running lights/tail lights failure
 

Ok, i'm pretty sure i'm just going to have to go over everything/check everything, but i was hoping some one has had a similar problem. My tail lights have stopped working, only i had it inside the other day doing some work and everything melted off pretty good, and i changed a fuse and i made sure the tail light relay was in tight. Also, i unplugged the tail lights and cleaned out the connectors. i haven't gone over the wires real closely but from the cab back there are no exposed wires. So, after it came out of the shop the tail lights worked, and then worked half the next day, until i turned it off for a couple hours, and when i started it back up, they flickered for a little bit, and then went out, which is really weird to me, so i'm a little stumped.

1988 pickup, 22re 4wd

due to...
 

Due to the fact that they flickered it sounds like a short, and since you were messing with the wiring (from what I understand) it seems even more likely you have a short or bad connection somewhere, so it definately seems like you will more then likely have to just go through everything, but definately check your fuses first! :(

Yeah, thats cool, kinda narrows things down, i wasn't really messing with the wiring, just checking it over, but yeah, now that you say that, i think i know where the short is, but i'm just going to have to get out the test light and make sure i have power where i should. Also all the fuses are good, minus one, a 15amp one, farthest back column in the middle, doesn't seem to have any power, but i replaced it any same thing, i dunno. Yeah, also, there is a splice in the wiring i just found today, so i'm going to have to probably redo all that, but i think the issue is salty water and salty slush on everything.