No taillights,side marker lights and license plate light. (1 Viewer)

[Mi60cruzr]

Fellow Cruiser Heads I come to you in search of your knowledge. As the title reads the afore mentioned lights are inoperable. I've done the three easy steps of replacing bulb fuse and relay. Still Nada. I considered a bad ground but the bulb socket seems grounded sufficiently because the brake lights work in the same bulb. Is this correct thinking? I looked up the diagram in the Haynes manual and found all these items to be connected. Is there possibly a break somewhere before it goes to these lights? I traced the wires under the cruiser and found a plug on one side wrapped up to what looks like a a connection that's not plugged into anything. On the driver side I find another end of a plug that's not plugged into anything. Any help or guidance would be appreciated.

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

According to that wiring diagram you need to check for continuity from the Body side White wire with black stripe to confirm a good ground. Then using a multi-meter or test light run a test lead to the Green on the Body side harness of either the rear clearance lights, license plate light or running light side of the combo lamp and ground the other side. If you don't see vehicle voltage when you turn the light switch to running lights then replace the fuse with a new one. If that fails to resolve the issue Check the relay is functioning. If the relay is functioning but not the lights then you need to hunt down the sub harness connections listed. The EWD section of the FSM will give you locations and visual references to what the plugs look like.

If you look at the wiring diagram if it is a rectangle with an alpha-numeric code its a connector. If it is and octagon it is a splice point...usually a flat barss or copper ferrule crimped around many common wires and wrapped either in colored electrical tape or duct tape....yep....duct tape. If my old brain remembers correctly...the chevrons pointing at the connector represent the male side.

 

[LongDuck]

Check your bulb connections for the License Plate illumination. I had a short there from power to the metal body that took out all illumination except for headlights, but the brake lights still worked. I popped a cyalume lightstick and laid it on the instrument cluster for lighting of critical stuff. That was a long drive home in the dark, lightly pressing the brakes as cars would overtake me...

To this day, I keep a handful of cyalume lightsticks in the glovebox.

 

[Malleus]

The correct EWD for your year is in the Resources section. You'll need to make sure you're using the wiring diagram for your year model, first. The FSM is also there. Download both while you're at it. Here is the complete taillight section for the 1995 model year:

You can have a bad pigtail and lose lights, however there's no guarantee you don't have several problems. Let us know what year you have and we can go from there.

Empty connectors are common; there are options we didn't get that are provided for in the harness.

Do you have PRNDL2 lights on the dash? If not, your problem may be the harness join between the engine and transmission harness. It's above the starter. There are two, but only one has the backup lights and dash lights in the circuit. It'll be the smaller of the two.

 

[Malleus]

The rear combination lights and license plate lights share a ground (marked "BG"):

I'd check that screw for corrosion first. It's under the carpet.

 

[Malleus]

Parking lights P2 and P3 aren't on the parts location diagrams (for some reason) but are grounded at the front of the body, at EB and EA, respectively:

The most common root cause for light failure is a bad ground, so look there first.

These images may not be correct for your year model, but show you how to find the information you'll need if they're not. All the EWDs are arranged similarly.

HTH

 

[Mi60cruzr]

The correct EWD for your year is in the Resources section. You'll need to make sure you're using the wiring diagram for your year model, first. The FSM is also there. Download both while you're at it. Here is the complete taillight section for the 1995 model year:
View attachment 3511875
You can have a bad pigtail and lose lights, however there's no guarantee you don't have several problems. Let us know what year you have and we can go from there.

Empty connectors are common; there are options we didn't get that are provided for in the harness.

Do you have PRNDL2 lights on the dash? If not, your problem may be the harness join between the engine and transmission harness. It's above the starter. There are two, but only one has the backup lights and dash lights in the circuit. It'll be the smaller of the two.

It's a 92 FJ80. Not sure

The correct EWD for your year is in the Resources section. You'll need to make sure you're using the wiring diagram for your year model, first. The FSM is also there. Download both while you're at it. Here is the complete taillight section for the 1995 model year:
View attachment 3511875
You can have a bad pigtail and lose lights, however there's no guarantee you don't have several problems. Let us know what year you have and we can go from there.

Empty connectors are common; there are options we didn't get that are provided for in the harness.

Do you have PRNDL2 lights on the dash? If not, your problem may be the harness join between the engine and transmission harness. It's above the starter. There are two, but only one has the backup lights and dash lights in the circuit. It'll be the smaller of the two.

its a 92 Fj80. Prndl2 lights are working. Thanks for the help

 

[Mi60cruzr]

The rear combination lights and license plate lights share a ground (marked "BG"):
View attachment 3511880
I'd check that screw for corrosion first. It's under the carpet.

Thanks I will check that in the morning

 

[Squash]

Suspecting that you may be in a winter road salt zone, and therefore might want to remove your bottle jack and it's cradle.
Once this is done get down into that rear panel and check those connections.
Make certain there is no green corrosion build up, or other funky business.
If you have done some water crossing and/or suspect rust get in there.
I've seen this a few times!

 

[TomH]

The rear combination lights and license plate lights share a ground (marked "BG"):

I'd check that screw for corrosion first. It's under the carpet.

I disagree that BG is under the carpet. I suppose technically it is under the carpet and the floor.

I think the one is BG. It is just down from the connectors is the OP's first picture. Those connectors are used for connecting a trailer harness.

Here is a picture of BG on my truck. Mine is a 97 so this wiring may be different on a 92.

 

[jonheld]

This is the tail lamp section for a 1991.
Do your front clearance lamps work? If so than the issue is likely with the J3 junction connector (part of the main dash harness) or with the ground point BG which is under the rear cross member. A quick check with a meter should resolve this. You're either missing +12 or missing ground.

 

[Mi60cruzr]

This is the tail lamp section for a 1991.
Do your front clearance lamps work? If so than the issue is likely with the J3 junction connector (part of the main dash harness) or with the ground point BG which is under the rear cross member. A quick check with a meter should resolve this. You're either missing +12 or missing ground.

View attachment 3512210

The front clearance lights work. Would J3 be located under the dash?

 

[LandCruisinMy93]

Oh yeah...I also forgot to mention that this recently came up in another thread and reminded me that my trailer wiring module ended up being the cause of this issue on my rig...it's a documented issue where the port or dealer or whomever installed module in the passenger rear Quarter panel sometimes goes bad/ shorts internally and it causes this issue...on occasion other issues.

 

[jonheld]

The front clearance lights work. Would J3 be located under the dash?

Before digging into the dash, just check the bulb sockets with a meter and figure out what you're missing.

 

[Mi60cruzr]

Thanks to all that posted helping out. The culprit was a corroded connection in the DS back quarter panel area. Thanks everyone!