brake light question

[SILVER_BULLET]

Hey guys just wanted to ask here to get some ideas of what my problem could be so heres the story. i noticed the other day that my third brake light was not working when pressing the breaks or reverse it would only work if i pressed the cargo light button so i didnt think it was a big deal probably just the bulbs or something messed up even though i thought they should last longer since it is a 2012. well last week on Wednesday i asked my girlfriend to take the truck into the dealer since i was working and it was time for the oil change. I had made an appointment online and i stated on there that the 3rd brake light was not working so they could check it out and replace the bulbs if necessary since i had not had time to do so myself. About 5 min after the truck was dropped off i get a call from the dealer and the guy was asking me if i had made a mistake when i made the appt. because it said that the 3rd brake light wasnt working when it is and i told him no its correct it hasnt been working for me for a week and to my surprise he says well its working right now but your tail lights are the ones that are off now.With the past issues ive had with my truck hearing this made me really nervous well thursday comes and they tell me they had to get the master technician to look at it since the regular tech couldnt figure out the problem then friday comes along and i get a call that they think the problem might have something to do with the viper alarm installed in the truck so i told them to disconnect it from any power source to test it even though i didnt think this was the issue. Well 30 min later the guy calls me again and says that they hadnt tried cutting power to it yet but just wanted to let me know that now none of the lights in the back were working from the truck even though it had not been touched since the night before. So at this point that is last i heard from the dealer they didnt answer my calls all afternoon not sure if they were busy or something but i have no updates on what else is going on but I thought maybe someone here has had some sort of similar experience and could give me some kind of clue of what could be wrong. sorry for the long boring story too guys

 

[Cruizer]

I see any issues like this and first thing I start thinking is ground. Could be the alarm depending on how it ties into the light system. But I've seen bad grounds cause some of the craziest issues. My Dakota had an issue one time that if I opened my glove box while my door was open, it would blow my stereo fuse, lol. I could open the glovebox with the door closed and have no issues. Was just odd. Hope they figure it out.

 

[SILVER_BULLET]

Man im hoping its something simple like that its been almost 5 months of fighting with this damn truck over different issues. I was thinking that it would be hard for it to be the alarm since the alarm has been on there for almost 2 years and i hadnt had an issue before but i guess anything can happen.... That is really crazy though the way that would happen on your dakota lol

 

[Cruizer]

Yeah, turned out to be the cab ground was corroded. Just needed removed, cleaned up, and reconnected. It could also be a wire grounding out somewhere though too. They should be able to trace down an issue though. I'm lucky enough there's a local shop here that are masters of electrical issues. Best of luck.

 

[SILVER_BULLET]

I hope they can find the issue i ended up all weekend without anything to drive since they didnt answer my calls all afternoon so i was pretty pissed but now im just hoping they can get it fixed

 

[TylerB]

Sounds like a simplr grounding issue or a wire tap from the alarm install depending how it was installed.

I just went through a problem with my fogs due to using those cheap, crimp on T-taps connectors. The taps were barely making contact and almost cutting into the wires the after being on there for over a year and a half. So, Saturday I removed every T-tap connection on my fogs and manual switch for E-fan to solder the connections instead.

 

[SILVER_BULLET]

Man i sure hope that its something simple like that i have been having the truck in and out of the dealership for so long that im really getting tired of it and kinda thinking of getting rid of it

 

[brianspriggs]

Ground issues will cause all sorts of crazy issues

 

[SILVER_BULLET]

well it turned out to be a shorted out wire that caused everything to go crazy like that. now they are working but since im paranoid with this truck now i noticed that the 3rd brake light only comes on when i press the brakes unlike the tail lights that are on but just get brighter when you press the brake and i cant for the life of me remember if thats how its supposed to be or not so can anyone confirm this for me?

 

[TylerB]

well it turned out to be a shorted out wire that caused everything to go crazy like that. now they are working but since im paranoid with this truck now i noticed that the 3rd brake light only comes on when i press the brakes unlike the tail lights that are on but just get brighter when you press the brake and i cant for the life of me remember if thats how its supposed to be or not so can anyone confirm this for me?

That's how it's supposed to be.

 

[SILVER_BULLET]

Ok thanks. If it finally lasts a month without having to go to the dealer maybe ill end up buying a set of tires to start going to the track again