1988 Ford Ranger tail lights not working

[Parsa Bagheri]

I recently bought the truck off a fella and got it running, its a dual tank and it wasnt running for god knows how long because of the tank switch valve. We got it running and I used to have back up lights but those stopped working out of nowhere, I replaced a burnt out fuse that was rated to the hazards and stop lights and the right side tail lights started working for a brief period, not sure why they stopped. I also dont seem to have high beams and i dont know how to turn the headlights on if im being honest so i cant check those.

Im pretty new to this type of thing so any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I’ll give this thread a little bit before it gets moved to the electrical forum since you’re new.

If you don’t know much about electrical, it may be worth finding a friend or someone local to help. Sounds like there is either a short somewhere, a bad ground, or both. Blown fuses are usually an indicator of a short. You will need a multi-meter and/or a test light to check things.

Parking lights and headlights are a pull knob to the left of the steering wheel on the dash. Pull it out one click for parking lights, two clicks for headlights. Turning the knob dims or brightens the gauge cluster lights.

 

[SenorNoob]

Here's a pic of that knob. On an 88 the original may be partially chrome.

That's in my '88, but I've replaced the switch and knob. I broke the original knob trying to get a broken switch out. BTW, if you look all of the open wiring over and don't find any obvious bad spots, it's quite likely that the switch has gone bad. They are a common failure point.