This 1995 Chevrolet S10 pickup came in with the complaint that rear lights were not working properly. The park lights would work but as soon as the turn signals or stoplights were turned on all of the rear lights would go out. I had a pretty good idea that there was faulty ground issue and just needed to access a light bulb to do some testing.
With the tailgate down there are two phillips headed screws. In some year models the screws require torx bits for removal.
Observing the bulb elements with the turn signal on revealed that both elements were glowing . The shorter element should have been on and very bright.
With the test light clamp attached to a good body ground and the tip back probing the black wire at the socket assembly, the elements got slightly brighter. The light bulb in the test light also came on. That should never happen on a wire that is supposed to be a ground.
I raised the truck up to get a better view of what was going on underneath the truck. Notice the black wire hanging down and not attached to anything. Also note the shorter broke wire just above the frame rail.
I checked the ground bolt that attaches to the frame rail where the shorter broken wire piece was located. It was very rusted and was not going to move without a lot of effort. I cleaned up the ragged end of the damaged wire and spliced in a extension and crimped on a ring terminal to the end of it.
I then drilled a small hole in the frame rail and wire brushed it till the metal was cleaned of rust.
Next, I attached the new ring terminal to the frame rail with a self tapping screw. I also covered the connection point with spray paint to help seal it.
The shorter element now shines brightly.
This truck has some heavy rust on the under carriage.
Another one fixed.
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