My brother in law owns this car.

We fixed his ABS issues and tried to fix his taillight out warning light. A look at the back of the car and the tails that light in the trunk lid area were dead on both sides. So, we put in new bulbs. The left one worked while the right one stayed dead. Bulb swap and it did the same.

After a while the left side bulb went dead and never came back.

The tails in the body of the car are working fine though so it is not the entire circuit that is dead.

The rear fog light bulbs were missing if that makes any difference.

So I hooked up a multimeter and there was no voltage in the sockets in the trunk. BUT while the left side bulb was working for a while the voltage in the right side socket was something like 0.2 volts.


To the front of the car.....the right hand side turn signal works but the parking light that stays on constant does not. No bulb fault cause I checked with a known good bulb. The left side one works fine.


The 2 bulbs for the rear were expensive at $6 for the pair. I will go to the junkyard and buy all of the bulbs needed for less than that.

Any thoughts as to what the problem could be?

Am I overlooking something very simple?

All fusing checks out okay.


BTW: when I left both bulb in the trunk lid lens out the warning light went out

 

Buying bulbs from a junkyard is what jumps out at me. These are sensitive vehicles and engineered with the idea that the owner will service the vehicle properly, not crab about a $6 item.

I have no advice for you but to buy a Ford Escort next time.

 

I get bulb and all other kinds of stuff from the junk yard all the time with no issues. As for the rear fogs, only 1 side is designed to work, the side with the steering wheel & only with the headlights on.These cars sometimes have a problem with the main light switch coming apart on the back side of the switch which causes problems.

 

Best place to look for an Escort is also the junkyard - I can't remember the last time I saw one on the road (running).