My rear tail light isn't working.. I haven't the slightest clue why. I'm guessing something is loose, but everything seems to be in place. I changed the bulb, and no difference.
However, when I move the wires connected to the bulb harness around a bit, it starts to work. Lately, it doesn't work at all.
I dont want to take this to the dealer since I know they'll charge me $100 for it.. how would I go about fixing this myself?
For starters get yourself a bulb tester - looks like a pen but with a needle at the end and alligator clip at the other. Take the bulb out of the socket, touch one side of the socket with the tester, the other grounds out to the chasis. Try one then the other to find out which is hot. Now you know which lead is hot, start going back (the needle thing can punch through the wire if need be)
Of course this all assumes you can get it to go on at the beginning of the test. My problem was withing the pigtail that joins the socket.
Oh and worse comes to worse, the hot is generally the colored wire - black grounds out.
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'07 Mazdaspeed3 Black Mica
'97 5-Spd Base San Marino - Traded in 5/7/07
Originally posted by Prelude1897 Just sounds like a fuse went out. Check your fuses inside your car
That was my first instinct.. and then I didn't know where the fuse box was so I couldn't check.
But the thing is, it's just one tail light, not both, so I just assumed that it wasn't the fuse. Is there a fuse for each one? And do you know how there are actually two lights in the tail lights when you have them on? It's the one right in the corner.. not towards the center of the trunk.
Quote:
Originally posted by 5Gen_Prelude Of course this all assumes you can get it to go on at the beginning of the test. My problem was withing the pigtail that joins the socket.
Oh and worse comes to worse, the hot is generally the colored wire - black grounds out.
is it the 2-pin bulb? the one that has the brake light in it? Mine is like that too and I've seen other preludes like that...for some reason the brake works if your not on the brakes...the bulb isn't on...unless u move the wires around or something..like you said...anyone know why this is?
No there isn't one fuse for every light - only one that is like that is the headlamps.
As for your other question - I don't know what you don't understand. Like where did I lose you? For the most part what I said was basic electricity - if you don't know how to deal with it, then don't ask for advice. If I was just condusing then let me know and I'll reword it. But essentially if one lamp is out, can't turn it on with hazards, brakes, indicator or whatever, then it's probably the bulb. If it's not the bulb, then it's the socket. If it's not the socket, it's the pigtail. And if it's not that, then it's the wiring to the bulb that has buggered up. Be aware however, the bubl has to go all the way in - it's really easy to leave it 1/8 inch out without realizing it.
As for the fuse box(es). One is near the hood release which contains a fuse puller (the diagram is on the door that opens and pops off). The other is on the passenger side, in the engine bay right in front of the passenger in the corner there.
Oh and you should find out which fuses to pull in that TT of yours... nothing like free mods!
__________________
'07 Mazdaspeed3 Black Mica
'97 5-Spd Base San Marino - Traded in 5/7/07
Originally posted by 5Gen_Prelude No there isn't one fuse for every light - only one that is like that is the headlamps.
As for your other question - I don't know what you don't understand. Like where did I lose you? For the most part what I said was basic electricity - if you don't know how to deal with it, then don't ask for advice. If I was just condusing then let me know and I'll reword it. But essentially if one lamp is out, can't turn it on with hazards, brakes, indicator or whatever, then it's probably the bulb. If it's not the bulb, then it's the socket. If it's not the socket, it's the pigtail. And if it's not that, then it's the wiring to the bulb that has buggered up. Be aware however, the bubl has to go all the way in - it's really easy to leave it 1/8 inch out without realizing it.
As for the fuse box(es). One is near the hood release which contains a fuse puller (the diagram is on the door that opens and pops off). The other is on the passenger side, in the engine bay right in front of the passenger in the corner there.
Oh and you should find out which fuses to pull in that TT of yours... nothing like free mods!
Hey 5Gen,
Sorry man, it's not that you worded it difficult, but more that I'm not familiar with that voltage tester thing you mentioned.
