Tail light help

[Rigrocker]

Ok, just got my new tail light harness for my 68 step side { old one was hacked } Now I have strong flashers no parking or brake lights, when I pull parking lights with flashers, flashers go dim, when I turn signal, opposite lights and is dim. All in front is ok. I am new to site and don’t really know how to navigate to find already asked questions. Any thoughts would help. Thanx

[b.eddy's72]

check the grounds...........they may look grounded but check them anyway. Most people think the positive is the most important source but its the ground. Electrical failure often happens due to bad grounds. If they are all good unplug the harness at the back and check each wire with a test light (a helper comes in handy to change the signals and hit the brakes ect). Good Luck

[Rigrocker]

Thanx neighbor that was my next step, I use to live in Glen Rose and worked for Key Energy.

[b.eddy's72]

Your a long way from home now.................

[ole dollor]

Originally Posted by Rigrocker

Thanx neighbor that was my next step, I use to live in Glen Rose and worked for Key Energy.

i have a cousin in glen rose, glen rose has the biggest ,best ,paper shell pecans there ever was....and gooooood.

[b.eddy's72]

Originally Posted by ole dollor

i have a cousin in glen rose, glen rose has the biggest ,best ,paper shell pecans there ever was....and gooooood.

Sir if pecans are your thing but I HATE pecans. Yes I am a native Texan and I hate pecans, but I like armadillos, blue bonnets, and cold Lone Star Beer.LOL

[68gmsee]

I used to have all sorts of electrical gremlins on my truck. A few years ago, I decided to ground everything properly. After 40+ years of rust and road grime metallic continuity to battery ground is diminished.

I grounded all the major components to frame - cab, bed, radiator support.
Then I insured a good ground from cab to engine (factory ground on mine was behind engine head on drivers side).

[b.eddy's72]

You would be suprised what cleaning the grounds would solve. Another thing to consider is that a can of elect parts cleaner is cheap............buy a can, remove the light switch, key switch, ect and spray inside them and work the switch and spray and work it again. I do part time work at a guitar shop and repair guitars and amps and we go through the parts cleaner. People often bring items in with noisey pots or switches and we spray them out and hand it back to them fixed. My 67 that I bought 2 weeks ago only had taillights and I replaced both battery cables with new Duralast Gold 2 ga cables and cleaned the light switch and all lights work now.

[cdowns]

grounding each and every light is crucial for them to work properly/// a concept that seems simple but is very dificult for most to wrap thier mind around

grounding is not just 5 or 6 cables goin to the frame but a whole network fom the front to rear bumper

[68gmsee]

Originally Posted by cdowns

grounding each and every light is crucial for them to work properly/// a concept that seems simple but is very dificult for most to wrap thier mind around

grounding is not just 5 or 6 cables goin to the frame but a whole network fom the front to rear bumper

Of course that would be better but not practical. Most lights use metal to metal grounding to their mounted locations -with some exceptions of course. But a separate ground to each and every component is overkill in my opinion.

I used 5 ground straps and my lights and gauges work perfectly in my 68. Just make sure you have good metal to metal contact and a complete return to battery negative..

[cdowns]

a light does not light if it is not grouded is what i said

[Rigrocker]

I ran a ground wire to the frame from each light and everything is working perfectly. thanx everyone for your help.

[ole dollor]

well i am glad you got it working...even if you don't like pecans....lol

[Rigrocker]

I never said I did not like pecans, hell I had 4 trees at my house in Glen Rose.

[Rigrocker]

Just testing to see if my picture came up.

[b.eddy's72]

It was me that said I dont like pecans. I hate em. My dad used to eat pecans all the time, we had 2 HUGE trees at or horse stables and would take home bags of them and he would sit and peel them, bag em, and freeze em. YUK

[ole dollor]

rigrocker and b.eddy's72...sorry guys , i guess i got the post mixed up, i like pecans , even when i'm confused...