Radchadtrinidad

been having this issue where my left hand tail light does not work, but my LH brake light works. rather than checking my LED bulb, socket etc, i probed the ground and power at the body side of the harness and ended up with 5 volts (LH). i then tested my RH tail light and got the expected 12v. sounds like split wire? or a relay? yes my dash lights and every other front light work.

Radchadtrinidad

can put in more information or pictures if needed.

92ehatch

You can determine which side your loss is on. The two wires feeding the bulb, you said have 5 volts instead of 12. Is that 5v from 1 wire to the other ? What about from each wire to ground? If you get 12v from the hot side to chassis ground, then you have a poor ground wire to the bulb. If you only get 5v to chassis ground then you have a bad power wire. Once you figure out which wire, trace that bad boy back until you find the point where the voltage loss is occurring.

RAD4Runner

Like 92ehatch says above.

Yes, a picture paints a thousand words.

There are 2 tail lights; one by itself, the other sharing ground with the brake light in one bulb.
Exactly which one are we talking about?

If you post pictures of the socket and the bulb, then we (who may be thousands of miles away) will see what you are working with.
Indicate in pictures what wire color goes to each terminal/contact.

scope103

Be careful measuring to "chassis ground." On my '94, the bed (where the taillights are mounted) is INSULATED from chassis ground (that's why there is a separate white-black wire to provide ground). I believe the electrical insulation is just secondary to vibration mounting, but the result is the same.

Radchadtrinidad

okay guys so heres what i found. i was getting 5V to my left taillights as said. i wiggled my harness around where my bed is and suddenly got voltage spikes. i then untaped the loom and found the split wire i thought was present. fixed it and everything works! thanks for the help guys.