2005 Location: CALIFORNIA NOR CAL Posts: 9,707	have you tried to see if the brake lite switch is bad __________________ is it fast ? it has a lighting bolt donut? B___H please, I can remove 90% of your so called "beauty" with a kleenex

09-10-2005, 12:49 AM	#13
VetteVet Msgt USAF Ret Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan Posts: 8,723	tailight wiring Here's a wiring diagram for you. ---------------------------------------- __________________ VetteVet metallic green 67 stepside 74 corvette convertible 1965 Harley sportster 1995 Harley wide glide Growing old is hell, but it beats the alternative. Last edited by VetteVet; 08-30-2010 at 08:16 AM.

09-10-2005, 08:59 AM	#14
5150 C10 Club Tennessee Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: White House, TN 37188 Posts: 8,281	On this diagram is appears there is 6 wires that are going to the rear chasis. Or do I need to splice the brown and light green? __________________ Bryan www.gmtruckshow.com Project "Andes"-Halen's First Truck Project: Patina Burb for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Romans 13:4

09-10-2005, 09:28 AM	#15
purple gas Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: saskatoon, planet earth Posts: 697	when I re- did my tail light wires ( the old ones were good near each end but in in the middle of the truck were brittle full of cracks & bare spots ) I went to an auto parts store and bought some 4-wire stuff made for wiring trailers. The colour of the wires was fairly close to what came stock ( brown, green , yellow, white, I think ) I took the plug out of the firewall ( near the gas peddle )and the rear ( off centre in rear frame cross member), took out the whole chunk ( it runs along the inside frame rail with little clips) Then I CAREFULLY spliced in the new wires, solderd, heat shrunk and then taped it real good. I sanded the inside connections on the male & female parts of the plugs, cleaned up the bulb sockets, put in new bulbs, then ran a new ground wire from the box ( bed if yer american) to the frame. Total cost for wire ( long box - 14 feet) bulbs and everything was under $20. Now everything works and should for a long time to come. If your wires are bad right up to the plugs, probly best to buy a whole new piece complete with plugs. That's what worked for me, good luck & stay calm. If you can. __________________ I got a bench seat baby, you don't have to sit over there.

09-10-2005, 07:52 PM	#16
BubbaGreen Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Cedar Park, TX Posts: 686	Might have a defective turn signal CAM switch inside the steering column, ie, rotating the steering wheel might be blowing the fuse by shorting out somehow. __________________ 71 Chevy C-10 SWB Fleetside RamJet-350/4L60e & Compushift/3.73Posi See it at www.prismnet.com/~grzanich

09-11-2005, 12:27 PM	#17
gator2511 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: tampa florida Posts: 776	Disconnect the negative battery lead. Try going to the back of the truck and removing all the lamps. You should have a plug on the drivers side back near the rear bumper. Un plug this harness and this will isolate the rear wiring from the rest of the truck. Then use an ohm meter and hook one lead to ground and touch the other lead to both sides of the contact in each lamp socket. Only one side should give you a reading to ground.If you get a reading on both sides of any socket check the wire color to see which one should not be grounded and follow it to find the ground. If you do not find a ground then check the wiring from the rear plug for grounds. None of the wires going back to the front of the truck should be grounded. If you find a ground in the harness going back up front then unplug the harness at the firewall to isolate the wires from under the dash. Check the wires for ground again. If you still have a ground on the harness then you have a bad harness. You may be able to follow it along the frame and fix the bad spot. If you have no ground on the harness going to the rear then check the wires going into the dash and find your ground there. You should look for any wires hooked into the wiring that shouldn't be there. Last edited by gator2511; 09-11-2005 at 12:39 PM.

09-11-2005, 09:01 PM	#18
FRENCHBLUE72 PROJECT 7DEUCE Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: GRANTS PASS OR Posts: 21,606	Thanks for the harness diagram just what I needed to finish up my taillight's today.. __________________ GO BIG GREEN GO DUCKS MEMBER #6377 72 k-5 daily driver 6'' lift 35'' 350-350-205 slowly getting rust free. Project "7DEUCE" check out my build http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=267665 Tim Powell..R.I.P EastSideLowlife..... R.I.P..



Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.

Register or Log In To remove these advertisements.