ghettomaximaz

Hello,

I just had a guy stop me on the road and nicely tell me my taillights are out. My wife said this too a couple of weeks back when she was driving her car behind mine. It seems to be an intermittent issue.

When i pull in to the garage and i turn the headlights on, i see that all taillights are lit up and when i use the blinkers there is no issue so i am puzzled then as to what can be causing this issue.

Can anyone tell me what I should be looking for to diagnose this? Fuses, wires to check, brake light switch, etc as I am at a loss and obviously it is quite dangerous to drive around without taillights going on. Also any help on the specifics of these as to what I should be looking for and where would be greatly helpful

Help!

Gmax

sparky1562

Is it all of the lights, or just some of them? Different lights are on different fuses.

If it is the tail/license/marker lights I would suspect the switch or the fuse. You need a copy of the FSM wiring diagram to look at.

ghettomaximaz

i was told it was all of them. i have to check myself to double confirm that. where can i find the fuses? is it under the hood? which should i be looking for or is it labelled so that its pretty obvious?

if its the switch, where is that located and how can i tell that it is going bad? how difficult is it to replace?

Xfactor22

iTrader: (13)

The fuse box is near the hood release under the steering wheel, it has a diagram on the cover for what fuse effects which part of the car

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

There are 2 fuses for the tail lights. Under the hood by the battery is a 15 amp fuse. The cover has the label "TAIL". Then under the dash, lower left corner is a rectangular cover. pull it off and there are fuses behind it. Chect fuse # 5, a 7.5 amp. The lower left corner is fuse # 1. Count up to 5. It's hard to see but the fuse numbers are to the left of the fuses.

sparky1562

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=HRX0TLMH

Download the FSM, all the wiring diagrams are in it. You didnt say what year you have. this is the 95-98. I think the 99 is different.

NHMAX603

iTrader: (1)

i had a similar problem when headlights were on they were on when the headlights were off is when i had my problem. half the bulbs would lite up sp i cut a stick long enuff to fit between the stearing wheel and break pedal jammed it in there popped the trunk and went to work
i found that the socketts to the bulbs were ovaled and crappy wire brushed them and straitened them out nomore problems and my 100 mile an hour blinker is gone too

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

Not to be critical, but the manual is for a 1998, not 95-98. Read page 2 of the FOR section (FWD section of some versions). Whoever started calling this a 95-98 manual did us a great dis-service. The main differences you will find between this manual and other years is in the electrical wiring. There are some changes to the pollution controls as well.

95 & 96 are pretty close to each other. 97 & 98 are close and 99 is all by itself.

I would suggest tht people go http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/maxima/ and download the specific FSM for their car.

sparky1562

That is the one Fallenone has the link to. Didnt open it myself!
I have the 96 FSM. Couldnt do much on the car with it!

Thanks, I downloaded the 2008!

ghettomaximaz

Thanks guys!

I tried to replace the brake light switch with a brand new OEM one but that still did nothing.

I checked the fuses under the hood and under the dash for the tail lights and both are intact and nothing is wrong.

Does that mean the only thing that is left is the wiring?

Should i use a multimeter to check the wire that plugs into the brake light switch? What results should i be checking for?

oh btw, the car is a 96 gxe

ghettomaximaz

OK so its the Stop Light fuse. Every time i replace it, within a matter of minutes, it pops. Any ideas what could be the cause of it?

I changed my taillights years ago to altezza's. i can see dirt in the lenses so i know they arent air tight anymore but looking in the housing and at the bulbs, etc, everything looks and clean and dry and brand new.

Any other suggestions?

sparky1562

Unplug everything and see if the fuse still blows? then plug back in one at a time?

Cant upload the wiring section, too large. sent you an email.

Nopike

iTrader: (2)

Pull all your tail and stop bulbs out, put a good fuse in and start installing the bulbs one at a time until the fuse blows. If the same lamp or socket causes the fuse to blow every time you found the culprit. This does method does not work every time but it is worth a try.

Damn Sparkey beat me by a couple of minutes.