Issue with tail lighting section

[Domestics_Only]

i'm pretty sure its a ground issue, but when the lights are on, and i press the brakes the turning arrows light up on the guage cluster, also out back when someone else presses the brake for me i can see light coming from the amber section and the reverse section

like i said i'm pretty sure its a ground issue with one of the light blubs just looking for any other issue that it could be

[LMP]

Corrosion in the rear light clusters is a common issue. My Brother had to change both clusters in his 2002: the corrosion to the printed circuits that feed the lighbulbs was beyond repair.

['97ventureowner]

The circuit boards are in the path of water drainage from the top areas of the van, a poor design. Here is the part that needs to be replaced:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/CHEVY...spagenameZWDVW
If you go that route, make sure you seal the area from water seepage, when you install the new parts.

[Domestics_Only]

after looking at the entire unit seeing how it was built kinda knew i was screwed, however no issue just going to the scraper to pick one up

['97ventureowner]

Originally Posted by Domestics_Only

after looking at the entire unit seeing how it was built kinda knew i was screwed, however no issue just going to the scraper to pick one up

If you do that, make sure you carefully inspect it as it may not be any better than the one you have on your van now. Over the years, water trickles down and ends up damaging the boards. That is why it is recommended to thoroughly seal the connections with a waterproof sealer when you install the new boards.

[Domestics_Only]

well i replaced the tail right side tail which was the orginal start to the issue and no luck, so i decided to try the left still no luck so try replacing both, and still having an issue,

is it possible to run a ground wire from the tail lighting section to its own ground? to see if that fixes the issue?

also to make matters worse, my turn signals are lit up in the dash and the ABS light is sparactic, however i have zero tail lights except for the 3rd brake light which is constantly bright, when i use my left or right signal it flashes, and the only way the tails themselves work is with 4-way flashers and even at that they are few dull


starting to think that a 80 cent bullet would be cheaper

[cjstew4]

Originally Posted by Domestics_Only

well i replaced the tail right side tail which was the orginal start to the issue and no luck, so i decided to try the left still no luck so try replacing both, and still having an issue,

is it possible to run a ground wire from the tail lighting section to its own ground? to see if that fixes the issue?

also to make matters worse, my turn signals are lit up in the dash and the ABS light is sparactic, however i have zero tail lights except for the 3rd brake light which is constantly bright, when i use my left or right signal it flashes, and the only way the tails themselves work is with 4-way flashers and even at that they are few dull


starting to think that a 80 cent bullet would be cheaper

Forget the bullet, you probably have the short in the plug from the talilight harness ground wire. This is the copy and paste that I keep replying with. Unfortunately, I have folks cut down the circuit card (new ones you just bought) to solve this. You may need to go the new harness route as well since you are half way there. If you want to save some money, try my suggestion below.

Probably a short or ground issue on one or both rear circuit bds. (tailight assemblies). Make sure that your plug in harness connector hasn't shorted as well, as my 97's did. Both rear brake lights out, only third brake light on, as well as ABS and TCS idiot lights on. Cruise control not working either. You may have some or all of these symptoms, but it is probably the start of them. Pull the wire harness end off the plug to see if the middle contact (black wire of the harness) looks defective in anyway. If it looks a little burnt or its mating plug does, you have the famous short. If you buy new circuit bds (taillight assembly) only to solve your problem, goop weatherproof silicone caulk over the connection on both sides once you prove it works to prevent this shorting out from happening again. Design flaw by GM. Who would ever place any connection in the direct drain path of the rear hatch. The other option you have which costs about $5 is to label the harness wires that plug into the circuit board as to their location on the mating plug, cut the plug off the harness, attach connectors to each wire, cut down all 4 sides of the circuit bd plug about 3/8th to 1/2 in exposing the 5 pins. Be sure to clean off the shorted middle, thin prong/pin carefully. Attach the mating connector from the location markings you did earlier. Test the brakes, notice that your ABS/TCS dash lights are now out, and apply weatherproof silicone to the connections so that water, etc cannot collect at the harness or connections. The McGyver way, but my circuit has worked for over a year incident-free. email me separately at [email protected] to discuss more. Thought my ABS or Traction Control was on the fritz, but low and behold, only after looking this up on AF did I discover the problem and fix. If you go the new circuit bd route, the circuit cards I saw on Ebay recently were $27 US each which is a good deal. However, you still need to either replace the wire harness to them or perform the strip and add connector way I describe above. Thanks, Corey

[Domestics_Only]

Originally Posted by cjstew4

Forget the bullet, you probably have the short in the plug from the talilight harness ground wire.

frick this always happens after playing around this afternoon i used my test light and connected the ground to the trailer wires' ground and low and behold they are worked perfectly the plug on the right side almost looks melted on the black wire (ground) i'm going to pick up a harness tomorrow prolly wont be too expensive how far do i have to dig in the van to get to this connection? or would i be best to just cut off the end and just splice in the new connector on the tail assembly??

[cjstew4]

See what happens when you look further; you either ruin it beyond reasonable repair or you find the problem. If you get a new harness if it is reasonable, then use it but goop the weatherproof caulk over the whole connection so the short won't occur again. You can also use the old/shorted wire harness, but proceed as follows cutting off the bad/shorted plug.

The other option you have which costs about $5 is to label the harness wires that plug into the circuit board as to their location on the mating plug, cut the plug off the harness, attach connectors to each wire, cut down all 4 sides of the circuit bd plug about 3/8th to 1/2 in exposing the 5 pins. Be sure to clean off the shorted middle, thin prong/pin carefully. Attach the mating connector from the location markings you did earlier. Test the brakes, notice that your ABS/TCS dash lights are now out, and apply weatherproof silicone to the connections so that water, etc cannot collect at the harness or connections.

[Domestics_Only]

well we will see what going to happen worst case senioro the van blows up.. or is the best case senioro??