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Led tail light problem

Jeepsinker

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Like I said man, all of the regular functions work properly, but when I turn the blackout lights on the brake lights come on as well. That's the only issue. Haven't got to check that harness connector yet though. It occurred to me late last night that it may be because I have led tails and incandescent front lamps. Don't know if that matters, but maybe.
 

welldigger

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I don't see why it would matter that you have incandescent up front and led in the rear. But, I guess crazier things have happened.

A thought that occurred to me is how well are the black out lights and normal lights seperated from each other in the housing. I have never handled a set of riversides. Only trucklite. I'm just wondering if light is bleeding into the rest of the housing from the blackout bulbs.

Are the riversides a one piece unit like the trucklites or can you remove the lens itself?
 

Jeepsinker

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They are one piece. There is no way for lift to bleed from one place to the other in the housing. And I say the brake lights come on because they are bright! If I plug them in separately no light bleeds over in the housings. I still have to check that rear harness connector.
 

welldigger

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Hmm. Now do the normal brake lights come on with the b.o. brake lights. Or only when you turn on the b.o. lights in general?
 

Jeepsinker

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Dry Creek, Louisiana
Only with the blackout lights in general. But the blackout brake lights do not come on at all unless I plug direct power into them. The brake lights just come on and light up the night as soon as I turn the blackouts on and they stay on.
 

welldigger

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Ok there is a short somewhere. Didn't you say you swapped out your 3 lever switch? Other than the 3 lever switch I can't think of anywhere else power could jump across circuits like that. I don't see it hurting to check the harness junction under the cab but I would think corrosion would stop power flow. I'm almost starting to wonder if the lights themselves are wired correctly internally. Maybe a solder joint overlapped a bit too far on the pcb or something of that nature.

Another thing to try is maybe unhook the front lights since they are regular incandescent bulbs and see if that changes anything. I don't see why it would matter but it would at least rule that out as a possibility. Though, I have a civi trailer I need new light housings on. The lights are run of the mill 2 filament 2 function lights but the housings themselves are shorting across circuits and causing both blinkers to come on when I turn left or right on. I know its the housings because I rewired the entire trailer and the truck is fine. Maybe some crazy thing like that is happening in the front housings and its bleeding into the rear.
 

gimpyrobb

dumpsterlandingfromorbit!
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An easy way to rule out internal issues with the lights is to hook them up to a power supply and test the leads individually.
 

welldigger

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Benton LA
Wonderful. Any really common places to look for a short on our trucks?
Maybe at the firewall? Anywhere the harness passes through something. You could also hook one of the lights on another truck if you have that option. It would at least tell you if its the light itself or the truck.
 

Jeepsinker

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Location
Dry Creek, Louisiana
It's the truck. I hooked the lights up one wire at a time to a hot wire and each function comes on by itself just fine. I completely disconnected the front lights today and no change. Checked the harness connector under the cab, and even ruled out the brake light switch on the air pack just for good measure. What are the numbers for both the blackout running lights and the normal brake light?
And by the way, even with the brake lights staying on with the blackout running lights, the blackout brake lights work as they should.
 

welldigger

Active member
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Location
Benton LA
I'm not positive exactly which wires run through it but the turn signal switch on the steering column would be another area I would check. Make sure it is grounded well. It grounds through the clamp on the column. Also, I would take it apart and make sure all of the contacts are clean and open and close as they should.
 
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