Taillight issue after taillight guard install

[Evan77]

Hello all. (I’m not the most technical person on the internet so please bear with me)I’ve just put on eag taillight covers for the rear taillights. So there was no issue putting them on. However, after disconnecting the mate n lock (apparently that’s the name of the connector to the taillight by the instruction manual by eag) and putting it back in and testing the taillights to see if they work after taking them off I ran into a bit of an issue. When I hit the brakes the indoor lights come on and so does the dash and my fenders and fender flares. They were working before I disconnected anything and I don’t know what’s wrong. I don’t see why they are turning on lol. They were not like this before and all I did was unplug the “mate n lock” to get the taillights off. Any guesses what’s wrong? Thanks

 

[Evan77]

Hello all. After installing aeg taillight covers I’ve noticed the indoor light are coming on as well as my fenders and fender flares when hitting the brakes.They weren’t doing this before I took the taillights off and all I did was just unplug them. So any idea as to what’s up?

 

[Chris]

I'm assuming you're talking about the EAG taillight guards? If so, taillight guards are a bad idea for any TJ. Not only are they a waste of money, but they are very well known to create grounding issues with the taillights and cause them to act wonky. The factory taillights are grounded to the body, so by installing those guards between the taillight and the body, you're basically taking the factory ground out of the equation. Get rid of the taillight guards and your problems should be solved.

Again, this is a known issue, and why most folks will recommend that you don't run taillight guards (myself included).

 

[Evan77]

Very good observation and I will definitely try that Tomorrow first thing. (correct me if I’m wrong) however the left blinker works fine (now) its when I turn on the right blinker and brakes that the dash, indoor, fender and fender flares, and the rear taillight light up. The left one (the good one) is much much dimmer than the right one when the right blinker is activated. I looked at the connection and I’ve noticed a good bit of corrosion on the connector. The left taillight connector doesent have much corrosion at all, the right one however does. So now that I’m thinking about It would it seem like a short somewhere or maybe the corroded connectors? I will update tomorrow first thing.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Remove the tail light guards. Not only do they cause grounding problems for the tail lights, they don't protect them either

 

[Chris]

Very good observation and I will definitely try that Tomorrow first thing. (correct me if I’m wrong) however the left blinker works fine (now) its when I turn on the right blinker and brakes that the dash, indoor, fender and fender flares, and the rear taillight light up. The left one (the good one) is much much dimmer than the right one when the right blinker is activated. I looked at the connection and I’ve noticed a good bit of corrosion on the connector. The left taillight connector doesent have much corrosion at all, the right one however does. So now that I’m thinking about It would it seem like a short somewhere or maybe the corroded connectors? I will update tomorrow first thing.

Trust me, I know what it seems like, but it's those taillight guards, I'm 99.9% sure of it.

None of this was happening until you installed them, correct? Remove them and I'll bet everything goes back to normal. Those taillight guards might be working as a partial ground on one light, and no ground on the other, or somewhere in between. It's just not a good enough ground connection is what the issue most likely is.

I've seen this issue happen quite often with taillight guards, and each time it happens, there's no real rhyme or reason to the taillight behavior, they just act wonky, sometimes work, sometimes don't work, and sometimes only partially work or have portions of them that are dim.

 

[Evan77]

Ok so I took off the guards and put the taillights back on. Same issue. That was the first time those lights have been taken off. I do note there was a sticky substance holding on the light as well as the screws. Me being who I am pulled the sticky substance holding the light on the body off the vehicle. Maybe be the sticky thing was the barrier between metal to metal and I’ve removed it. I don’t know. Might have to go to the shop and see what’s up. Also cleaned the connections with cleaner. It only does this when the brake pedal is hit or the right blinker is activated.

 

[Andy Maurer]

To quote mrblane from a thread a couple months ago when I was experiencing a similar issue...

If you removed the bulbs when installing the guards make sure you got them back in the right sockets. The back up light is an 1156 which has the pegs that lock it into the socket directly opposite each other and it is a single filament bulb. The brake/turn is an 1157 dual filament and has the pegs offset so you can't put it in the reverse light socket. With some enthusiasm they can be switched and will work a bit wonky like you have described.

I had the bulbs reversed, as soon as I put them back in the correct socket it worked fine. Easy to check and hopefully it resolves your issue.

 

[schmoupe]

Ok so I took off the guards and put the taillights back on. Same issue. That was the first time those lights have been taken off. I do note there was a sticky substance holding on the light as well as the screws. Me being who I am pulled the sticky substance holding the light on the body off the vehicle. Maybe be the sticky thing was the barrier between metal to metal and I’ve removed it. I don’t know. Might have to go to the shop and see what’s up. Also cleaned the connections with cleaner. It only does this when the brake pedal is hit or the right blinker is activated.

