2000 Tail light question

[Tally99]

Hello all,

My 2000 ranger's reverse lights recently stopped working, and I tracked the issue down to a ground in the tail light wiring harness. I replaced this with a part from eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/404246352121), and now the reverse
lights light up again. However, this harness has three pigtails for the lights, instead of two like on the factory harness. Also, my turn signals no longer illuminate in the rear, and I hear the turn signal flasher relay clicking much faster.

Do any of y'all have an idea of where to proceed from here? is there any wiring "upstream" I could modify to use '99 tail lights with the three bulb design?

Thanks for any help

 

[sgtsandman]

It sounds like you got a harness for a tail light that uses three bulbs instead of two. The two bulb tail light uses one bulb to do both the brake light function as well as the turn signal function (it has two filaments instead of one). The reason your turn signal flasher is flashing faster is because the resistance it needs from the rear turn signal filaments and it isn't getting it since they are no longer connected with the harness you got.

The fix is one of two options.
1) get the right wire harness or fix the old one
2) get tail light housings that use three bulbs instead of two.

I would find out what is wrong with your original harness and fix it but I also have the tools to do it.

 

[RonD]

1983 thru 1992 use 2 wire(combo brake/turn)
1993 thru 1999 used 3 wire(separate turn)
2000 thru 2011 used 2 wire(combo brake/turn)

That link to what you bought says 1999/2000 so that would be wrong could be 2000 OR 1999 can't be for both

Easiest way to tell what you have is to look at the tail light lens
All red with white for reverse = 2 wire
All red with white AND Yellow = 3 wire, yellow is the separate turn signal

 

[Tally99]

It sounds like you got a harness for a tail light that uses three bulbs instead of two. The two bulb tail light uses one bulb to do both the brake light function as well as the turn signal function (it has two filaments instead of one). The reason your turn signal flasher is flashing faster is because the resistance it needs from the rear turn signal filaments and it isn't getting it since they are no longer connected with the harness you got.

The fix is one of two options.
1) get the right wire harness or fix the old one
2) get tail light housings that use three bulbs instead of two.

I would find out what is wrong with your original harness and fix it but I also have the tools to do it.

Gotcha. I found some cheap housings/sockets for 1999 tail lights on rockauto so those are on the way. If that doesn't work, my plan is to modify the new wiring harness to be like the original one, i.e. swap the plug that goes to the main wiring harness and remove the separate turn signal light attachments. Aesthetically I prefer the three bulb, so hopefully the swap works.

In the meantime though, I took a multimeter to the old harness when it was off the truck, and my ground disappeared, so that's back on the truck and things are working, or at least until the ground decides to come back.

 

[RonD]

Those won't work
The 2 wire or 3 wire difference is in the Multi-function switch(turn signal stalk), AND the cab wiring for it

Wire to the rear of the 2000 Ranger is 2 wire, nothing you change in the rear will change that

2 wire means there is a left and right wire, each a combined brake/turn wire

3 wire means there is 1 brake wire(goes to both sides) and a left turn wire and a right turn wire

You need the correct wiring harness for the rear of a 2000 Ranger, they sent you the wrong one, send it back

 

[Tally99]

Those won't work
The 2 wire or 3 wire difference is in the Multi-function switch(turn signal stalk), AND the cab wiring for it

Wire to the rear of the 2000 Ranger is 2 wire, nothing you change in the rear will change that

2 wire means there is a left and right wire, each a combined brake/turn wire

3 wire means there is 1 brake wire(goes to both sides) and a left turn wire and a right turn wire

You need the correct wiring harness for the rear of a 2000 Ranger, they sent you the wrong one, send it back

Ah shoot. Is there any modification I can do to the multifunction switch? It looks like the 1999 and 2000 ones have the same part number, so I figured they were the same.

I noticed that the truck side of the plug for the tail light wiring harness has 8 wires, whereas the original harness plug only has 6, and the 1999 harness plug has a different setup, so I figured they might be interchangeable.

 

[RonD]

No, the cab wiring is different as well

The 8 wire end might have been for trailer package which was never added, so has unused wires most likely not connected at the other end as well

There are 4 12volt wires on 2000 Ranger tail lights, 2 bulbs in each lens
Brake/left turn(blue/white wire)
Brake/right turn(brown/yellow wire)
Park/license plate<<<split to both sides(brown wire)
Reverse<<<split to both sides(black/pink wire)

Ground wire<<< this can be in the connector or attached to the rear frame<<<split to both sides and all bulbs(black wire)


1993-1999 would have 5 12volt wires and 3 bulbs in each lens
Brake lights<<<split to both sides(light green wire)
Left turn(green/orange wire)
Right turn(orange/blue wire)
Park/license plate<<<split to both sides(brown wire)
Reverse<<<split to both sides(black/pink wire)

Ground wire<<< this can be in the connector or attached to the rear frame<<<split to both sides and all bulbs(black wire)

