Jimny tail lights not working

As the title says, my tail lights stopped working yet the brake lights and indicators are fine. Any common issues as to why this might happen?

Could just be unlucky and both bulbs have gone at the same time. Or they have suffered water ingress. Or the wires have chafed through where they pass out of the body?

Cheers Lambert but am I wrong in saying that the tail light bulbs and brake bulbs are the same? They just get brighter when the brake is pressed?

They are twin filaments so one can fail while the other is still working.

It is possible that they have both blown, if 1blew and you didn't know for a while the other often goes as it draws more ampage than needed. Check them first as its th easiest to do.
Are the side lights illuminated, as they may be on the same fuse line ....not sure but Suzuki motorbikes are.
Both failing indicates a common wire but it won't be the earth to the bulb holder as the brake lights work, so must be a break along the loom from bumper into car which goes behind passenger side trim .

Just a thought do you have a tow bar fitted ...as this is the biggest culprit of rear light malais .?

Certainly check the bulbs first. Mines failed and I had to remove the bumper to find the fault. Turned out to be the earth wire near the number plate lights.

Bumper is easy to remove.

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Thanks for the tips guy. I changed the bulbs and still not working so it's a wiring issue it seems. All the fuses are fine too. Not my area of expertise so it will probably have to go to an auto electrician. I have no problem changing out shocks and springs, brake pads, oils etc but when it comes to electrics I'm lost!

Edit: No tow bar fitted either

So I removed the rear bumper to get a better look at the connections and nothing stood out for me. The connection block was covered in mud and grime so I replaced it with a generic one from halfords. Still no joy. One of the licence plate bulbs is not working and they run from the same wire as the tail lights. But the other one works fine so I don't see how that would affect the rear lights.







Any ideas?

I had to use a multimeter to track down the break as it wasn't obvious on mine

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One thing to remember is that the Jimny is switched on the earth, not the live, so the live is always live.

I would use a test lamp to establish which wire is the live to the rear side lights and keep testing it further up that wire to establish where it has power and where it doesn't. You can push a pin through the wire's insulation to test different parts and tape up that section after if worried.

Then do the same with the earth.

You could test the plug like this first.

Has anyone else been at the loom to add towing electrics? They are often a cause for fault.

Kirkynut

Hi there,
I’m having the same issue with the rear lights, I also have a tow bar fitted. What could be the problem? Cheers

Welcome to the forum. If you have a tow bar it's almost certainly the connection between the cars loom and the towbar harness. Unless they were soldered and heat shrink was used they will have got wet and corroded. Good luck.