Customer complaint of no stoplights or cruise control with park lights on.
This repair applies to both Chevrolet Express vans and GMC Savanah vans from 1996 thru at least 2002. For replacement sockets please visit The Electric Connection Online Store or contact us by email at info@the-electric-connection.com
The first picture shows the stoplight on without the park lights on.
The following picture is with the brake pedal still depressed and the park lights turned on. Notice how the illuminated portion of the light assembly moved from the bottom to the top. This is a classic faulty ground. In addition to both stoplights not working, while the park lights were on, the third or CHMSL (center high mounted stop light) bulbs were blown. Most cruise control systems, including this one, use the bleed through ground signal from the stoplight bulbs, when they are not in use, for an input signal to the cruise module. With the faulty ground, which was allowing current to flow through the stoplight bulb element from the park / tail lights, the module was mistakenly thinking that the brakes were being applied.
In order to perform this repair, first the upper cover has to be removed there are two screws to the outside edge and two nuts to the inside edge. After the upper cover is removed you can either depress the trim cover and remove the nuts behind the panel or as I prefer to do, remove the two push pin clips and then remove the nuts.
There are two nuts to the left side of the lamp assembly and one on the upper outside corner. After all three nuts are removed the assembly can be pulled out and flipped over to remove the stoplight socket.
Once the socket is removed, twist and pull the bulb so that the inside of the socket can be examined. You will find dark discoloration to the side of the socket that hold the black ground wire. It can be seen in the following picture just below the notch in the outside ground ring retainer.
Strip the tape away from the wiring and cut and splice one wire at a time to make sure that you do not cross the wiring.
It is also best to stagger the splice joints in order to maintain harness diameter.
It also makes a much better looking repair. Be sure to tape the harness back up and tape the harness to the side of the socket as it originally appeared.
This repair applies to both Chevrolet Express vans and GMC Savanah vans from 1996 thru at least 2002. For replacement sockets please visit The Electric Connection Online Store or contact us by email at info@the-electric-connection.com
The following pictures are from the other side of the van and as evidenced from the displaced solder, this was a crossed circuit and short just waiting to happen
The customer complaint of inoperative or erratic stoplights and cruise control (especially with the park lights on) was repaired by replacing the faulty stoplight sockets. The sockets had faulty internal ground circuits that can clearly be seen in the last picture.
what exactly was repaired?