I don't think the issue is with the guards. I used to run the very same ones you have and actually liked them. Only had to uninstall when switched to LED tail lights. My guess is that your wires are pinched and there is a short somewhere in the harness. The symptoms indicate to me that 2 of the wires have a cut somewhere and are in direct contact. When you were trying to pull the wire out of the holes, did you use too much force by any chance?

Also definitely listen to Andy above. That also seems plausible and easy to check.

 

[Evan77]

I don't think the issue is with the guards. I used to run the very same ones you have and actually liked them. Only had to uninstall when switched to LED tail lights. My guess is that your wires are pinched and there is a short somewhere in the harness. The symptoms indicate to me that 2 of the wires have a cut somewhere and are in direct contact. When you were trying to pull the wire out of the holes, did you use too much force by any chance?

Also definitely listen to Andy above. That also seems plausible and easy to check.

I had to get a blessing from Jesus to get the connector undone so I’m maybe pulled a wire. I did have a burnt 1157 and checked all the bulbs and they are in the right place

 

[Evan77]

I had to get a blessing from Jesus to get the connector undone so I’m maybe pulled a wire. I did have a burnt 1157 and checked all the bulbs and they are in the right place

Had to use a lot of force to undo it so it seems that could be the reason.

 

[schmoupe]

I had to get a blessing from Jesus to get the connector undone so I’m maybe pulled a wire. I did have a burnt 1157 and checked all the bulbs and they are in the right place

The issue (at least with mine) was the passenger side. Driver side wire was long enough where it came out of the hole and could easily undo the harness. Passenger side was too short and i had to undo the clip from inside the body. Rather than yanking it or getting down and dirty under the car, I ended up cutting the wire and reattached to the new tail light.

You are in diagnsotic stage now. You have to eliminate as many variables as possible to pinpoint the issue. My advice would be to run the tail lights one at a time to pinpoint the faulty one or side of the car. Change things up and observe to see if a wire is bad or maybe the actual light. Will be a lot of trial and error but you can do it!

 

[Evan77]

Woah. Sorry for the extremely late response. I completely forgot about this thread as I have fixed the issue with the taillight guards. Nothing was wrong with the guards. Nor was it a ground issue. The female and male connection ends were horribly corroded. Cleaned out the connections and now they are fixed, thank you guys and sorry for the late response.

 

[Jerry Bransford]

Woah. Sorry for the extremely late response. I completely forgot about this thread as I have fixed the issue with the taillight guards. Nothing was wrong with the guards. Nor was it a ground issue. The female and male connection ends were horribly corroded. Cleaned out the connections and now they are fixed, thank you guys and sorry for the late response.

Good but if you're still running those tail light guards expect a future grounding problem in the future.

 

[LONGJP2]

Trust me, I know what it seems like, but it's those taillight guards, I'm 99.9% sure of it.

Or it could be that 0.1% that gets you.

I have guards on mine because they were on it when I bought it 8 years ago. Never had an issue, so there was no reason to take them off. They were probably put on to keep the spare tire from crushing the passenger side light when the tailgate swings open. They protected the light quite sufficiently till I remedied that situation. May or may not remove them if I ever have a reason to take both taillights off.

 

[LONGJP2]

I'm curious how the guards cause a grounding problem? The light housings are plastic and do not ground against the outside of the body.

 

[tworley]

Mine had guards on it when I bought it 5 years ago. They just recently got removed. I never had an issue, but one time they did save my light from being smashed into a rock. The guard obviously became bent but the force also caved in the body panel. Not much, but still noticeable.

 

[MountaineerTom]

I'm curious how the guards cause a grounding problem? The light housings are plastic and do not ground against the outside of the body.

Inside the housing there is a metal plate, The screw heads touch the metal plate as well as the tub where they are screwed in.

 

[LONGJP2]

Yes, they touch the metal inside the light and ground it to the inside of the metal tub. How is that affected by the guard being between the plastic housing and the outside of the painted tub?

I owned CJs for years. I'm very familiar with jeep grounding issues. Taillights included.

 

[MountaineerTom]

Yes, they touch the metal inside the light and ground it to the inside of the metal tub. How is that affected by the guard being between the plastic housing and the outside of the painted tub?

I owned CJs for years. I'm very familiar with jeep grounding issues. Taillights included.