tail light one side is dim

[my kids toy]

Just installed my AAW harness and new tail lights and the right side is dimmer then the left for the brake /turn/flasher
I switched out the bulb and touched a ground to the housing and to the frame with no change
Everything else has worked flawless through out the complete harness.
Any suggestions ?

[kwmech]

It's obviously a voltage drop.... caused by a connection not crimped correctly, connector not plugged together tight or a loose ground. Have somebody stand back there while you wiggle/squeeze harness' and connectors.

[truckster]

Make sure your jumper is connected to a good ground, and touch it to the rim on the base of the bulb itself. My bet is your ground is the problem.

[Sheepdip]

Quick test for a grounding problem is put a jumper wire from your battery ground post to the weak tail light ground.

[BigBird05]

When testing I always ground at the battery.

[57larry]

sounds like a ground problem

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by my kids toy

Just installed my AAW harness and new tail lights and the right side is dimmer then the left for the brake /turn/flasher
I switched out the bulb and touched a ground to the housing and to the frame with no change
Everything else has worked flawless through out the complete harness.
Any suggestions ?

What about the tail lights? They are the other element in the bulb. How do they compare? If they are brighter I bet money you have crossed the wires up. The brake lights and turn signals use the same element. Are you may have the wrong bulb.

[my kids toy]

There is no ground wire on the harness back there so I am assuming it is grounded by how the housing mounts.
Tail light fixtures are new.
instructions did not show hooking up a ground other then on the side markers that I am not using.
Tail lights to me look like the same brightness on both sides.
I will check the harness wires and try a ground from the battery.

[Andy4639]

Originally Posted by my kids toy

There is no ground wire on the harness back there so I am assuming it is grounded by how the housing mounts.
Tail light fixtures are new.
instructions did not show hooking up a ground other then on the side markers that I am not using.
Tail lights to me look like the same brightness on both sides.
I will check the harness wires and try a ground from the battery.

Correct, there is no ground wires to any of the tail light housing's . It's a mounting ground when you install the light fixture to the truck. If you just had it painted are painted the housing you will need to scratch a spot off for the ground though the screws that attach it to the truck. Might even have to do it any way to get a good ground.

I have even seen people drill a small hole in the bottom of the housing and put a long screw in it with a ground wire running to the frame for better grounding.

[HO455]

Is my brother riding on that side of the truck?
Did you verify both bulbs are the correct ones? There are dual filament bulbs that are the brightness on both filaments.

[pjmoreland]

Swapping the bulbs left to right would help identify if there is an issue with the bulbs if the issue moves to the other side along with the bulb.

[my kids toy]

That is what I meant about switching the bulbs, I switched the left and right bulbs with no difference.
I will be running some tests this weekend.
Thank you everyone for the suggestions.

[BigBird05]

At this point you need to check the voltage on the green wire at the bulb (remove bulb ) and compare it to bat voltage.

[fb111ewo]

I just did installation of the AAW harness on my truck and did the same thing.. dim tail lights/brake lights. I did what others suggested and ran a wire from the battery to the tail light to check the ground. That was the issue... poor ground (just had the truck painted). Mine is a stepside, so I just ran a ground wire from the light down to the frame and problem was solved.

[toolboxchev]

If FB's solution does not solve it, do the voltage test and look next at the turn signal switch and all those little connections in the dash.

That half moon steering column connector would be suspect to me also.

[rockyrivermark]

First check the ground.
Then If that doesn’t work check the ground again
Mark

[Robznob11]

I have seen brand new turn signal switches be bad. Lots of moving parts and the little metal tabs inside sometimes bend and dont make perfect connection

[tim_mc]

I ran extra grounds from the frame to the taillight housings too. I read somewhere that dealers/shops would often do this on new trucks to fix intermittent brake & taillight issues.

[Andy4639]

Horse shoe connector may not be making good connection. I had this problem with my Ramp truck when I installed the tilt steering column. The pins would push out of it but not enough to show. Pull and tug on it make sure you have good connections with a test light starting there and work your way back to the light at each connection until you find the bad spot.

[my kids toy]

I got it fixed and yup it was the ground.
Thank you all.

[Barnfind46]

I am late to the party but glad you got this fixed.

[BigBird05]

Originally Posted by Barnfind46

I am late to the party but glad you got this fixed.

It seams that most of the electrical problems with our trucks are grounds. That is why I add ground wires to all of my circuits that go back to the battery as long as it isn't a concourse restoration.

[Sheepdip]

Originally Posted by my kids toy

I got it fixed and yup it was the ground.
Thank you all.

It's been said many times...."90% of electrical problems are grounding issues"

[rockyrivermark]

Best advise I ever got when I started restoring classic cars/trucks regarding electrical issues.
“First check the ground.
Then If that doesn’t work check the ground again”
Mark
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