Driver Running Lamp Electrical Issue?

[Pravius]

Recently took my 99 4.0l 5 speed to a shop for some suspension work. They replaced the track bar and lowered my transfer case (previous owner put in a 4” lift and the rear shaft angle was not good). All of these lights were working fine prior. I have no reason to believe they did anything to create this. The Jeep was sitting outside when it was in the shop and it rained quite a bit while it was there. I should also note, just before I brought it into the shop, I installed some LED head lights.

Since I got it back, the driver side running lamp will not work. The blinker (same bulb) works fine. I’ve replaced the bulb with brand new and even moved the passenger side bulb (known working bulb) to driver side. When I turn my lights on, left blinker on instrument cluster is solid. If the Jeep ignition isn’t in the “on” position, when I turn my drivers side blinker on, the running lamp just stays solid (lit)

I’ve visually inspected the wiring and found nothing alarming. This Jeep is in pretty good shape for its age.

I’ve attached 2 pics, one of the working passenger side bulb. The other pic is after I swapped the passenger side bulb to the driver side, the bulb is partially lit. I cannot get the bulb to partially light with the new 194 bulbs I bought. Thought it was interesting and could be a clue for you gurus.

Any ideas?

 

[Pravius]

Should also add, I disconnected the battery last night, overnight. The thought was the PCM may store ground faults and maybe was thinking there was a fault if the terminals got wet at the shop and tried to reset that. (Might be dumb, but it made sense in my desperation!)

That didn’t work either.

 

[Obi-Wan]

Dirty connector / poor grounding.

The dim bulb shown is an excellent indicator of high resistance somewhere.

Disconnecting the PCM will have no effect for this kind of issue.

 

[Obi-Wan]

I should also note, just before I brought it into the shop, I installed some LED head lights.

Ah....a clue.

What did you do for this install? Was it a simple swap? Did you remove / add any additional wiring to the harness?

Fill us in.

 

[Pravius]

Ah....a clue.

What did you do for this install? Was it a simple swap? Did you remove / add any additional wiring to the harness?

Fill us in.

No modifications to the wiring. Admittedly, the bulbs are cheaper Amazon LED’s.

The terminal is a bit corroded, it’s very possible it’s a bad ground on that. The thing that completely threw me off was that the blinker (the running light also blinks when blinker is on) is working. I was reading a bit and it looks like the blinker and running lights are on different circuits, could explain it?

Any suggestions where I might be able to get a replacement terminal for that?

 

[Obi-Wan]

I would grab a multimeter and check the terminals / grounds before you start lopping off and replacing stuff.

A bit of corrosion can be cleaned up easily (assuming it hasn't eaten through the metal) and future corrosion prevented with a dab of dielectric grease.

 

[Pravius]

I would grab a multimeter and check the terminals / grounds before you start lopping off and replacing stuff.

A bit of corrosion can be cleaned up easily (assuming it hasn't eaten through the metal) and future corrosion prevented with a dab of dielectric grease.

Will do that, thank you!

 

[Pravius]

Finally fixed my issue! For anyone viewing this thread in the future that may have similar behavior, the issue was at the front turn signal socket. Even though the socket was working the terminals were very corroded and was not delivering power to the next device in line, the running light. I tried to clean the sockets first and then use some dielectric grease but eventually had to order a new socket.