Joe Flanagan Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 I have dual filament bulbs in my tail lights. Tail lights work as brake lights and directionals. When I apply the brakes, the filament for the left brake light doesn't light. With the tail lights on, if I hit the brake, the left tail light goes out (no brake light). When I turn on the left directional, the tail light filament blinks on and off instead of the brake light filament. I checked and triple checked that the bulb is indexed correctly. I checked, cleaned, and tightened the connection between the socket and the tail light assembly. Pig tails are in good shape. Junction block in trunk is in order and connections are tight. I checked both contacts in the left tail light socket with a volt meter. Neither one is getting anywhere near 6 volts. Right side socket checks out fine. I switched the bulbs left side to right and the problem is not a defective bulb. The weird thing is that although the right side light works fine, I only get three volts at the junction block in the trunk. How this all developed is that I washed the car and discovered that the trunk leaks through the bolts that attach the tail lights and the rear fenders (the original rubber gaskets are still there but ineffective). I removed the tail lights and applied an auto window sealer around the bolts (black ribbon-type stuff made by 3M). I was thinking this might have created a grounding issue but it had no effect on the right side light. Any ideas what's going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) are you sure that with the paint, sealer and gasket and oxidation from water intrusion is not causing for a poor ground..this screams poor ground connections...run you a good ground wire from the socket or socket bracket to body ground..ensure also that your car has a good engine to chassis to body strap in play also and these connections have not been compromised.. PS and for giggles and 'be sure you know" do a input test of voltage to the brake light switch and compare that to the output voltage when switch is activated.. Edited May 22, 2015 by Plymouthy Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plymouthcranbrook Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 On my 52 the right rear turn signal doesn't work. Once did, now not. Brake and tail lights work. Ground good. probably a broken wire. You might want to check into that with a continuity tester. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted May 22, 2015 Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Run a separate ground wire to see if it is a poor ground issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Flanagan Posted May 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2015 Thanks, everyone. It looks like it was a ground problem. I made up a ground wire and the light seems to be working normally now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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