update on the trunk lighting problem

Here’s an update on the trunk lighting problem. After wasting a Saturday troubleshooting I have found out that with the light switch pulled out to turn on the taillights, I removed one of the bulbs in the trunk lid that was not lit, and should have been. I took a reading from each wire to ground and got +12 volts on each wire. This is not stray voltage because from either wire to ground I can get this same lamp to light.Yea, strange, it’s not the switch because it does it with the switch in, and the auto sensor controlling the lights. My question is, there is a black wire and a brown with white stripe wire on the socket, which one should be ground so I can cut it away from where it comes from on its controlling circuit from the front of the car and just connect it to ground to get my lights working.:nono:

I was going to suggest that you buy yourself a Chilton's manual for your Century, but after looking at mine, you'll probably not find your answer there. They seem to be incomplete in the lighting area. Possibly there's some other publication where you can find the answer. One thing that just came to mind. Check all your bulbs and sockets for the correct bulb type and no shorts in the sockets from bent contacts. My son had a wierd tail light problem that turned out to be just the wrong bulb type. He spent hours on it.
You'll sometimes find +12v on both sides of a bulb when its supposed to be off. They sometimes switch the ground side instead of the 12v. Check all the other similar bulbs to see if they are the same.
Good luck.

Thanks all,I couldnt find the source of the problem so I did like in the old days,,unpluged the connector connecting the tail light assy. to the front of the car.Then tapped 2 wires from the side marker light to the wires on the tail lights.They work good and thats all that matters,only thing I lost is trunk light and remote trunk latch opener.
Oh well like I said ,,,the old days ,,,use the key and a flashlight.:bigthumb: