01 Tahoe Parking Light Wiring Problem

[ScottyBoy]

Ok my lil brothers Tahoe has a problem with the rear passenger tail light. The parking light wire is dead. The brake light and turn signal, hazards even work fine. I tested all the wires with a DMM and I'm getting no voltage to the parking light wire. I suspect I have a break in the wire somewhere underneath the truck. I even climbed under and traced the wire for a while and probed the wire about every for or so, still dead. I got as far as the rear end and still gettimg no power, I guess there must be a break further up towards the front. So my question is: Will it hurt anything to just cut the harness at the parking light bulb socket and run a new wire across and just tie it in with the driver's side parking light bulb? Are they fused seperately or something like that? should I keep trying to find the source of the problem in the wire or just tie it to the other light if that will work?

[Zembonez]

I would make every effort to find the actual problem instead of trying to patch it. A good shop manual wiring diagram and a DMM should get you there pretty quickly. I'd try unplugging and reconnecting body wiring harness plugs. It's possible that a connector is just not making contact for whatever reason.

[ScottyBoy]

Well does anyone have a schematic or a link to a schematic for the light system on this tahoe? And are the two rear lights on seperate wiring harnesses? The fact that everything else works on that light led me to beleive the wire was cut or broken somewhwere as opposed to a harness being unplugged. But then again, if its a plug underneath or outside the truck I guess its possible it could have corrosion as well and that pin is not getting a good connection now. Anything's possible I guess. But time is a problem as well, I live 6 hours away from where the truck is being stored now(my lil brother is now deceased but we kept his truck) and my other brothers are nimwits when it comes to electrical repairs. I have to try and knock this out while I'm down there(in New Oleans) this weekend for mardi gras. I dont wanna spend my whole weekend working on his truck. I'll try and look some more, but If I cant narrow it down, would it hurt anything to "rig" it like that for a while? I know I wouldn't want to leave it like that forever. I'd like to actually get the truck up here in my yard so I can do a lot or other work I'd like to do to it (misc mods and upgrades) but I'd defineitely need to get that light working b4 driving it 300 miles on the interstate.

[Fortune50]

So it's the right rear (passenger side) parking lights that don't work? If so, check the 10 amp RR PRK fuse, this is right rear parking lamp circuit fuse. The wire from that fuse is brown/white in color. Check both ends of the fuse to verify that it's getting power from the fusebox. If that checks out ok. Does the right side rear license plate light work? If so, then the problem is after the splice located in the vicinity of the rear luggage compartment (area from the rear wheelhousing to the rear taillight). There is a wire connector where you'll see the brown/white wire will become plain brown as it goes on toward the parking light socket from that connector.

Here are a couple of pics out of my '01 GM Truck Service Manual showing some wiring & the socket to the rear lamp located on the right rear underbody near the frame rail:

Also check the ground continuity from the taillight socket to the ground wire's final location on the spare tire hoist bracket.

[ScottyBoy]

Thanks, I'll check that fuse. I just assumed all the parking lamps were on one fuse. And as for the liscense plate light, I never paid attention to whether it works or not. And as for the ground, yes I did check that already, its all good. I'll check it this weekend while I'm down there in New Orleans and post my findings next week. And now my other brother has informed me that from what David(my deceased brother who the Tahoe was for) said to him once is that the problem started when he got his truck back from the body shop to get painted. Not sure if thats relevant though. He had the truck painted in early 2007, he passed away in August 2007. The tahoe has basically been not driven ever since then (except around the block every once in a while just to keep the fluids circulated). This weekend I'll check that light and also change out a power window switch that was acting up.

[ScottyBoy]

Ok, I got a chance to check on it today and it turns out is was just the fuse. Fortune50, thank you! I owe you a beer my friend. I don't know why I just assumed all the parking lights were on the same fuse. I got that light fixed, changed out the power window switch and also found a bad fuse for the right headlight. My brother said he checked it and it had a bad bulb. I popped in a new fuse and it came right on. So I got that all taken care of, now I find out the power mirror switch is bad now. I see if I can find one here before I leave town, but then again its Mardi Gras weekend and I'll be lucky if anybody's even open. If not, its not that big of a deal, I mean nobody's driving it anyways.