Aftermarket third brake light issues

[JPG3]

I know there are other threads out there with this issue but I’ve yet to be able to solve mine.

Original owner 1997 Ram 1500 Laramie 5.9 4WD...
Purchased a plug and play LED third brake light replacement for the original. Upon installment cargo lights do not shut off, they are not dim as others have stated with theirs, they are full on. Attempted a resistor but nothing changed, obviously connected to the wrong wires - white and black/white on the new assembly. Photos attached as the wires between the two assemblies are different colors but I assume they are connected in the same orientation. I have searched for solutions but it is obviously above my ability - auto electrical is surely not my thing. Any help would be appreciated, hope it all makes sense.

OEM wires - white/tan & black/orange to center brake lights
pink/blue & pink to cargo lights


New LED harness configuration -
Black/white wire in place of pink/blue of OEM
White in place of pink
Red/yellow place of black/orange
Orange in place of white/tan

 

[corneileous]

Do you have that resistor wired between the two wires, or spliced into the same wire? I had that problem on my 2008 but it sounds like your problem was exact to mine. I made a thread concerning it, I’ll go have to go look for it.


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[corneileous]

Here was the thread I started. Somewhere with in it shows a link to a place that I sent to to buy my resistor.

https://www.ramforum.com/threads/ca...anzo-led-3rd-brake-light.106537/#post-1549321


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[JPG3]

I connected one end to the white and the other to the black/white. Auto store individual told me to connect one to positive and other to negative, said it was a simple fix. Obviously one of us is confused.

 

[corneileous]

I connected one end to the white and the other to the black/white. Auto store individual told me to connect one to positive and other to negative, said it was a simple fix. Obviously one of us is confused.

I think that’s how it’s sposed to be wired. One wire from the resistor spliced to the positive, and the other end spliced tobthe negative. You sure you got the right wires? Also what size resistor you get?


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[JPG3]

That was one of the first threads I read. Maybe his resistor suggestion isn’t the right fit for the issue - 12V 6ohm.

 

[corneileous]

I can’t remember which resistor I ended up using. I just went to that website at the start of the discussion and emailed the guy that runs it. He was the one that told me which one to buy and, it fixed my problem. If your light’s still on, and you got the right wires tapped into, your resistor probably isn’t strong enough.


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[JPG3]

I did my crude attempt at tracing the wires to the cargo/dome light switch as well as brake light switch and the answer could have been staring right at me but as I said, auto wiring is certainly not my thing.

 

[JPG3]

Thanks for the info, looks like an email is my next step.

 

[corneileous]

I think the one I ended up using was this one.


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[JPG3]

Awesome, thanks for sharing. Any issues mounting due to the heat involved?

 

[JPG3]

Well...picked up the same resistor and still no luck, cargo lights still stay illuminated. Frustrating, likely going to send back and try a different light assembly.

 

[Shadow_Death]

I read somewhere that someone had to wire theirs backwards. Something about our Pre-98 models are power activated instead of ground activated like most newer vehicles.

 

[JPG3]

Haven’t come across that suggestion, I’ll have to search and see what ‘backwards’ is. OEM original replacement is looking better and better.