The right rear tail light and license plate light is not working. The brake light, blinker and backup light portion works fine. I have replaced the bulb and still no tail light. What could be the problem?

I switched the RR Parking Light Fuse and LR Parking Light fuse.

Still no RR parking light or license plate light.

 

Have you used a voltmeter to check for 12v? Bad ground maybe?

 

Not yet.

Based on what I'm reading, it seems like it might be a bad ground.

The top light works when the brake is depressed but not any other time.

What would need to be done to check for 12v?

Thanks.

 

Do you own a voltmeter or 12v test light?

Have you taken the light apart and checked the various sockets and plugs looking for corrosion or even something that overheated and melted?

Given that you have two lights not working, but bad connection is probably 'upstream' somewhere where the two join up. I'm not that familiar with the actual wiring on where those lic plate lamps get their power/ground from (and I can't climb under mine with the 3ft of snow on the ground).

 

Yes I own a voltmeter. Although I'm not sure how to use it. I'm thinking about switching the Left and Right connectors and see what happens. I figure if the right plugged into the left works I can eliminate the wiring harness that has all of the sockets. If this test fails, I'm going to figure out how to use my voltmeter and check for a bad ground. I am hoping the snow melts and I can fix tomorrow. Thanks.

 

this happen to my truck and i could not figure out the problem even tired replacing the wiring harness part for that light that comes off a module under the box of the truck (this module has 4 plugs on it). so i think that its that module thats screwed up and this module is connect to the main (computer/fuses) up front and it could be even wires leading there. Soo instead of replacing that or fixing wires, i spliced and add a wire into the running light of the side that works and connected it to the other running light, so that one light is feeding power to the other. after both lights worked fine and the running lights stayed the same brightness and they've been working fine for over a year and i haven't blown any fuses

 

I pulled the connector that leads to the front of the truck off and it was corroded and inside the connector one part looks fried. One of the prongs is completely deteriorated that the connector mounts onto.

So it looks like I need to replace the part that all the connectors mount onto and hopefully be able to somehow splice a new connector onto the the wiring that runs to the front.

 

I am having sort of the same problem, is it an easy fix or no? I have a 2002 Chevy Silverado 1500 and at first both my tail lights were out but all the other lights worked I checked both the bulbs and they were fine, then magically the drivers side came back on, I checked the bulb on the passangers side and it was burnt out, replaced the bulb and still nothing, the right tail light and the right license plate light, neither one of them works...I don't know a lot about auto repair, just some of the basics I learned from working on my dad's trucks and tractors when I was a little girl... is there some where I can get step by step instructions or if it is a complicated task...any idea how much a garage would charge to fix something like that?

 

i had a simaler problem with my 88 chevy
the trun signals would both flash if i used left or right the hazzards worked great cause there on a seperate cuircit
i was reading somewhere that it could have been teh curcuit bord inside the lights
it wasnt that with mine at all
turns out the headlight dimmer swith somehow the rod that goes into it poped out i poped it back in and guess what all my lights worked just fine
so i would check for that also the headlight dimmer switch is located under the steering colum under the dash on the dirver side it is whit plastic maybe black in some vehicals
again that was the solution to my problem
so maybe it can help you out maybe not and as for the tail lights check the curcuit in the tail lights temselves