1996 C1500 tail light fiasco

[jsgold]

I have a 96' C1500 pickup that has an on again - of again issue with the drivers side rear tail light. It will work fine then all of a sudden you get the old quick flash and the light working. I have cleaned it, check the wires, can find nothing. Usually the darn thing starts working as I work on it. Are the circuit boards on these a common failure? That is the only thing I can think to try

[jdmccright]

I've had a similar problem with my '95. It wouldn't go out, but the taillights would dim and the bulb out warning light on the dash would be lit up.

Turns out it was the wiring connectors that plug into the light. They had loosened enough that the contacts were not very good and they had oxidized. Try carefully using needle-nosed pliers to pinch them back closed and insert/remove them a few times to scrape off the oxides.

Good luck!

[j cAT]

Originally Posted by jsgold

I have a 96' C1500 pickup that has an on again - of again issue with the drivers side rear tail light. It will work fine then all of a sudden you get the old quick flash and the light working. I have cleaned it, check the wires, can find nothing. Usually the darn thing starts working as I work on it. Are the circuit boards on these a common failure? That is the only thing I can think to try

you have circuit boards [LED] lamps ?

If you have the standard old style lamps , the cleaning of the socket, replacing the bulb and on the bulb connections you apply a good amount of silicone electric grease. with this grease on the lamps the connections are less apt to cause connection issues. this can also be applied to the connectors that supply power here.

[777stickman]

Yes, the circuit boards have been an issue. Usually due to the cold solder technique used during assembly. NAPA has replacements fairly cheap.

[brcidd]

I this common issue? Do you live under a rock??

Yes...

O'Reillys stocks the tailight assemblies on the shelf-- bought both for my B-I-Ls Yukon- $43 I think for set of two. The GM parts counter man actually told me to go there-- amazing!

[jsgold]

LOL, NO I don't live under a rock...but may soon if the government has anything to do with it....But seriously sorry for the slow reply. I have never had to deal with this type of socket assembly. The old styles are no big deal and easy to fix. This turned out to be the board as the turn socket only was acting up. I d/c it and the metal was disfigured, which I did not catch when I cleaned the crud out of it. Looks like a nice newer way to screw something that worked up. Anyway I have it working again fine but I have to replace the entire RIGHT side too as I found the brackets were broken and I guess Red Green must have owned the truck as the right side was being held in with DUCT TAPE. So I think maybe I'll just replace them both with aftermarket units complete with boards. I will check NAPA though first. If the board is cheap enough I guess I could go ahead and keep the left lense assembly.