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Used Mustang lighting issues, please help!

Old 04-05-2013, 08:09 PM
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Chris4031
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Default Used Mustang lighting issues, please help!

I recently bought a used 2006 mustang gt! After fixing a few little things i noticed that 2 of my right brake lights weren't working (previous owner installed sequential kit). The weird thing is, is that at night time, all three lights work, but once i press the break only 1 lights up. The left side works perfectly. I've talked to a bunch of people and no one has any clue how I can fix this. I've tried new bulbs and that doesn't seem to be the problem.

Also, the car was missing a reverse light so I decided to invest in some leds like I had for my last few cars. I can't get either to even turn on. So I went and bought load resistors and after installing those, the leds lit up for about half a second and then I couldn't get them to light up anymore. I have no clue what my issue is but its driving me crazy! I love my mustang but these little electrical issues are annoying!

Does anybody have any clue what my problem is? I'm desperate!
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Old 04-05-2013, 09:36 PM
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Nuke
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This is probably a shot in the dark, but I had an issue with my sequentials not sequencing properly on one side and it turned out to be dirty contacts in the bulkhead connector for the harness. A shot of contact cleaner followed by a few immediate contact wipes (plug, unplug, plug, unplug) and they were back to normal.
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Old 04-06-2013, 05:07 AM
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petrock
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Bad contact in a connector could be the issue as Nuke suggested. If his fix doesn’t work, I’d whip out a multi-meter and start poking around. Make sure your getting power at the bulb socket. If not, then walk back the wires until you do. Also make sure you’ve got good ground at the plug. If not, walk back up the wire until you do.

As for the LED, unless you blew the LEDs, you might have popped a fuse. You could also try installing a standard bulb and see if it works. If so, then there might be something wrong with the LEDs.

Good luck...
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Old 04-07-2013, 07:55 PM
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Chris4031
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Okay so I went into it just now, i took apart the connector and just blew in it to get rid of any dust. Once I reconnected it it worked!

Thanks for the help guys!

Also, I tried playing with the leds to no avail. So sadly I haven't figured that one out yet, but both sockets do work with normal bulbs and the fuses are fine!
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Old 04-07-2013, 07:58 PM
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Sweet.
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Old 04-07-2013, 08:56 PM
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silverstang23
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LEDs have polarity. Did you try flipping them
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Old 04-07-2013, 10:00 PM
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Chris4031
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Originally Posted by silverstang23
LEDs have polarity. Did you try flipping them
Yes, sadly it didn't do anything
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Old 04-08-2013, 10:30 AM
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vixr
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an easy test for almost all LEDs is a coin cell, like the one in your fob... no resistors required. Obviously, 12VDC LEDs would require more voltage than a coin cell could provide.
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Old 04-08-2013, 11:03 AM
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Chris4031
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Originally Posted by vixr
an easy test for almost all LEDs is a coin cell, like the one in your fob... no resistors required. Obviously, 12VDC LEDs would require more voltage than a coin cell could provide.
Wait so i could just touch the coin cell to the metal parts of the led and it shoul work? Sorry electrical really isn't my thing haha
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Old 04-08-2013, 03:25 PM
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vixr
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Originally Posted by Chris4031
Wait so i could just touch the coin cell to the metal parts of the led and it shoul work? Sorry electrical really isn't my thing haha
yep...try it with the LED leads on either side of the coin cell, if it doesn't work that way, flip the LED and try the LED leads the other way. One side of the coin cell is plus, the other side is negative. the shorter LED lead is negative.
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