97 Venture brake/turn lights intermittent or off

Cannot seem to fix an intermittent short in my rear turn signal/brake light 3-up type even after wiggling, tie-wrapping the wires so they temporarily work in my 97 Chevy Venture. I would like to track down the designer who had this wire harness to a female connector point up toward the drain path from the rear tailgate that I believe has caused this problem. When it works intermittenly, the "TCS"- traction control system and "ABS" trouble lights also come up. When my turn signal barely activates and only my third brake light comes on when this whole turn/brake light system is not working, the radio screen info flickers and the turn signal speeds up on the dash as well when I hit the brakes. The third brake light always works and the ABS system seems to be working as well. I do have a slow slave cylinder leaking at the inside of my rear wheel. Although this may be causing the ABS and TCS lights to come on, I do not believe the wiring problem is causing the ABS and TCS lights to come on. I usually have to go and jiggle and rig the wire as they plug into the 3 up taillight/turn signal assembly each time I start the van for that particular trip. :banghead: I do not want to have the only fix replacing this plug and wires to this plug only to repeat this when this design flaw wants to come alive next time. Any suggestions....????

Answers from www.justanswer.com (http://www.justanswer.com) were:
1. Replace the connector and fill it with dielectric grease, go past any green (corrosion) in the wires and solder connections and seal with heat shrink.
2. It would be best to buy the harness and solder it in. The taillight assembly will most likely need to be replaced.

Agree with above or other suggestions? Thank you.

That's what I was thinking while reading your post. In most cases you have to replace the boards (which houses the bulbs.) I would also use the dielectric grease to seal out moisture which is a root cause of many problems on these vans. Although this may be causing the ABS and TCS lights to come on, I do not believe the wiring problem is causing the ABS and TCS lights to come on.When my boards on my van became defective, I experienced the same problems you describe, including the ABS/TCS warning lights illuminating on the dash.Does your cruise control work also? Mine quit working while i had the problems with my taillights. All the issues you described, including the cruise control non-working problem cleared up once I replaced my boards.

On my 2001, found that the ground wire was bad at the plug. Took light apart, soldered a wire on the ground that supplies all the lights, bypassed the plug and all has been fine since.

On my 2001, found that the ground wire was bad at the plug. Took light apart, soldered a wire on the ground that supplies all the lights, bypassed the plug and all has been fine since.

Thank you. WIll tackle this weekend I hope. Very frustrating. I want a few words with the designer of this flawed system that is directly exposed to the environment and poorly protected. This should have been a recall since it affects your brake and turn lights.

I also agree this problem should have triggered a recall. My 97 venture is doing the same thing. I need to find out how much brake light board cost, thats the only thing I can think of to fix the problem.

I believe you may need a new wire harness as well. I just cut away the female/male socket assy now exposing the pins in the tailight assy to expose the 6 aluminum-ish and slightly corroded pins. I plan to cut tag the mating wires from the harness, cut and strip each one and attach a connector, and press fit each of those to now-exposed 6 pins at the top of the taillight assy that I will coat with dielectric grease. If it works, I will silicone weather caulk the top of this rigging and email you back.

I also agree this problem should have triggered a recall. My 97 venture is doing the same thing. I need to find out how much brake light board cost, thats the only thing I can think of to fix the problem.


Well, my fix worked per my thread on 6/27/06. I will now proceed to do the same thing for the DS taillight assy. I did see a burned out ground (black wire from harness) connection from harness through to the mating lead in the taillight assy though. I stripped away the burned out parts and attached the clip to the aluminum/metal lead. Everything works now; cruise, turn signals in rear, brake lights in rear, running lights in rear when headlights are on. An hour or so and you are there. I will try to include a picture later.

I believe you may need a new wire harness as well. I just cut away the female/male socket assy now exposing the pins in the tailight assy to expose the 6 aluminum-ish and slightly corroded pins. I plan to cut tag the mating wires from the harness, cut and strip each one and attach a connector, and press fit each of those to now-exposed 6 pins at the top of the taillight assy that I will coat with dielectric grease. If it works, I will silicone weather caulk the top of this rigging and email you back.

The "clip" I used to attached each of the 5 harness wires to the pins is called a Female Disconnect for wire ranges #18-22. 2 days into this with the silicone caulk already hardened and everything is working fine. Have yet to wash the van though. That will be the true test. I will only let you know if my silicone weatherproofing fails that final test.