1966 Charger no lights in rear end

[Carney10]

Original all lights worked. Not sure when or how long ago, but realized yesterday that Right brake light was not working, then realized turn signal didn't either. Tail lights all worked. Now today no lights in rear end are working at all. Have checked fuses, cleaned connections, cleaned connections at wiring harness at firewall. From previous threads I am thinking it may be a grounding issue. Can someone help with where I should begin to check ground connections? Or any other recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[6769Mopars]

Are your bulbs good? Check your harness connections to each rear lamp. Make sure that bulbs are seated snuggly in the socket and that the sockets are rust free.

Also check your fuses. Do your front courtesy lamps work?

 

[Carney10]

Bulbs are good, we just realized a socket is loose inside where bulb sits on left side. So it is again working. Now to get the right side. We will recheck all the connections at tail light.
Fuses are good and we cleaned the fuse box connections.
Courtesy lights? Do u mean Inside, sorry not sure which ones u mean.
Thank u!

 

[Darthomas]

dash lights are fed from same source...but you have the electroluminescent thingy.
Does radio dial lamp work OK?
Measure resistance between bumper and good body ground.
Sockets rot out, buttons for bulb contacts fall off, bulb bases have solder blobs making the connection, and these can go flat with time.
Lots of things to check.

 

[Carney10]

dash lights are fed from same source...but you have the electroluminescent thingy.
Does radio dial lamp work OK?
Measure resistance between bumper and good body ground.
Sockets rot out, buttons for bulb contacts fall off, bulb bases have solder blobs making the connection, and these can go flat with time.
Lots of things to check.

Last night we had dash lights and radio lit but seemed a little dim we thought.

 

[Carney10]

A new twist, we noticed now that we have lights on the left (driver) -left tail light is on even when light switch is off! Had not been the case prior to trouble shooting. I'm beginning to think We are making it worse.

 

[6769Mopars]

Check all the connections at the headlight switch. Pull the connector and clean all the connections. Perhaps just sliding the connector up and down on the switch will help.

 

[6769Mopars]

Bulbs are good, we just realized a socket is loose inside where bulb sits on left side. So it is again working. Now to get the right side. We will recheck all the connections at tail light.
Fuses are good and we cleaned the fuse box connections.
Courtesy lights? Do u mean Inside, sorry not sure which ones u mean.
Thank u!

I mean the lower parking lamps in the front number. Does their behavior match the behavior of the rear lamps?

 

[Carney10]

I mean the lower parking lamps in the front number. Does their behavior match the behavior of the rear lamps?

Everything in front works fine.

 

[6769Mopars]

Everything in front works fine.

Electrical issues can be frustrating.

 

[JAmes Dodge]

I had a similar problem, replacing the turn signal switch, the problem where solved.

 

[6769Mopars]

I had a similar problem, replacing the turn signal switch, the problem where solved.

May be but more likely he has grounding issues. It would not hurt to disconnect and reconnect the turn signal switch harness (near the steering column under the dash).

 

[Carney10]

Haven't had time to work on it today. Will post later what we have tried. Thank you guys for all the great advice.

 

[Carney10]

I am Finally getting somewhere I think. The brown wire (passenger side rear tail/brake) has been disconnected at wiring harness at steering column. We plugged it back in and it blows a fuse every time. I think that means bare wire so we Searched entire trunk area for brown bare wire, and sure enough at the corner where there are some splice/connectors there is a small crack exposing the bare wire. Is taping it recommended or should we splice?

 

[Darthomas]

I am Finally getting somewhere I think. The brown wire (passenger side rear tail/brake) has been disconnected at wiring harness at steering column. We plugged it back in and it blows a fuse every time. I think that means bare wire so we Searched entire trunk area for brown bare wire, and sure enough at the corner where there are some splice/connectors there is a small crack exposing the bare wire. Is taping it recommended or should we splice?

Cut it right there , put on a shrink tubing section, strip about 1/2 inch from borh ends, twist ends interlocked together to make a smooth straight wire, solder and then slide the shrink tubing over the soldered joint and shrink it with heat.
It will never be a problem there again.