Tail light help

[flash9376]

I have 56 pickup and I am having trouble with one of the tail lights. The rear driver's side turn signal doesn't work at all. It works fine for the 3 other lights. Also, when the regular lights are on, both filaments in the bulb light up. I've traced through the wiring harness and everything seems to be okay. Electrical stuff is not my strong suit. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Nite-owl]

Hi there,

Since it affects just the one unit, most likely Ground.
"Turn" filament has none, but when the taillight is on, current feeds back to the "turn" filament.

Mel

 

[40cpe]

just a thought: Remove the bulb and check voltage on each of the contacts in the socket with the parking lights on. If you have voltage on both contacts you have either a bad signal switch or the brake/signal wire is shorted to the tail light wire somewhere. If you have voltage only on the tail light contact you might have a socket issue where the bulb is bridging the hot contact and making both elements burn.

 

[dmsfrr]

The dual contacts in the socket may be slightly out of position or the bulb could be?
And double check that the fixture is grounded.

 

[paul2748]

Run a temporary ground from the taillight housing (where there is no paint) to the frame or other part where there is no paint. Ten to 1 it's a ground problem.

\

 

[KULTULZ]

The dual contacts in the socket may be slightly out of position or the bulb could be?

And double check that the fixture is grounded.

Some years ago ... ... bulbs started coming out of MEHICO. They had a defect whereas the contacts were too short and would not engage the socket fully. Nowadays, who knows where they come from.

 

[rotorwrench]

The brake light function is affected by the turn signal switch so that the high CP (brite) filament can work for both depending on how it is switched. The switch, the wiring, and the bulb are all suspect until you eliminate each possibility. The signal stat is in there too but if it works on one side then it should work for the other.