When the wires are moved around, the light will sometimes come on.. so I know it's not the bulb. I'm wondering if it's a loose connection somewhere. Do you think it could be a bad socket? I didn't think those actually went bad or anything.
I'm gonna check the wiring and such during the day when I have light.. hopefully it's something minor.
As for fuses in the Supra, I've heard that pulling the trac fuse gives you an extra 5-10 rwhp or something, but haven't done it. It's really stock, and I enjoy it that way. There are also hoses you can pull to have the turbo's at max boost, but I dont want to abuse the car.. call me a party-pooper, but I really baby this car.
The bulb tester I was referring to is a really handy thing to have. Think of it as a flat head screw driver that fits in your pocket, but instead of a flat head, it's a long pointy metal instrument (kind of like an ice pick). Inside the handle of the "screwdriver" is a fuse and a lamp that turns on when the circuit is complete. Coming out of the top of the handle is a wire about 2 feet in length with an alligator clip on the end. Basically your car works on the DC principles, with the positive end of your battery going to the fusebox and switches and coming out to the the lamp or cigarette lighter and what not. Now most have a return on them, but by making the entire chasis hooked up to the negative end of the battery, it means if you have a hot signal that you can slice into, to complete the circuit all you have to do is attach the other end to the frame of the car. Now if you did it direct, you would pop a fuse really quickly, but by putting a load on the circuit, in this case the bulb tester, you complete the circuit and the fuse is quite happy by all of that.
So the way you use this device is you hook up one end of the tester to the ground, and then poke away with the needle part of the instrument to find hot wires. If the wire is hot, the lamp in the device will come on. If it's not, then it won't work. In some ways until you figure out how it works, it's almost better to try it on a circuit that you know DOES work before you try to troubleshoot.
So why do you need this? Well you can do it with a volt meter but when you're not concerned with the output, just whether it's there or not, this thing works like a hot damn. The trick is is to poke and prod until you find out where the problem is. Because the problem is easiest to fix at the bulb (ie replace it), that's where you start. Then you try the socket, then the pigtail that attaches to the socket (basically the end of the wire run). If all else fails, you have to then stick the needle part of the tester through the insulation of the wire going to the pigtail until you find where the connection bad.
I'm being pretty generic here because it applies to all lamps in any car - it's all about finding out where the trouble is - and starting from the easiest to fix and working backwards is the best way. If you had two lamps for example, both fed by the same power cable, and one went on, but the other didn't, then you know that the problem has nothing to do with the fuse or the run of wire from the fusebox to the back. It would have to be the bulb, socket, pigtail or any wiring from the other lamp to that lamp (although normally you wouldn't hook up two lights in series as it would cause both lights to go off if one failed - remember the old Xmas tree lights? One bad egg ruined the whole string unless you found it.)
Okay so all of that may be elementary to you, but it may be helpful to someone else who knows how to fill the car up with gasoline and that's it. True story - when I was getting my tires put on my rims at the wheel shop, a guy came in and asked if his buddy was around to top up his air in his tires. The owner told him no and we both kind of looked at him like . So we tell him to go to the gas station next door and fill it up yourself - buy a guage inside if you have to. He kind of walked out and we were both sort of watching him pull up to the air hose - take a look at it - then get in his car and drive off. 5 minutes later he comes back in and asks when his buddy is coming back because he didn't know what he was doing...
P.S. Could it be a bad socket? Probably not - but the connection to the socket could have been damaged which is what happened to me. The wire itself might have caught on something and sliced away a bit of it - I guess it all depends on what has or hasn't been done to your car.
__________________
'07 Mazdaspeed3 Black Mica
'97 5-Spd Base San Marino - Traded in 5/7/07
I take it your car isn't under warranty anymore? If it is just go to dealership.
you can also check the wiring for ckinks (sp?)... if you find the insulation off of one of the wires that could be the problem also. To me it sound like a wiring problem.
Are you wiggling the wires with the bulb in the taillight assembly when it flickers?
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