Jump to content

Tail light/stop light wiring

kyleag89
 Share

Recommended Posts

kyleag89 Enthusiast

kyleag89

Posted
Posted

Hey guys I've been battling several issues on my 2011 sierra 1500 for a week now.  The newest one is the rear passenger side tail light and license plate light were out.  I looked up the diagrams on gmupfitters and it shows a brown wire from the fuse box under the hood to the distribution block mounted behind the rear bumper.  What I found in reality is that there are 3 brown wires 1 for left, 1 for right, and 1 for trailer connection.  The wire for the right had no power and I've checked the fuses and they're all good.  Is there anything I'm missing or is this actually a possible break in the wire?  In all my years wrenching I've never found a wire to break without something obvious that broke it.  Anyways it's 11pm here and 20 degrees so I'm calling it a night.  I've traced the wire back as far as the gas tank and stopped.  Tomorrow I plan to ohm it out from the fuse to the distribution block.  

kyleag89 Enthusiast

kyleag89

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

To clarify I'm just wondering if there may be something else causing this wire to not have power?  Right now my fuel pump control module is bad and I have it bypassed with a relay so I can drive my truck for the best week until the replacement arrives.  I connected the high speed tan wires together so that the coms system is intact still then just used the red power wire to a relay to the pump.  The dark green wire from the ECM triggers the relay.

Edited by kyleag89
tbarn Senior Enthusiast

tbarn

Posted
Posted

Make sure you check under the fuse block. That area is notorious for rodent damage.

  • Like 1
kyleag89 Enthusiast

kyleag89

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

I didn't get to look at it today but I did some more research online and think that the wire is question comes from the fuse box.  It then goes to the front passenger side turn signal/parking lamps and splits off there somewhere to go to the rear.  I was hoping someone had this problem before and knew exactly where the wire runs.  My loom is in bad shape the tape is crumbling and the loom itself is hard and sharp.  My fingers are all cut up from messing with it 2 days ago!  The clips that hold the fuse box down are all broken on my truck so I try to stay away from messing with that so I'll probably check everywhere else first only to discover it broken under there and create other problems in the process. That almost always how it goes for me.

 

For now I spliced the wire onto the trailer plugs brown wire power feed.  I could leave it like that but I'd like to put it back the way it is supposed to be in case I tow sometime and it may overload that circuit.

 

Edit: looking over some more diagrams the brown wire comes from fuse #27 labeled RT Park and splits off under the fuse box(unfortunately).  I'll update with what I find today.

Edited by kyleag89
kyleag89 Enthusiast

kyleag89

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Solved this problem!  It was the tiniest bit of corrosion on the fuse contacts that I couldn't see until I removed the fuse box.  The contacts are literally like a 22awg metal wire and barely have any contact area at all so corrosion can break contact easily!  I've been a GM guy my entire life but man the NBS trucks took a plummet in quality from the previous body style.  Most of my loom has crumbled and  broken away as well as the tape the factory put on.  What tape hasn't already fallen off is hanging on by a thread.  Almost everything plastic on this truck I touch breaks it's so brittle and this truck isn't my only one like this.  I had a 2012 before this truck and it suffered all the same things as well as the dumb fuse box retainer arms being broken.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Latest Articles

  • Posts

    • Newduramaxh*ar
      DTC P2C48 auxiliary cooling pump

      By Newduramaxh*ar · Posted

      I tried tapping it.  This might sound like a dumb question, you should feel vibration or some type of noise when it turns on? Can someone please verify? Thank you all!
    • Chuck FB
      first oil change - 2026 2500HD gas

      By Chuck FB · Posted

      I feel better now for my own view point and actions or lack there of towards the dealership service theme reading your post and others. GM corporate is who offers the two free oil changes on the HD trucks and I bought my truck in Feb of 2025 and those oil change offers run out within 2 years I believe and I highly doubt I will be using either one of them. I had asked if I could officially give those free services to another customer ( a friend ) and they said no, its all a GM corporate thing based on the vehicle in question. What that service advisor did however was go into a little story about how such and such customer was denied engine warranty because he had done his own oil changes because then they are not documented ... you see where that goes and so an employee playing the game of scaring the customer into having the service work done there most certainly triggered my thought process. At a later date I did talk to the person who handles warranty claims at the dealership and she said to be sure to document the oil changes and keep receipts for the oil and filter ( coped the receipts from cases of Mobil oil and case of filters I bought from them ) and the vehicles VIN, the date of service, mileage etc and staple that together as a record I would give them if that was ever needed and I keep my own log book for services for each vehicle as well. Oh and about 8 months after I bought the truck the dealer starts calling me to offer a maintenance service since they haven't seen my vehicle show up on their system ... for the mere fee of 300.00 Canadian to change the oil and rotate the tires and a few other minor checks and I declined the offer, I get the call again a couple of months later for the same thing and she could tell I was not interested and she asked if they should take my name off the call list and I said yes, do that !.    By the way did you happen to keep your factory oil filter to open it up and see the surprises inside as I expect some will show up as per the odd little sliver of metal shaving and particles that the filter does trap along with bits of grey silicone sealer that come off of the inside edge of mating surfaces. I have cut open every filter so far on my truck although few miles but have changed the oil often and the second filter was vastly better with very little of anything, that first filter was the unsettling one as I expected it would be. 
    • OnTheReel
      OCI, not when but why?

      By OnTheReel · Posted

      I get why they do this…but man…not ideal. I only extract on inboard boat engines because the drains are buried and even then I hate it because it’s easy to leave a quart behind with that method.   They should market it as an “oil refresh” not oil change!
    • KARNUT
      OCI, not when but why?

      By KARNUT · Posted

      I only get oil changed where I can watch. Valvoline pulls through the dipstick into a see thru glass. When done they show me the dipstick. About the only way they can mess up is using the wrong oil. But that secret wouldn’t stay secret long. Honda uses TQ wrenches on everything. You can watch through a plate glass window. Discount tires does that with tires. Trust but verify. 
    • Grumpy Bear
      OCI, not when but why?

      By Grumpy Bear · Posted

      I would not argue that with you. It would be pointless to argue against the truth and you speak the truth.    My question and in fact the entire point of this thread is an exploration into the levers of wear which happens no matter how well we maintain our powertrains.    Some of these levers we exert a good deal of influence over which can and do result is lower wear, longer powertrain life. Some others we are sort of stuck with.    An engine is typically done when the ring to bore seal no longer is able to do the job effectively. Normally the first thing to go in a engine otherwise well maintained and adult driven is this seal.    Looking into the means, methods, products and attitudes that influence the rate of wear seems a worthwhile inquiry to me.     

  • GM-Trucks.com Clubs

  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...