Electrical help....Please....Drivers side tail lights,parking lights

[craig356]

Electrical issues are certainly NOT my strong point and I know there are several experts here that might be able to help me. Quick overview is I just had my car repainted. When I went back to install the drivers side tail light, when I hooked up the wiring harness the tail light buld stays on and will not go off. I have checked the 5 point connection in the engine compartment, the ground wire and the leads that go to the license plate lights. I just now noticed the front running lights and turn signals remain on as well, and therefore I pulled the fuse to shut them off. The only thing I can think is that it is a ground issue somewhere. I know the guy who painted my car did pressure wash it and there was some wet spots in the interior floor board from leaking from the sunroof since the sunroof seals were out during paint. Any ideas on how to trace this wiring from the tail light to where ever it goes?

Thank you in advance for any insight...

Craig

[david914]

This might sound like a silly question, but is your turn signal lever pulled down (as in left hand turn)? If so, that's normal. Return the lever to the normal position and the lights should go off.

[ossiblue]

Originally Posted by david914

this might sound like a silly question, but is your turn signal lever pulled down (as in left hand turn)? If so, that's normal. Return the lever to the normal position and the lights should go off.

+1. There is a parking light circuit on our cars that many are not aware of, activated by the turn signal switch with ignition off.

[kidrock]

Originally Posted by ossiblue

+1. There is a parking light circuit on our cars that many are not aware of, activated by the turn signal switch with ignition off.

That's interesting, I did not know that. Hopefully this will solve Craig356's problem.

If not, I would check the wiring for the engine compartment light. For some reason, that particular fixture seems to be the main culprit for problems with the driver's side parking lites.

[craig356]

I never knew there was such a feature on our cars....You guys nailed it as I tried this very thing and all is well....!!! I changed tail light assemblies 4 times last night trying to diagnose , wish I would have posted the question early on...ha. Once again the Pelican community saves me more grief. This place is a great resource!!!

Thank you, Craig

[James Brown]

that's standard for European cars (most of them) lots of people get bitten by this feature.