rear running lights died

[feyd_w]

what would make them just die? all my fuses are good, and the tail lights still work.

[o1roadkingrider]

.what would make them just die? all my fuses are good, and the tail lights still work.

I had a similar problem, twice! I searched all over the internet (including zilvia), but didn't find where anyone had resolved the issue and posted an explanation of what caused their problem. So, here's my story:

First time around I had no lights on the rear of the car whatsoever, and my electric antenna would go up when I hit my right turn signal. I also had no fuel gauge reading. These malfunctions were caused by salty road water getting inside my left rear wheel well via a rust hole. (one I didn't know about)

There are two junction plugs between the rear chassis harness and the front chassis harness that are located under your package tray (where the rear speakers are). These junction plugs are outboard of your left rear strut tower, and run through through a white plastic retainer. One plug contains wires for your fuel pump and fuel level. The other plug contains wire for all of the lights in the rear of the car, and your power antenna. Mine was toast... green corrosion had taken it over and was causing shorting between the wires at the these plugs.

To fix this I had to cut all the wires, about three inches out from the plugs in both directions, and splice in new wiring between the two sides. Don't skimp here, solder your wires.... no cheap butt connectors.

After the fix above, all was fine for about a week. Then I lost my parking lights, clock, dash lights, and radio power. The turn signals all worked, and so did the headlights, but I had no parking lights.

This ended up being a short in the socket of my left front side marker light. I am sure this was the result of two things; running no forward fender well skirt, and the salty road water getting into the light and socket.

I suggest replacing all of your fuses with the indicator type first. They light up when they blow. It helped me tremendously. Unplug all "running lights" and inspect their sockets. They should be clean and corrosion free (its green most of the time). Now, with no bulbs plugged in, and new fuses in place, turn your light switch on. If you pop a fuse, the problem is probably in your wiring. If you don't pop a fuse, start putting your bulbs back in and check your fuses after each bulb is replaced.

Happy hunting...