taillights

[97ranger19]

i have a 1997 ranger 4.0 my tail lights will not work i have break lights, dashlights, turn signals every light on the vehicle works fine besides the tail lights and now the license plate light does not work also i checked the fuses they are good i replaced the bulbs i was checking the wiring and cant find anything with it i need to get this fixed fast i got a fix it ticket for driving with them out cause i didn't know they were out

 

[97RangerXLT]

Check the connector that connects the tailights to the truck harness. it is right in front of the back bumper toward the driver side.

Also make sure all of your grounds are good. losing the lights like that with all of the fuses and bulbs being good makes me think that you have a bad ground somewhere.

AJ

 

[97ranger19]

alright ill give that a try but where would the ground for the taillights and license plate lights be at on this vehicle

 

[97RangerXLT]

check any wire that bolts to the frame/ body of the truck. I am not sure where they all are, but I would assume that you will have at least one wire from each of the sockets going to the frame/ body somewhere. Maybe someone else here can post a wire diagram for the tailligihts to pin point where to look. I would start following the taillight harness and look for any wire that is supposed to be bolted down to the frame/ body, and if itis rusty at that point, you may have to relocate it to a better spot.. probably wouldn't hurt to put a new screw and terminal on the wire and make sure you grind or sand any paint/ rust away to the bare metal before bolting it down, then cover the connection with some primer.

AJ

 

[daniel3507]

You only need a one thread per question. Not three.

EDIT: Sorry. I meant you don't need four threads.

 

[97ranger19]

i believe it started happening after i disconnected my batter then it wouldn't start my car after i reconnected it and had to jiggle the connecters on the battery terminals then it started im not positive but i think that is when the tailights stopped working if that gives anyone an idea

and yeah i know its my bad about all the posts in diffrent threads i was just on a tangent last night cause its blowing my mind why they arnt working and i just went all out

 

[David88]

Try wiggling the bulb a bit. I had a problem like this in my 07 Mustang. Brake but no tail. Turned out to be the prongs that touch the little wires on the type of bulb it used was not getting a good connection. I had to use a small pick and pull them out a bit to get the fit snug and it started to work.

 

[97ranger19]

i dont think the wiggle the bulb trick will work because they both went out at the same time but ill try