So there are simply not enough wires to the rear to support what you want to try
And the cab wiring won't support the 1993-1999 multi-function switch

If you can't find a new harness then get one from a wrecking yard

 

[Tally99]

No, the cab wiring is different as well

The 8 wire end might have been for trailer package which was never added, so has unused wires most likely not connected at the other end as well

There are 4 12volt wires on 2000 Ranger tail lights, 2 bulbs in each lens
Brake/left turn(blue/white wire)
Brake/right turn(brown/yellow wire)
Park/license plate<<<split to both sides(brown wire)
Reverse<<<split to both sides(black/pink wire)

Ground wire<<< this can be in the connector or attached to the rear frame<<<split to both sides and all bulbs(black wire)


1993-1999 would have 5 12volt wires and 3 bulbs in each lens
Brake lights<<<split to both sides(light green wire)
Left turn(green/orange wire)
Right turn(orange/blue wire)
Park/license plate<<<split to both sides(brown wire)
Reverse<<<split to both sides(black/pink wire)

Ground wire<<< this can be in the connector or attached to the rear frame<<<split to both sides and all bulbs(black wire)

So there are simply not enough wires to the rear to support what you want to try
And the cab wiring won't support the 1993-1999 multi-function switch

If you can't find a new harness then get one from a wrecking yard

Gotcha. Thanks for the info! My Chilton manual is kinda lacking for this sort of thing. Looks like I'll try to do some harness surgery. Pulling the old harness out was a minor PITA so hopefully I can make what I have work instead of pulling a junkyard one.

 

[RonD]

Repair the old harness and put it back in

 

[Tally99]

Updating for posterity and cause I depend on these forums too much to leave a thread unresolved: It wasn't the tail light harness after all. The ground was intermittent, and my new theory is that something is rattling in the transmission range switch/neutral safety switch, cause when I replace the fuse, the reverse lights come on just fine no matter how much I shift gears with the truck stationary. However, I'll drive around for a bit, not putting the truck into reverse, and then when I check the fuse, it's blown out again. I've got a new motorcraft one coming in this week, along with more 15A fuses, so I'll post another update once I get the new switch installed.

 

[Tally99]

Hey all,

I replaced the neutral safety switch, and the fuse still blows.

According to the owner's manual, fuse #6 powers the DRLs, 4x4, OD, and reverse lights. It's a 2wd truck, and I don't think US-model rangers got DRLs, so I'm inclined to believe something is up with the OD wiring. I've noticed that even with the truck in drive, if I activate the OD off button on the column shifter, I don't get a light on the dash. I popped the button out, and it does have continuity when closed, so I don't think it's a bad switch. Also, I checked continuity between the two wires in the shifter, and got no continuity regardless of the shifter's position.

Any idea of how to proceed from here? I figure I need to pull the instrument cluster to check the OD bulb, but I can't imagine a dead bulb would cause a short.

 

[RonD]

The Dash OD OFF light has 12v with key on from cluster power fuse 11, fuse 11 powers most of the dash indicator lights, the PCM(computer) grounds that bulb to turn it on, so no connection to the TCS(OD) switch itself, or to fuse 6

The TCS switch is a momentary contact switch, not an on/off switch
When you press the button 12v is sent to PCM(pin 29) while button is pressed, that will cause PCM to disable or enable shifting to OD, so it will toggle back and forth each time button is pressed, so there is no direct on or off state, i.e. no 12v to PCM when button is not pressed

With key on OD will be enabled regardless of last state with key off

Short can't be an OD OFF bulb issue, but if fuse blows PCM may never get the signal to turn OD OFF so it never lights up
If you unplug the TCS switch in steering column, does fuse 6 still blow?
If you unplug the DTR switch on transmission does fuse 6 still blow?

 

[Tally99]

Gotcha. The bulb looked burnt, so I swapped it with one of the extraneous 4x4 bulbs. It hasn't illuminated for as long as I've owned the truck, so I initially assumed I didn't have overdrive, but I've also never needed to turn it off.

The fuse only blows after driving for a while, so I can't test unplugging the transmission range switch and then driving, cause the truck won't start.

I've unplugged the TCS/OD button from under the steering column, so once I get everything back together, I'll see if that blows again while driving. In the meantime, I snapped some molded plastic fittings off of the dash trim, so now I gotta glue those back before I can test that.

Thank you for all of your help so far.

 

[Tally99]

Update: I disconnected the OD pushbutton and drove it for about 20 miles, and my fuse is still intact, so I'm gonna go ahead and say I found the ground.

Also swapped in some blue LEDs for my dash lights while I had it apart. I guess my next move is gonna be to wire in a pushbutton that I'll mount somewhere on the dash so I can still turn the OD off, but I never need to do that since I don't tow anything and there aren't any hills near me, so it can wait.

 

[RonD]

Dorman 905-112 says its the correct replacement and not too expensive