Cargo light not working 98 Silverado Ex Cab

[Knockoutpie]

Well I replaced my lights for the cargo lights, they're good lights because I've tried about 10 different ones now, however when I press the cargo lamp switch the lights will not go on. My interior lights will dim though IDK why they do...

Basically why won't my cargo lights work when I press my switch? The only thing that happens when I press my cargo switch is the lights just Dim on the interior...

 

[1997chevydriver]

Well the interior lights have to be on for the cargo lights to work.

But on the other hand with the interior lights dimming i would start checking wiring.

 

[great white]

Mine was gone inside the housing and would do similar behavior to what you are describing. Didn't work, but there was a draw somewhere.

What had happened is the metal strip inside the formed plastic had corroded and raised the resistance really high rather than just going "open" failure mode. The strip was broken but the corrosion left behind was still conductive, just really high resistance.

If you want to check for it, pull the light housing off and use a multimeter to trace it down. You should be near "0" on resistance checks. If you get infinity or high resistance, the housing is the problem.

Replacement would be the cure in that case.

I went a different route and repaired the housing by melting the plastic, jumping the broken sections and sealing it back up.

 

[Knockoutpie]

Hello knockoutpie I had also faced the same problem in Chevrolet Silverado but the problem was sought after I had fixed its wiring which went on to be loose at some points. I think you are facing the same problem and I think you should go for a good mechanic and service center.

Idk If it's worth it, it would end up being 50$ or more for them to fix just the cargo light, I can buy some nice LED rails and mount them under the side rails of the bed for that price lol... Or buy a new assembly which will most likely fix it too..

 

[Steve83]

Mine was also open-circuit inside the molded plastic, so I soldered jumper wires across it, and added a connector for the camper shell wiring at the same time.

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[Knockoutpie]

Mine was gone inside the housing and would do similar behavior to what you are describing. Didn't work, but there was a draw somewhere.

What had happened is the metal strip inside the formed plastic had corroded and raised the resistance really high rather than just going "open" failure mode. The strip was broken but the corrosion left behind was still conductive, just really high resistance.

If you want to check for it, pull the light housing off and use a multimeter to trace it down. You should be near "0" on resistance checks. If you get infinity or high resistance, the housing is the problem.

Replacement would be the cure in that case.

I went a different route and repaired the housing by melting the plastic, jumping the broken sections and sealing it back up.

Well you were right, the resistance is O.L... on the brake light spots it's 0.0, telling me the brake area works but cargo lamps do not :d Time to buy the housing.

 

[great white]

Well you were right, the resistance is O.L... on the brake light spots it's 0.0, telling me the brake area works but cargo lamps do not :d Time to buy the housing.

Cheers.