rear side markers out

[Kaptain Kadian]

I was driving my truck today for the 1st time in a while, and saw that neither side markers are on in the rear of the truck. The front are on, but no rear. I didn't see any fuses blown in the fuse block and the bulbs did not appear to be blown. Any suggestions on where to start checking?

[doo142]

Check the bulbs , the side markers are plugged in to the tail harness , check that plug , and beyond those quick checks , use a test light and follow to power

[Andy4639]

Check the grounds on each one to! Some times just checking the bulb will get it back working! Twist it out of the housing and check it. Plug it back in and poof it works most of the time.

[Kaptain Kadian]

I pulled both of the bulbs and I can't tell for sure if they are blown or not. They are both kind of dark colored and I can't see in them very well. I am going to get new bulbs tomorrow, but am a little concerned as why both would have gone out at the same time, but the brake lights still work fine.

[Andy4639]

Brake lights and side marker's are different circuit's.
Dark color pretty much means they blew. Those are clear bulbs. Have you had anything short are maybe used jumper cables with the lights on.

[Gromit]

Definitely check the grounds - when I first checked my rear marker light grounds I initially took a quick look and thought "okay looks good"

But as I encountered problems sorting it out - I found that actually NOT - In other words my initial observations were wrong because I was not looking closely enough- really you need to look VERY closely - like with a 5X jeweler's loupe - at the actual connections - metal to metal - as in exactly where the grounding fitting bolt meets the clean bare metal of the rear fender..

Take a good look at the bolt - it has a particular ridge on it - when it corrodes it impedes the ground path.

I'll attach a couple photos -

But there is no way around getting at least one known good bulb to test things.. luckily that isn't too expensive..

Hope the photos help - sorry I know this is kind of weak advice - just trying to do what I can..

[CG]

Dark bulbs are usually a sign of a burnt out bulb.

[71K20chevy]

Had all kinds of rear light issues that popped up suddenly until I added a couple grounds.

[Kaptain Kadian]

Thanks. I am going to pick up a couple bulbs tomorrow and go from there

[Kaptain Kadian]

Looks like it was just blown light bulbs. Still not sure why the both blew at the same time, but oh well. Thanks for the help.

[davepl]

Originally Posted by Kaptain Kadian

Looks like it was just blown light bulbs. Still not sure why the both blew at the same time, but oh well. Thanks for the help.

Well, they get used the exact same amount, maybe they had the exact same lifespan :-)