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All exterior lighting malfunctioning...ACTING WEIRD.

Grumpy Tooch

By Grumpy Tooch
in Ask A GM Technician

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Grumpy Tooch Enthusiast

Grumpy Tooch

Posted
Posted

Ok, there might be more than one issue her but i'll try explain them best i can.

 

I have, before doing anything, replaced all turn signals and driving lights with LED. I just recently tinted the light housings so I had to pull everything. When I put it back together it was all working fine except the driving lights. Had some problems finding them so left them out for while and all was still working fine with them out. I got new ones today from Autozone (pilot LED like the turns) and plugged them in..not working. Checked for power and no power with test light or the OEM's i got for spare. But all other working fine still. Thats one thing...

 

The other which is BOGGLING MY MIND...I had got from ebay 56 LED lights for all tail lights, they are 3157. Originally I had LED red for brake, LED white for reverse, and standard for turn just because I never got around to it. Again, turn signals, brake, reverse, hazard worked fine. I changed all 6 bulbs with new ones. Now when I put either of the turn signals on, the correct turn signal is on, along with ALL other lights...ALL lights on ALL 4 corners blink with the turn signal including the rear bed light on top of the cab.... I took out the brake bulbs and put in the others I had in, and the bed light didnt go on again (which was good), but same thing all around ALL blinkers flashed. So I removed all the new light bulbs in tail lights and put it all back the way it was and...STILL DOING IT?!?!?!?!

 

PLEASE HELP ME, I USUALLY HAVE NO PROBLEM FIGURING THINGS OUT BUT I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT TO DO SINCE I ALREADY PUT IT ALL BACK TO THE WAY IT WAS. NOW I CANT EVEN DRIVE THE TRUCK THIS WAS AND I HAVE WORK ON MONDAY...

 

THANKS IN ADVANCE

Doug_Scott Senior Enthusiast

Doug_Scott

Posted
Posted

As hard to believe as it is, you have one of three things wrong.

 

1. Bad light bulb or wrong type bulb in socket. (ie 1157 bulb in 1156 socket. I know the bulbs are indexed differently, but, it can be done)

2. Bad socket causing feedback

3. Bad or broken ground.

 

LEDs are not like incandescent bulbs, they are polarized(require correct polarity to operate), and can cause issues if not powered correctly.

 

Did you get bulbs that required something to make them flash? Some LED bulbs will not draw enough amperage for the flasher to work(assuming these trucks still use flasher cans).

 

What ever the issue is, need only look at the work you did, and the parts you replaced. When trying to fix it, only make one change at a time, if you do more than that, and it still does not work, you have no way of knowing if one of the fixes actually broke it again, or if all the fixes failed to correct it.

 

Work on one issue at a time as well. Take the easiest one to correct, and in this case it will be all the lights flashing when you signal right or left. To diagnose, remove one bulb at a time from the signals you are testing, for example, turn right signal on, then remove rf signal bulb, are all still flashing? If they are, look inside that socket to see of any of the terminals are bent or damaged. If they look good, can you disconnect that socket from the wiring harness? If you can, remove the socket. If that fixes it, that socket is damaged. If it still does not work, put that back together, and move to the other right signal and repeat what you did on the front signal.

Repeat the procedure for the left side if you did not find the issue on the right side. Also, verify that the ground wires are good on these sockets, and maybe even the actual signal housing.

Grumpy Tooch Enthusiast

Grumpy Tooch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

this is all well and good but i believe you did not understand me...i already put it all back to the way it was before it was acting weird. So it should be working fine. But i guess it could me bad socket all of a sudden, or ground... but again, there are no changes from when it was working fine

Doug_Scott Senior Enthusiast

Doug_Scott

Posted
Posted

If there are no changes and it is not working fine, then you have overlooked a change and have not undone it.

 

I understood what you wrote. I also know that shit doesn't just happen because it is Saturday. There will not be a quick answer from anyone on an internet forum given the situation you have described. In my experience, anytime a signal makes all the lights flash is either a bad bulb, a bad socket, a bad signal switch, a bad ground on socket/lens/housing, pinched wiring harness, or something as simply as a wrong number bulb being used (1156 where an 1157 should be).

 

You are free to not bother trying what I suggested, and if you do, let me know so I can stop watching this thread please.

Grumpy Tooch Enthusiast

Grumpy Tooch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you Doug, maybe when I had it all apart something did happen to the wiring to the sockets. I'm just glad someone actually has seen this before....lol I know for fact all the right bulbs are in, so it has to be something with the wiring. Will be working on this 1st thing in the am.

Grumpy Tooch Enthusiast

Grumpy Tooch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Nothing wrong with wiring, sockets, or bulbs...

 

Another weird thing is when I hooked up the trailer I noticed everything worked fine. Dropped off the trailer, they went back to flashing all for while...then later in the day all worked as it should. LOL I dont know, ..gonna leave it for now before I waste $$ on it.

Doug_Scott Senior Enthusiast

Doug_Scott

Posted
Posted

If you have the original stuff back in, then you have one that will be very difficult to fix remotely, but, if you went back to LEDs again, then you may have found the issue. By adding the trailer back in, you have increased current flow, and have likely resolved some issue with the LEDs. Did you use high quality LED bulbs? Did they come with some extra boards to resolve current/voltage issues?

 

From what you have posted, this should not be happening, obviously, why else would you have posted in the first place. But, I think you have left something out, something you either did not notice, or did not think mattered. Could be as simple as actual parts being used. Maybe incompatible with the wiring harness or system. The worst part about this issue is that the solution is so simple you will feel like an idiot once it appears.

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