Parking Light Woes...

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

NightFallInc

TYF Newbie
Joined
Feb 20, 2015
Posts
6
Reaction score
0
Hey all,

Been lurking for a while, and very much appreciate the overall depth of knowledge I've been able to access, so I thought I'd finally join up and get involved in the discussion.

I've got a daily driver 2005 Tahoe LT 5.3L (RWD, Non-flex) here, and I've done a few things to bring it "up to date", including LED interior lights, LED license plate lights, LED 3rd Brake, LED turn signals & Daytime running lights in smoked housings, etc.

I've replaced the Daytime Running Lights with LED switchback bulbs, which run bright white during normal operation, and when the turn signal is activated, they blink amber-off, amber-off (instead of amber-white) along with my actual turn signal bulbs (amber 194 LED bulbs).

Unfortunately, I'm having difficulty with the Parking Lights...

First of all, most of the information I've encountered online has claimed that the bulb required by the parking light harness & socket is a 4114, but nearly all of the 4114 bulbs I've attempted to run in the sockets have either had a negligible fit in the socket, where they tried to fall out, or they simply wouldn't slot into place in the socket at all. I've not had this problem with standard glass-and-filament bulbs, like you would buy from your local auto store, though - just the LED bulbs I've tried.

Having said that, I have had luck with some LED 3157 bulbs, which is what the DRL's are. They snap right in, and light up when the parking lights are activated (locking or unlocking the doors with the keyless entry remote).

However, only my passenger side parking light will light up. I examined the sockets, and found that both of them look as if someone used the wrong bulb in them, because they're both very browned (the plugs are white) around the actual bulb slot, as if they've been exposed to high heat for a prolonged period of time. This shouldn't be the case, as these lights are definitely NOT a constant-on light, the way the DRL's are...

SO

I thought I'd be smart, and bought two new AC Delco sockets - the two-wire type, which appear to be the exact sockets I'm having trouble with, and are aftermarket replacement units for GM sockets. I decided to replace both of them, since they're both equally burned-out in appearance, and if that IS the problem, it's only a matter of time, most likely, before the passenger side parking light decides to stop working as well. Might as well swap in new sockets on both sides, while I'm doing one side already, was my thinking.

Now I'm no electrical prodigy, by any means, and in fact, there is really probably nothing I hate more, in terms of automotive fixes or projects, than those which require me to start wiring up things. I really don't like getting involved in complex electronic system "editing". I mean, I can put up a ceiling fan or new light fixture with the best of them, but electrical work just isn't really my strong suit, you know?

Well, I started with the harness plug that wasn't working. Before anyone asks, yes, I DID try multiple tested-working bulbs in the plug on both sides, in order to verify that it was in fact the socket which was the problem, and not a faulty or damaged (or wrongly-sized) bulb. It's the harness. I think.

I clipped the burned-looking plug off the end of the harness, just a bit after it exits the stock wire loom, and got down to the business of wiring in the new socket. The installation video I referenced claimed that the wiring didn't matter - either wire can be wired to hot, and the other can be wired to ground, and the only difference it should make is that you may need to reverse the direction in which you slot your bulb into the socket (polarity).

Even so, I tried BOTH ways, when wiring the socket up, and got ZERO results, with a tested-working bulb. So apparently, my problem isn't in the socket itself, but somewhere between the power source and the socket, in the wiring itself.

At this point, I'll add in a few bits of relevant information which might help you all understand my situation.

The sockets I purchased (online) arrived wired with 14 gauge wire, while the wires coming out of my plug harness for the parking lights is, as near as I can determine, 18 gauge (much smaller) so this made it a bit of a ***** to wire up with any sort of connectors I had on hand - the ones they supplied with the new plugs were basically worthless for clamping down onto the smaller gauge wire - it just pulled out, no matter how solidly I crimped it.

I did make sure I got a good, twisted-together connection, BOTH WAYS, though, before I gave up on the project. Nothing doing.

Also, it's worth mentioning that I did not investigate the possibility that there was a fuse burned out or something equally simple - because I am assuming (and yes, I know what they say about assumption) that there isn't a fuse for each individual light... maybe I'm wrong, but that would be one HELL of a lot of fuses.

Surely, it's at least broken down by groups of lights - either both parking lights on one fuse together, or multiple lights on the driver's side being linked to one fuse, and the same lights on the passenger side being linked to another fuse. Someone please let me know if I'm wrong.

At any rate, I'm having no luck figuring out what the problem is. I can always just wire the old socket back into my harness - I wasn't dumb enough to discard it or anything - I knew I might be needing it, and it's a nice clean cut, so it won't be a problem if I have to rewire it.

