Tail lights not working

Tiny
MARTY S
  • MEMBER
  • 2008 CADILLAC STS
  • 4.6L
  • V8
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 176,000 MILES
Neither LED tail light is working but both brake lights are. I don't know if they failed together but I just noticed them. All fuses and relays seem to be okay. I unplugged the passenger side light assembly and used a VOM to check the voltage of each of the five leads of the connector to ground while the headlights were on. One was steady 12+ volts, the other four were 0 volts. Similarly, when I checked with the hazard flashers on, I determined that one of those four feeds the brake light. I suspect I need new tail light assemblies, but I'm very hesitant to spend several hundred dollars for replacements without knowing how to check the lights. Any suggestions?
Tuesday, January 15th, 2019 AT 5:44 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
SCGRANTURISMO
  • MECHANIC
  • 4,897 POSTS
Hi Marty S., my name is Alex and I will be helping you with your problem today. I suspect that the ground wire to the taillights might be to blame here. I am including a link on how to test taillight assemblies, as well as a wiring diagram for you I have also circled where the grounds are for the taillight assemblies are on the wiring diagram for you. I hope this helps.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/brake-lights-not-working
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 AT 7:07 AM
Tiny
MARTY S
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Hi Alex. Thanks for the quick response and the schematic! I'll investigate further when I get home tonight and let you know what I find. From the schematic, it seems that a faulty taillight assembly ground would also prevent the stop/turn function from operating, but those are working correctly.
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 AT 1:13 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,414 POSTS
Rare for those lights to fail and especially in pairs but it can happen. The ground for all lights is a common one so if the turn/stop work the ground is good (also look at the rear side markers, they share the same ground). Do the plate lamps work? Those share the power feed from the marker light relay. If the front marker lights are working that relay is okay.
If the other lights work, the last test would be to apply battery power to pin A of either lamp and see if they light there, purple wire for left hand side, brown with white for right hand side. If you test them off the vehicle you will need to be sure that pin D, the ground for each lamp is connected as well.
Not uncommon for the connectors to corrode internally.
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 AT 3:30 PM
Tiny
MARTY S
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Hi Steve. Thanks for the response! The plate lamps and markers also do not work. Thanks to the schematic you guys provided, I was able to determine that power is not going to the tail lights. Power is going to the stop/turn lights when brakes or turn signals are activated. The only constant power at the light plug is apparently for the tail lamp outage detection signal. I haven't found any fuses or relays that don't work. But the park lamp relay doesn't seem to be pulling in. It doesn't click when the lights are turned on but by swapping it with the fog lamp relay I verified that is an issue with the circuit and not the relay. Both worked (and clicked) in the fog lamp relay socket, neither worked in the park lamp socket. There is power to the socket corresponding to terminal 85 of the park lamp relay but there seems to be an open circuit in the line to the socket corresponding to terminal 86. I'm guessing, but don't know, that there's a relay, switch, or something that's supposed to ground terminal 86 of the relay which then pulls in to connect terminals 30 and 87. Both the "LT PRK" and "RT PRK" fuses in the under-hood fuse block are okay.

I really appreciate your help! I'm out of ideas and, although I hate to admit defeat, I need the car back on the road and will drop it at the dealer in the morning.
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2019 AT 7:50 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,414 POSTS
If you have a chance, pull the park relay and jumper from pin 30 or 85 (power side) to pin 87 (park lamp feed) If the lights all come on the issue is in the relay. Pin 86 is grounded in the instrument panel module to make the relay switch on.
I can understand the need for a vehicle though. Please let us know what they find.
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Thursday, January 17th, 2019 AT 2:34 PM
Tiny
MARTY S
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
Hi Steve. I determined that the relay worked fine but that there seemed to be an open circuit that would not complete the path to pull in the relay. So I took it to the dealer this morning. They traced the open circuit to corroded terminals in the under-hood fuse block. According to the invoice, they replaced terminals for circuits 1080, 32, 143, 5126. Everything works now. Labor of nearly $490.00 plus parts and shop supplies brought the whole bill to over $550.00. But at least it's safe now and back on the road before the snow hits. Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it! You guys perform a great service and do it very well!
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Thursday, January 17th, 2019 AT 7:05 PM
Tiny
STEVE W.
  • MECHANIC
  • 13,414 POSTS
About what I expected. Corrosion is a big issue on electronics. Glad to hear it's up and running. I'm waiting on the snow myself. We'll see if the guessers are close this time.
Thanks for using 2CarPros. Stop back anytime with your automotive questions.
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Thursday, January 17th, 2019 AT 11:18 PM

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