OK heres the deal,I bough an 86 Trans Am with a 305 TPI.I have many problems with the driver side rear brake light and turn signal.I asked the person what was wrong with the lights and they said they dont know,they were high one day and started messing with the lights.So i looked under the dash where the wired are and it looks like the kid was messing with the wiring.And even looked like he messed with the wiring in the back by the light themsleves.I checked all the bulb to make sure i had all good bulb and theyre all fine.My question is does anyone know where exactly,the light from the bulb-set up in the back should be running to,and can i just buy a harness that goes from under the dash somewhere to the tail lights to fix this problem.Or even if anyone knows where the light should wire up to,like if i can just run new lines myself from the lights to under the dash.I tried looking at wiring diagrams in my haynes and chiltons manuals but they dont have the diagram for my exact car and the wires are different colors,my biggest problems,is know where the colored wire from the bulb set-up goes to under my dash.Thanks,Al in NJ

Check out My Trans Am:
http://hometown.aol.com/italianknight178/index.html

 

anyone?

 

hmmmm

 

Anyone have an 86 or similar

 

should i post this somewhere else or refraze my question

 

I'd check the ground connection at the rear for the driver's side (LH) lights. If the RH brake light is working, the signal is making it back there.

Tim

 

Sorry but I need help as well. I have a similar problem with my tailights on my '83 TA. All the taillights work while the car is in reverse. I even replaced the original harness with one from an '88, but the wires didnt match up correctly. I think I may need to go to GM to buy a wiring harness. The front passenger side turn signal works and the back left driver turn signal doesnt work. The front driver side turn signal doesnt work but the back passenger side turn signal works. Everything is opposite. The brake lights dont work besides the left passenger side. Any suggestions? What should I do? Should I bring it somewhere to get checked out?

 

Hey man,sorry to hear your having the same problem.If you dont mind me asking,where did you get the harness from,a car in a junkyard,and where does the harness run so i can take one out of another trans am.THanks for any help,i need as much as i can get.And by the way.I cjecked all of my grounds and theyre all perfectly fine.Anyone olse,please help me someone.Al in NJ

 

d-post erased



[This message has been edited by JoelOl75 (edited April 17, 2001).]

 

The harness runs up the drivers side up through the kick panel coming out near the fusebox.
There's a plastic channel running under the carpet near the sill plate.

 

Thanks a lot man.Thats the info i needed.Now by anychance does anyone have a wiring diagram of an 86 or similar Trans Am or GTA.An 86 diagram would be great cause im guessing most likely all the wires would be same but i know GTA's have the same tail lights,So anything that anyone can provide will be greatly appreciated.Thanks a lot,Al in NJ

 

I bought my tail light wiring harness from a local junk yard. It was $15. Make sure that the harness you buy and the harness in your car has the same type of connectors. If not you will need to do some splicing and the wires have different colors. I think that is the problem with my lights. Does anybody know how much the wiring harnesses cost for an '83 TA from the GM dealer?

 

Check over your wires with a meter. Replacing a whole harness over a single prob wire isn't worth it. I would check over the taillight area real good, check the brake light switch and then know what wire was bad and between what....

You might even be able to solder and pull the new wire through without ripping up the carpet.

The best advise I could give you is to grab a fresh piece of wire that spans the car length and tie in to the wire you're checking in the front and measure ohms from that wire to your 'jumper' wire. 0 ohms would be good. Then check that aginst ground. If the wire IS a ground expect between 0-2 ohms and if it's not the taillight ground infinity is on target.

With just the drivers side acting strange, a wiring prob between the kickpanel and the taillights seems very unlikely, almost impossible IMO until someone posts to prove this wrong.


The lowdown goes IMO is that the wiring between the left and right signals for brake and turn is tied together in the TA's and GTA's at the turn signal switch. This is a PIA to say the least so verify your wire colors and voltages... Green and yellow are your turn and brake wires. Check up under the front (probe) for 12v with the hazards on. Check ground between the left and right at the back of the car. When you're sure it's the signal lever in the steering column, that sucks because you have to thread the new switch onto the old one and pull it through (the easy trick) or use a guitar string or windshield cutting wire....

The 'birds use a combined brake/turn (except if you have yellow blinkers... Formula, ect...) So i'd suspect this area, but would check, double check, and check again before you take my word for it. Or spend $ on a harness to find out it didn't cure anything.

Hope this helps..



This is the turn signal switch for a camaro. I have a Formula so I had to convert my seperate turns into the combined brake/turn by tieing brake power to terminal 17 on the picture. Since in camaros the brake and turn are seperate, having both problems would be highly unlikely except for the short distance of ground in the back (man i'm talking myself into this.... I'm almost willing to put cash on the switch being bad)

If the switch contact is f*cked, both the turn an brake wouldn't work. Or one would work and the other wouldn't.......

'Help' parts has them.... A little pricy though running $30-$50 some with cruise.

Check the wires first! If you hit the brake and have power going up into the steering column but only one side has power coming back out, BINGO



[This message has been edited by JoelOl75 (edited April 19, 2001).]

 

Thanks again man,that wiring diagram is great and i think it will help and so will the info you gave.

Yea its really weird cause i know how the signals work but its only the drivers side giving me a problem.I would put on my left turn signal and it would work fine,until i put my foot on the break.The turn signal then stops and the light stays on instead of blinking and this happens in the back and the front of the caron thr drivers side.And i could be just sitting in my car with it parked,and when i put my foot on the break,the left rear and left front blinker both come on but dont blink,the just come on and light up.Almost as if the break wire is connected to the front drivers side blinker.

 

I know how them electrical gremlins could get to ya!

It seems strange that the front turn would stay on with the brake. I don't think the flasher failing could cause this but it might be another easy thing to try.