How Do You Hook a Tail Light Harness to a Vehicle?

Tail lights are important safety components for your vehicle.

Tail lights, which consist of brake lights, reverse lights and turn signal lights, are legally required on all vehicles that travel public roads. If you need to repair your tail lights or replace them with brighter tail lights, you can easily do so on most vehicles. As the process differs depending on your exact vehicle, this may not apply to all vehicles with tail lights, but the general idea is the same: access the tail light assembly, remove or replace the tail light assembly, then hook up the tail light harness to provide power to the assembly.

Things You'll Need

• Socket wrench
• Phillips screwdriver

Instructions

1. Open up the hood of your vehicle. With a socket wrench, unplug the vehicle's battery.

2. Access the tail light assembly. On most cars, you can do this through the trunk by removing the trunk carpet and then removing the tail light panel screws or bolts. On trucks, you may need to lower the tailgate to access the tail light panel. Most tail light panels are held in by screws which you can remove with a Phillips screwdriver, although some are held in by bolts or Torx screws, in which case you will need to use a socket wrench or Torx screwdriver to remove the fasteners.

3. Disconnect the tail light harness by squeezing the harness tabs and pulling it off the assembly.

4. Remove, replace or repair the tail light assembly. To hook up the harness again, plug it into the rear of the assembly until it clicks into place.

5. Reattach the tail light access panel and close the trunk or tailgate. Reconnect the vehicle's battery and close the hood.

References

• "Jeep Grand Cherokee Haynes Repair Manual: 1993 Thru 2004"; John H. Haynes; 2004
• "Honda Accord Haynes Repair Manual: 2003 Thru 2007"; Robert Maddox; 2009
• "Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra Haynes Repair Manual: 1999 Thru 2006"; Ken Freund; 2008