Tahoe for Yukon Taillight Swap

[jmitchell]

Well I finally pulled the trigger and ordered some Yukon taillights to swap out for my Tahoe tails. I like the look of the Yukon ones much better and they seem to compliment my Tahoe much better. The actual physical swap was fairly simple and just as straight forward as it was for the late models.

I had assumed that the wiring harness would be a simple plug and play as well but I'm having some issues I need help with. Here is what is happening:

1. The night time running lights (LED's) are working perfectly (see picture below). These are both LED on Tahoe & Yukon.
2. The reverse lights (non-LED) are working perfectly. Both non-LED on Tahoe & Yukon.
3. The brake lights (LED) are running through the yellow turn signal lights (LED) right now, so when the brakes are applied the yellow turn signals glow solid. I believe the Tahoe was non-LED and Yukon is LED for brake lights.
4. The yellow turn signals (LED) are functioning normal for the first 3 blinks, then I get an error message on the DIC that says rear blinker error/failure while the blinker continues to work but at twice the blinking speed. I believe Tahoe was non-LED and Yukon is LED for blinkers.

Based on the information above and the pictures below, what are your thoughts to get this operating properly? I'm thinking that some of the wires are just crossed right now and I need to rework the taillight harness but I haven't done much troubleshooting yet. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.

Below are a bunch of pictures with descriptions for the process...

Here are the Yukon and Tahoe tails side by side. They are the exact same size and shape...

Here is the back of the Tahoe taillight with wiring shown...

Here is the back of the Yukon taillight with wiring shown...

This black plastic retainer piece will come with each of the taillights. You will not need these since they are already installed on the vehicle under the taillight (see other picture)...

Carefully remove the black plastic piece that covers the T-10 screws for the taillight assembly. This piece is held on by 3 retainer clips. Carefully start from the bottom with a flat screwdriver and pull this piece out of the 3 clips. Leave the circular rubber piece in place (do not remove)...

Here is the back of the black plastic piece with the 3 retainer clips. With it removed you can now see the 2 T-10 screws. Remove these screws and keep them for reinstalling the Yukon lights...

Here is the pocket for the taillight with the taillight removed. You have 2 T-10 screws and 2 guide pins for each taillight. You can now see the black plastic retainer piece below the light already in place ready for the Yukon tail...

Here is the harness connection which can be accessed by laying flat on the ground from underneath the taillight. Would someone be willing to take a picture of this connection on their Yukon so I can see the wiring color order please?...

One of each installed (night running lights)...

Both Yukon tails installed (night running lights)...

Final product in the daylight...

 

[Pockets]

I do like the Yukon lights better but have no clue on the operation to make them work properly. Hopefully someone with some knowledge will chime in

 

[NathanJax]

i do like the yukon lights better but have no clue on the operation to make them work properly. Hopefully someone with some knowledge will chime in

this!!

 

[RioRedCobra]

Nice write up and the tails look good.

 

[Steve1081]

I just had my tail lights out to install LED reverse bulbs. Good pictures and explanation of the process.

I will see if I can get a picture of my harness tomorrow for you.

As far as the fast blink... This is very typical when installing LED lights into a flasher module designed for incandescent bulbs. The LED doesn't draw enough current so the flasher thinks the bulb is out and goes into hyper blink. Some resistors should fix that issue. Will probably need some on the brake light as well to prevent a bulb out message.

Then you just need to get the wires switched around and you should be good to go!

Some Info on resistors:

http://www.superbrightleds.com/blog...Turn-Signals-Blinking-Too-Fast-(Hyperflashing)

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YKvzwq___P4

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xKPkUnmMlok


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---------- Post added at 12:23 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:22 AM ----------

Love the body color D pillar too. Wish they put that on the Yukon!


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[jmitchell]

Stephen that would be great if you could post a pic of your connection. We are going to tear things apart this afternoon to get things working. Thanks.

 

[Steve1081]

Connector on a Yukon... Hope it helps.


