One brake light issue '89 Ranger

[Nicholas D]

Short-time ranger owner here, first post so apologies if this is in the wrong place, etc. I bought a 1989 Ranger a couple of months ago and have been working through a few electrical issues that have mostly been resolved just by cleaning the grounds on the front of the engine bay. The only issue I can't seem to fix, or find a solution to online is this:

When the headlights are off, all lights (brakes, turn signals, hazards) work correctly. When I turn the headlights on everything works as it should except the driver side tail light. It is a dual filament bulb, one filament for running lights and the other for brakes and signals as far as I can tell. Once the lights are on, both filaments are on, so the turn signal won't flash and the brake light on that side is on all the time. I've changed the bulb with a new one and get the same thing.

I've inspected the socket and it looks really clean and even though I suspect a ground, as far as I can tell, the two grounds at the front of the truck are it for both the front and back lights. Sorry for the lengthy post and any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Nick

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Short-time ranger owner here, first post so apologies if this is in the wrong place, etc. I bought a 1989 Ranger a couple of months ago and have been working through a few electrical issues that have mostly been resolved just by cleaning the grounds on the front of the engine bay. The only issue I can't seem to fix, or find a solution to online is this:

When the headlights are off, all lights (brakes, turn signals, hazards) work correctly. When I turn the headlights on everything works as it should except the driver side tail light. It is a dual filament bulb, one filament for running lights and the other for brakes and signals as far as I can tell. Once the lights are on, both filaments are on, so the turn signal won't flash and the brake light on that side is on all the time. I've changed the bulb with a new one and get the same thing.

I've inspected the socket and it looks really clean and even though I suspect a ground, as far as I can tell, the two grounds at the front of the truck are it for both the front and back lights. Sorry for the lengthy post and any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Nick

I think both lights share a common ground so if only ones out i doubt thats the case. I might be wrong though.

I would suspect the socket is bad, or someone did some bad rewiring at some point

 

[Nicholas D]

Wow, quick response, thanks! I'm going to really clean the socket and check again and then just try a new one altogether if that doesn't work then. Just didn't know if I was missing something obvious. There has definitely been some head scratching wiring throughout that has taken some sorting. Thanks again.

 

[Nicholas D]

Well, I guess even if the socket contacts look good and clean they should be scraped before posting online... doh! Really cleaned them up and all seems to be working. Sorry and thanks!

 

[dvdswan]

Glad to hear problem solved.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Well, I guess even if the socket contacts look good and clean they should be scraped before posting online... doh! Really cleaned them up and all seems to be working. Sorry and thanks!

No need to be sorry thats what we are here for