tail lamp not working right

[Criswell]

ive had issues with my tail lamps ever since i got my bay .
the rear tail lamp on the passenger side seems to be mis-wired. when i turn on my turn signal, the red and amber bulb socket places were flashing intermittently, and when id step on the brakes, the lights would come on and stay on.

i looked at the driver side to mimick it for the other side and all seems well, except for the wire thats supposed to be hooked up for the red marker when the lights are rurned on. it seems to be M.I.A. as a temporary fix, i had run a wire from the driver side over just so itd light up. ( i think that may gave soemthing to do with why it was acting funny, but at the time that i did the backyard wire job i didnt have any access to a correct wiring diagram, i just "made do" so it would be working so i could get it inspected.

if anyone has a link to a diagram of preferably just the tail lights, please post it, im not very good with electrical wiring, and the less confusion the better

thanks ...
mike
_________________
Mike
78 Westy 2.0 Hydraulic Lifter

[keifernet]

Mikee, that sounds like the ground connection is not hooked up or good to that assembly... it is the brown wire....

[Criswell]

keifer, i found in the bentley theres 2 grey/red wires that go to the red lens MARKER ( not the one that lights up when the brakes are pressed) and the licence plate illumination. so i hooked them up , respectively ... and

now .......
with the lights off the turn signals WORK

with headlights or running lights on ..
the red lamps come one, and are evenly lit ... BUT when i turn on the turn signals , all the lights in the back flask EXCEPT the reverse lights EVEN THE LICENCE PLATE LIGHT

everything LOOKS to be hooked up right im goiin nuckin futs and its now dark, so im at the end of being able to do anything with it, and to make it better, i work tomorrow, and by bus is my only vehicle
_________________
Mike
78 Westy 2.0 Hydraulic Lifter

[keifernet]

Aw shit! and I know your freezing your nuts off up there too... so not much you can do about it now... maybe try and disconnect the side marker light temporarily and see what effect that has?

somthing is for sure amiss and( it sounds like) your running lights are crossing over into your turn signal circuit.

go to www.type2.com and go to the "library" and then go to "lights" and there is wireing diagrams to download... maybe study up while inside tonight.??

[Criswell]

the PASSENGER side ,
- the 2 gr/blk are hooked up to the turn
- the rd/gry are to red tail illumination and licence light
-the 2 red/black are hooked to brake lights
- the plain black is hooked up to the reverse light socket ...

on the DRIVER SIDE
- the 2 blk/wht are hooked up to the turn
- the gry/blk is hooked up to the red indicator light
- the red/blk is hooked up to the brake light
- the black is hooked up to the reverse light socket

I just ordered new tail lamp haousings from bus depot, because they both looked pretty bad (corrosion and looking pretty haggered), im wondering if the ground ISNT the problem now (due to all the corrosion ) .. the plastic "bulb sockets" dont even want to stay on the metal grounding plate. by the diagram i found in bentley though , aside fron the sidemarkers NOT being hooked up, everything looks as though its hooked up correctly.
_________________
Mike
78 Westy 2.0 Hydraulic Lifter

[keifernet]

that should be right,.. but where is the brown ground wire that plugs onto a spade on the metal part of the bulb holding plate that goes down to the spade connection that is part of the body?

have you WD-40'd the sockets and scraped on/ bent in the little contacts on the platstic bulb holders etc yet? I 'm sure you tried that first....

get a piece of wire long enough to hook to your neg battery post and hook up as a ground to the assemblies to test and see if it does better with a good ground.

[Criswell]

no i didnt wd40 the sockets, i did however scrape them as best i could

i got the problme fixed though

the ground wires were hooked up to the taillamp matal plate, but came loose where they attach to the chassis during my messing with it today ...
turn signals, markers, brakes and reverse lights all light up correctly now ... i just have to hook up the sidemarker lights now, but im still gonna replace the tail lamp housings, they REALLY look like crap as far as their corrosion/condition is concerned.

YAAAAAAY MY LIGHTS ALL WORK

thanks for the help keifer
_________________
Mike
78 Westy 2.0 Hydraulic Lifter

[keifernet]

Allright! way to hang in there Mike , it's a bitch when it's cold and dark and your shit ain't working right...

[Tram]

What you're describing is nearly ALWAYS a symptom of a bad ground.
Clean all the little ground wires at the sheetmetal screw by the engine lid prop. Sand the body where the grounds touch it. Make sure the sheetmetal screw isn't rusty. If that fails, run an aux. ground to the ground on the light fixtures and to the body. I'll bet you fix it before yer knads freeze. One final note: If this is a '68- '71 model, make SURE you have double filament lights in your sockets. Wrong bulbs, IE single filament where a double should be, cause all sorts of hell.