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---------- Post added at 03:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:29 PM ----------

Driver side...


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[jmitchell]

Thank you Stephen, we troubleshooted this afternoon and I think we've got a solution. I needed to order some specific parts and we'll have everything functional by mid week. I will post up pics and the solution when we're done.

 

[jmitchell]

One of the biggest differences on the Yukon vs the Tahoe light is that the Yukon has 2 separate lights for the brake lights and turn signal lights. Whereas the Tahoe just has the same bulbs functioning as the brake and turn signal lights. Therefore, the Tahoe is trying to send a signal to the same bulbs for each of these 2 functions and the Yukon light is looking for 2 separate signals which right now the Tahoe can't perform without reprogramming. Therefore, I am going to run both functions through the red LED string (brake and blinker) and ignore the use of the yellow LED's for the blinkers (Yellow LED's will not be used at all). There needs to be a resistor in this line because these functions were with incandescent bulbs on the Tahoe and now are LED with the Yukon. This will get rid of the error message on the DIC and rapid flash on the blinkers. All other functions work properly. More info to follow...

 

[Steve1081]

Interesting... Surprising they wouldn't have just thrown LEDs in the tahoe tails even if they kept the same look... Seems it would cost more money to have two totally separate system designs.

The price they pay to differentiate the two models I guess.


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[GTPprix]

i can just program the BCM for the change in lamps...

 

[NathanJax]

i can just program the BCM for the change in lamps...

winner winner chicken dinner!!! (forum sponsor)

 

[SkyWalker]

Do you have the parts number? how much they costed you

 

[bourgeois]

jmitchell
Any update on the wiring or reprogram of the tail lights? I would like to know more. I installed the vland escalade tail lights and having the same problem

One of the biggest differences on the Yukon vs the Tahoe light is that the Yukon has 2 separate lights for the brake lights and turn signal lights. Whereas the Tahoe just has the same bulbs functioning as the brake and turn signal lights. Therefore, the Tahoe is trying to send a signal to the same bulbs for each of these 2 functions and the Yukon light is looking for 2 separate signals which right now the Tahoe can't perform without reprogramming. Therefore, I am going to run both functions through the red LED string (brake and blinker) and ignore the use of the yellow LED's for the blinkers (Yellow LED's will not be used at all). There needs to be a resistor in this line because these functions were with incandescent bulbs on the Tahoe and now are LED with the Yukon. This will get rid of the error message on the DIC and rapid flash on the blinkers. All other functions work properly. More info to follow...

 

[JohnMoe]

What was the outcome? Did anyone successfully swap Yukon tails onto a Tahoe and have red brake, yellow turn and reverse all working as if it WAS a Yukon?

 

[Undeserving]

I thought the new 2017 chevy models had all LED tail lights. If so, this mod should be a simple swap.

 

[Rdr854]

My 17 has incandescent brake lights and turn signals.

 

[jeffbco]

I thought the new 2017 chevy models had all LED tail lights. If so, this mod should be a simple swap.

I have 2017 Yukon Denali...but actually prefer the 2017 Tahoe tail lights. Would this be a direct plug-n-play swap?

 

[jeffbco]

My 17 has incandescent brake lights and turn signals.

Correct - parts diagram shows three bulbs - one bulb for stop light, one bulb for back-up light and a third one for turn signal - all the same part number.

https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/auto-...flex-engine/electrical-cat/bulbs-chassis-****

Yukon only has one bulb - back-up light.

https://www.gmpartsdirect.com/auto-...flex-engine/electrical-cat/bulbs-chassis-****

 

[Hattie2879]

What was the outcome? Did anyone successfully swap Yukon tails onto a Tahoe and have red brake, yellow turn and reverse all working as if it WAS a Yukon?

I'm resurrecting this thread because I'm interested in doing the swap. Any additional info on how to get it working properly? I did a quick search in the forum an mostly saw how to swap to Esky tail lights, not my style though. So, I'm curious to know if it's a difficult task before I even think about purchasing the Yukon tail lights.