I am in need of great help. My daily driver Maverick's tail lights aren't working properly. Driver side is mostly in, but goes out every now and again, and the passenger rear are always out. I changed the bulbs last night and the driver side has worked fine so far, but the passenger side bulb turned white as soon as I turned the lights on like it blew right away. I was just going to buy new brackets, but I cant find them anywhere. Plus I was going to do some rewiring in the trunk. So I guess this post has two questions... One, where can I find the brackets and Two, do you guys have any other suggestions? Thanks for your help!
i used to know a guy who was really good at solving electrical problems. he told me that 99% of all odd electrical problems are caused by poor/bad grounds. next choice was intermittent shorts.
I tried putting the good bulb in the passenger side too, but it didnt work. I put it back over to the driver side and it works fine... yes, maybe it was a bad bulb, but that passenger side tail still doesnt work. what about where I can get the connectors for the bulbs?
I dont know if this is there real name but if you go down to a parts house and ask for pigtails they should know what your talking about thats what i have always called them. Its the plastic peice the bulb goes into.. i think thats what you mean. they come with like a foot of wire for each wire.
To help solve electrical problems like this, one of those test lights are a great help. They are pretty cheap and you can get them almost anywhere that sells automotive tools. As Dave said, most problems like this are because of poor or lacking grounds. Even if the fixture is grounded properly, the socket itself (which I assume is what your calling brackets) can be too corroded to work properly. With a test light you can hook it up and test it on the known working side, then move over and test the terminals in the socket of the nonworking side. If the light lights, you have a ground problem. If it doesn't, your missing the 12v.
check the ground to each tail light.might have a little corrosion in between the mounting surfaces.as dennis said,a test light.it takes a lot of the guess work out.
try cleaning the sockets of any rust, make sure the bulbs are tight in them once plugged in, and make sure the surface between the socket clamps and the tail light holes are clean of rust. some good advice above for troubleshooting any shorts.
