Hi All-

Just noticed the right-side tail light and the one around the corner (rear side light?) are out when I was testing trailer lights. I had just plugged in the trailer light adapter, and I'm not sure if it was out before that. Confirmed the bulbs are OK by switching to the harness on the other side. The trailer lights work fine. I have unplugged the trailer wiring adapter with no change.

Then more recently I was driving at night and noticed the dash lights are out. Thumb wheel doesn't change anything. All fuses check ok with a continuity tester.

Looking through posts here and elsewhere, it seems that both of these issues can be caused by a problem with the turn signal stalk/light switch or a problem with the glove compartment light. So I checked the glove compartment and determined that's not working either, but the wiring seems to be fine and the bulb's ok. So that leaves the turn signal stalk.

I took that out and dis-assembled it. Cleaned out 26 years worth of dried grease and shined up the contacts, lubed it with dielectric grease and reassembled and installed. Same. I tested all wires with a multimeter and had a 12v reading with the lights on for all of them except for the browns that had continuity btwn them. All seems normal.

There are a few "tested" units on the bay for cheap enough and I'm happy to swap it out but feel like there/s something else in play if everything has 12v at the wiring harness. Any ideas?

 

The glove box light only works when the parking lights or head lights are on.

 

Thank you. I've confirmed it doesn't work with the headlights on as well.

 

Tail light problem could be the fixture melted or burned, especially if trailer lights are good. Make sure the bulb holder is making metal to metal contact at the right electrical connections.

Recently swapped in LED bulbs for my rear lights, to prevent failure of the plastic fixture. The ones that are on constantly at night are the ones that were burned/melted the most.

Perhaps test the dash lights by jumpering the thumbwheel (maybe it failed).

 

If I pull out the bulb carrier from the RH side and plug it into the harness on the left hand side, just hanging from the wires, it works. Back-probing the connector on the RH side with a multimeter, it's dead. So I'm thinking it's something in between the switch and the light...which is basically the whole truck.

Do you happen to know what fuse this circuit uses? I read somewhere else it was #2 on the "main" panel but that checks OK--they all do. But if I unplug that, the taillight on the LH side stays illuminated so that can't be the correct one. I'm not fantastic at reading a wiring diagram but I may have to attempt it. Multiple other posts indicate it's the headlight switch and to just replace it, but with all the wires carrying voltage when the switch is on, I can't see how that would be it.

 

Just to close this out and to document what the issue was in case it happens to me again and I forget...here's what ultimately fixed it. It was a fuse. Actually a couple of them were popped. I checked all the fuses with a multimeter from the front but I'm now doubting myself. I ended up pulling and rebuilding the turn signal stalk and that made no difference. And in doing so, I broke the self-cancelling on one side. So I had my excuse to get the headlight and wiper switch replacements (with the connecting ring) cheaply on ebay. The wiper switch had been acting up over the last year or so and I had wanted to replace that, But as we now know, this didn't fix the lights issue either.

So I tore into the RH taillight assembly and it was wet and corroded. I think this is what popped the fuse in the first place. So I pulled it out and cleaned up all of the contacts, sockets and bulbs. Put it all back together and it still didn't work, because fuse.

So then I re-researched and decided the check the fuses by pulling them out. The guy in this thread (https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...g-64714/page3/) ended up replacing all the fuses and bulbs on the RH side. I didn't want to run to the parts store this afternoon so I pulled all of the 10A fuses in order, and put them back one slot off to ensure that any bad fuse would be in a different slot. I was casually checking them visually as I put them back in and found the 2 that were popped. Unfortunately I didn't catch which slots they were in but my money is on 14.

Anywho, future traveler, do yourself a favor and check your fuses first. Part of the corrosion took out the bottom bracket holding the tail light assembly in, so I'll need to jury rig that or find a replacement and then probably silicone around the lens to seal it so it doesn't happen again.

But: happy camper. dash (and other) lights functional again.

 

Great news.