My question is - has anyone else had this problem? Did you fix it, and if so, what did you have to do? Am I going to need to chase the wiring all the way back to the fuse box, and make sure there are no loose connections somewhere, and no broken wires? Or should I just try to get a replacement section of harness for that particular light (or light group - I'm not entirely sure what all runs together through that loom) - because if so, I would guess that it's going to get expensive quick.

Any thoughts or insights would be very welcome - thanks in advance for all your help - I'm kind of stuck, here!

Best wishes to all,

NFI
 
Last edited:
OP
OP
NightFallInc

NightFallInc

TYF Newbie
Joined
Feb 20, 2015
Posts
6
Reaction score
0
Update.

Not that anyone here seems to care, but here's an update, on the off chance that someone decides to read this, or happens to have this same problem.

Today, I did some more searching online, and came across this thread over on tahoeforum, which gave me the idea to just tap into the working parking light's wiring.

Before I attempted that, however, I did a few more investigative probes into the issue at hand.

I disassembled the fuse box, which required me to remove the brace that ties the fender into the windshield/firewall area. Took off the surrounding shroud that covers the sides of the fuse box, pressed the tabs aside, which allow you to lift the fuse panel off, and have a look at the bottoms of the individual terminals and all the wiring.

I traced the headlight wiring to its insertion point on the bottom of the fuse box, and consulted the fuse box's diagram in order to verify that my assumptions were correct. I was able to locate the insertion point of the blue (hot) wires for both parking lights on the bottom of the fuse panel, as well as the black (ground) wires *I believe*.

All of the aforementioned wires seemed to be solidly seated in their respective terminals in the fuse panel, so I reassembled the pieces, and checked a poor connection on that end off my list of possible culprits.

I DID manage to determine that the front parking lights are linked to the same 10A fuse, which I pulled, just for the hell of it, and shined up a bit with the edge of my knife before putting back in place. This of course had no effect on the functionality of either parking light. The working one, on the passenger side, still worked. The non-working one, on the driver's side, still didn't work. One less thing to wonder about, at least.

As difficult as it is for me to imagine, I'm guessing at this point that one of the two wires, either hot or ground, for the driver's side parking light, is in some way damaged within the wire loom (and to be more accurate, a LARGE portion of the headlight wiring is tight-wrapped in plain electrical tape on my vehicle, for some reason...) somewhere between the fuse box and the socket itself. Which sucks.

I really didn't want to start pulling wire loom off, clipping zip-ties, separating wires, etc. when I could just do what I mentioned above, and as someone suggested in the other thread I came across, tap into the working wiring from the other parking light - at least for the time being.

So, I got myself some 18-22 gauge quick-splice connectors, for tapping into the working wiring, and ended up having to use some twist-on connectors on the other end, because I was getting dismal results with the crimp-on variety I had on hand.

Those 18-22 gauge quick-splice connectors are a ***** to find, where I live, by the way. I had to go to three places, and still ended up settling for one of those damned "assorted" connector packs that also contained a bunch of other various sizes I already had, because none of the three stores I tried happened to carry the size of connectors I needed, in a pack by themselves.

I had some 18 gauge wire on hand, and in the event you read the previous post, I should mention here that I was mistaken - the factory wiring for the parking lights is actually 20 gauge, and appears to be an extremely flimsy five-strand wire. Ugh.

I used the quick-splice connectors to tap into the good wiring, and stuck the 18 gauge I had into the blind holes in the connectors, then ran them across the bottom of the grille, which I removed, so I could see what the hell I was doing back there, and have room to work.

I also purchased the smallest wire loom I could find in black, which was still considerably larger than I actually needed, but it made the wiring look a lot cleaner, and less ridiculous, so it turned out for the best.

After I got everything wired up between the working parking light and the socket of the non-working parking light, I made sure I zip-tied the new wire loom to some existing loom coming off the lower, front portion of the radiator, just to keep it from rattling around and/or sagging, then stuck everything back in its place, and cycled through lock and unlock with my keyless entry remote.

The light works fine now on both sides, and lights up my LED 3157 bulbs a nice, bright white that really puts a lot of usable light on the ground in front of the Tahoe, so you can easily see where you're walking if you need to cross that area after unlocking your vehicle.

At some point in the future, I'll probably look into getting that harness pulled out and either replaced with a factory harness (just the wiring and sockets for the front lights) or at the very least, replace all the wires themselves by hand, and just keep the sockets I've already got.

I could get some larger loom, and use some black low-profile zip-ties, and probably be better off than what GM put in from the factory - no electrical tape wrapping on half the wiring run, for starters...

For now, this seems to be working just fine, though - so I'll just enjoy having working parking lights on both sides for at least a few months before I dive into re-wiring anything that complicated.

I hope this has been somewhat informative, for anyone who may have this problem or a similar problem in the future. Any thoughts or suggestions would still be welcome, if anyone has any.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
128,802
Posts
1,805,651
Members
91,785
Latest member
Eliteweapons
Top