This never ending problem.

["350Vortec"]

Ill try to make it quick.

My parking lamps in the front and back do not work and my gauge lights dont work. So i have gotten pulled over twice now because you cant even tell im driving at night if your behind me until i put my brake lights on.

It use to blow a fuse everytime and i would replace it so it would work a while.

Then i brought it to a shop, they couldnt find anything. the tore all the electronics apart in my truck. They said that the 3 way plug for my trailer hitch lights sometimes cause shorts so i took that off completely.

The lights worked well for a good 5-6 days. Then i turned them on, they lit up for a sec and went out again. But this time it didnt blow a fuse.

So i thought maybe its the whole dimmer switch assembly. Bought a new one, it still doesn work.

Any idea where i should go with this? Its really just unsafe driving at night . cant tell how fast im going or anything.

 

[hapyspaz]

First thing to do is find the short, you obviously have one somewhere. If it doesn't look like the fuse blew, look closer, it probably did. I have had this problem on many vehicles and it always came down to a wire grounding out.

As the shop told you, the most common is the trailer wiring harness. I would try chasing wires back from each parking light, front and rear. You will eventually come across a short. One thing you can try is to take out all of your parking light bulbs, install just one, turn on the parking lights, and see if the fuse pops. Make sure you jump up and down on the bumper or something to simulate the truck driving down the road.

Hope you find it soon, wiring issues are always a PITA!

 

[jmildoc]

First thing to do is find the short, you obviously have one somewhere. If it doesn't look like the fuse blew, look closer, it probably did. I have had this problem on many vehicles and it always came down to a wire grounding out.

As the shop told you, the most common is the trailer wiring harness. I would try chasing wires back from each parking light, front and rear. You will eventually come across a short. One thing you can try is to take out all of your parking light bulbs, install just one, turn on the parking lights, and see if the fuse pops. Make sure you jump up and down on the bumper or something to simulate the truck driving down the road.

Hope you find it soon, wiring issues are always a PITA!

Couldnt have said it better myself

 

["350Vortec"]

Okay guys, a traced my wires back, I saw no shorts no wires touching at all. Nothing was wrong. I sprayed out every connector with electrical cleaner. Everything looked good. The wierd thing is, my turn signals all work, front and back but my dash lights, driving lights on the front and back dont.

The fuse that used to blow when they would go out is described as DRL RELAY AND FOG LAMP RELAY.

Can anyone tell me how in the world i can narrow down what relay would be matched up to that fuse?

 

[b.kiefer]

check the long white plug on the side of the steering column for broken wires mine had the same problem .

 

["350Vortec"]

Thanks, ill try that now

---------- Post added at 04:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:42 PM ----------

Ugh, I see no problems with any of this wiring. This is so frustrating. I wish i could hook it up to a meter and have it tell me exactly where the problem was. This sucks.

 

[TahoeGoBoom]

Has your truck ever been rewired? there should be no reason for your DRL fuse to blow, nor it effect parking lights. when mine died it was the illumination fuse AND the parking lights fuse. (both do the same thing oddly enough) My DRL fuse isnt even in and they work fine now.

 

["350Vortec"]

Has your truck ever been rewired? there should be no reason for your DRL fuse to blow, nor it effect parking lights. when mine died it was the illumination fuse AND the parking lights fuse. (both do the same thing oddly enough) My DRL fuse isnt even in and they work fine now.

Thats what i was wondering. Why in the world my dash lights would be hooked up to the Fog And DRL lights fuse, Thats weird. But when i would replace the fuse they would all work again oddly enough. But now that the fuse is not blowing im screwed. Im in a jam bigtime.

 

[TahoeGoBoom]

have you looked into the illumination and parking lights fuses as well?

 

["350Vortec"]

have you looked into the illumination and parking lights fuses as well?

Ive looked at every single fuse in that truck, engine bay and in the dash. Not one is blown. I just dont get it. I replaced the dimmer/switch assembly. Still nothing. Could it possibly be a relay?

 

[TahoeGoBoom]

I would imagine it could be, but i dont think theres a relay for the lights. It seems like there was a short that somehow managed to burn thru the wire, hence why its not popping the fuse. if it were a relay sticking, the fuse wouldnt have popped, and you may have also experienced the lights staying on.

 

["350Vortec"]

I would imagine it could be, but i dont think theres a relay for the lights. It seems like there was a short that somehow managed to burn thru the wire, hence why its not popping the fuse. if it were a relay sticking, the fuse wouldnt have popped, and you may have also experienced the lights staying on.

So there is probably a wire burned through. Great! If i have to run a brand new wire ill be pissed.

 

[ravingmadman]

I would start by replacing all the fuses that have anything to do with the lights. That's cheap and easy, on the panel in the left side of the dash accessed by opening the driver's door. If that doesn't work, roll up your sleeves, grab a continuity tester, a spool of wire, and go to work...

 

["350Vortec"]

I finally figured it out. I put a fresh fuse in the slot, Started removing my taillights to inspect them, And the fuse popped. Thats when i knew i found the problem. My taillights were held in with only the bottom screw, Dont know why but they were. So my guess is water got in there and just reeked havoc on the wiring. But now that i cleaned it all out and bought new bulbs. It works great again and i dont have to ride my brake at night!

 

[TahoeGoBoom]

stupid tail light circuit board ftl. glad to hear you fixed it tho. definitely sucks not having parking lights.