Automotive Question

[Guest bkelm18]

Ok, I have a 2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 6 cyl, my problem is in the passenger side rear light assembly. I drew a schematic for the visual people out there. The top bulb is both the brake and running light, the middle is the turn signal, the bottom is the back up light.

(O) Brake/Running Light

(O) Turn Signal

(O) Back Up Light

The brake light works always. The running light does not work, aka I turn on the headlights and the passenger side tail light does not come on. The turn signal works but it is extremely faint, so faint you can't see it unless it's night time and you can still barely see it. The front turn signal works properly. The back up light works. All bulbs are good and new. The turn signal clicker clicks at normal speed. I swap all the bulbs and holders around and all the same things happen regardless of which holder is in which socket. I am at a loss. Any help is appreciated.

[Guest Swamprunner]

Okay, here's the skinny. My bride has a 1999 Grand Cherokee, and I fought the same problem, until I figgured it was poor contact. Inside the tail light bezel there are three twist lock plugs that hold the lamps, and the plugs make contact with a small "bump" on the twist plug. take a rough grade of steel wool, or 400 grit wet/dry sand paper to BOTH the copper bump on the plug and the contact surface on the tail light bezel. Will be good as new. Promise.

[Guest bkelm18]

Hmmm well I have done that before but I might not have done it well enough. I'll try it again tomorrow.

[nightrunner]

the running light, aka tail light, could be a number of things. but the turn signal, provided its new bulbs, is either a bad connection or its seriously loosing voltage by the time it gets to the socket/bulb.

[Garufa]

Did you check all the fuses and bulbs?

[Sean S.]

I agree with Swamprunner, it sounds like you have a faulty ground.

[Guest coldblackwind]

Like they said, either you have bad connection, aka corrosion, or you have a short in the wire somewhere. Jeeps have connection issues. My parent's wrangler had a bunch of problems with the taillights/brake lights, and my cherokee will turn the hazards on occasionally when I hit the turn signal (damn you u-haul wiring people, and whoever got the U-haul harness before I bought the jeep!).

[Guest bkelm18]

This actually isn't the first issue I've had with the various lights on the car. Jeep really did a half-ass job designing the electrical system on these models. I'll polish the connection points tomorrow, again.

[dralarms]

I agree faulty ground, if it's wired for a trailer that would be the first place I'd check (I drug my explorer wiring harness on the ground until all of em shorted out, didn't know it was dragging). After that chack the connection where they went into the wiring harness to hook up the trailer. Then check the sockets on the right side, find the ground wire and make sure (using a meter) that when it's grounded it reads 0 ohms of resistance (or very dang close), with that short of a run it should have little to no resistance.

[Guest coldblackwind]

Try an '04. My parents had a turn signal go out, they are a printed circuit and leds, had to replace the whole taillight, its not just a matter of replacing a bulb, cost $80 for a new one.

[Guest tnmale46]

I agree with Swamprunner, it sounds like you have a faulty ground.

+1

[strickj]

I'm going to go against what everyone else is saying here.

I believe you might have a grounding problem

[Guest db99wj]

Possibly a grounding problem but I would you suggest you try this first.

Replace the socket that the bulb snaps into. You can get them at the dealership, they are about $7. This should fix your problem. The socket itself has 3 contact points that connect when the twist into the housing, not sure if they don't make great contact or what, but the combination causes the socket to get hot and they "short" out. I am guessing the socket itself is not all gray anymore, but has a copper/brownish color to the plastic?

A dealer here in Memphis, that is no longer, kept a bucket with the sockets in it beside the door into the parts warehouse. I kept one in my 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee at all times, for the most part.

Here is the part number: Jeep P/N 4676589

I replaced them in the left side so much, that I broke the housing and the contacts wouldn't make contact anymore, that is when I got the ticket for my brake light being out.

This may or may not be the problem, but I think it probably is by the way you describe it. I went about half crazy trying to figure out my issues until I figured this out. I would suggest you try this first before you spend a lot of money on it. I had an aftermarket trailer light kit on mine as well.

Also, I would find that an older bulb, even though still good, would not work sometimes, whereas a new bulb would work with a bad socket. I also kept new bulbs in there as well.

Edited August 6, 2009 by db99wj