Recon Tail Lights

[hlywd1ford]

Took it to my dealer and they replaced a switch but the problem was still there. Took it back and they blamed it on the 3rd break light. I will check the seal around the Recon light. I am inlcined to think the dufus that wired it, did it incorrectly. However in his defense the lights have been installed for 3 weeks before it started and it comes and goes. Seems silly that this 3rd light leaking would deactivate the hilldecent and traction control.

 

[hlywd1ford]

Thanks so much for all the help everyone. Cashin in my chips. Great site. Glad I signed up. I will let you know what happens as i am currently trying to fix the issue.

 

[Lucky14]

Suggestion. Just unbolt the light and make sure all the wires are sealed. In order to install the Recon light, he had to cut some plugs/wires. If he did not wrap the other wires, you will likely have problems.

 

[hlywd1ford]

Lucky - thanks. what about the 4th wire from the truck? Your map has the white wire from the center plug connected but there is a white wire with a black tracer left over from the truck. What did you do with that wire? Thanks.

 

[Lucky14]

Ok, so here is what I did. But I will caveat this that there are other smart folks up here who may give better advice...

After I figured out which wires went where, I sat for 15 minutes and said "Do I really want to do this?". When I decided I did, I went all out and assumed that if I wanted the old light back, I would just re-solder all of the old connections. So I marked the wires I wanted, and cut off all 3 plugs with enough wire on both sides to re-connect if I decided to do so later. I then connected to the wires for the light and carefully re-wrapped all of the old wires (individually first then as a bundle) with tape (I used rescue tape). I then wrapped the wires going to the light so everything was REALLY carefully sealed. No chance of water on those wires or anywhere else...

You could probably get away with just tapping the wires you want. But I did not like the big connectors sitting in there...

Hope this helps.

 

[hlywd1ford]

My problem is i have no idea what the remaining wire is for (white with black tracer). I want to re-wire per your mapping to get rid of the hill decent default and traction control dummy light but dont know if the remaining wire functions as a sensor for the breaks or some relay telling these 2 functions to go to default.

 

[Lucky14]

Ok sorry I may be missing something because it was some time ago. I believe the remaining wire is to the running lights (LEDs). Sadly, those things are NOT on the Recon backup light. They are the little DOT lights for having a really wide vehicle. So the Recon light wont have that feature and you wont need that wire. I just sealed it up...

Here is my recollection of what I did:

- There are 3 plugs on the stock light. For the reasons noted above, I did cut off all 3 plugs. HOWEVER, if you are having some problems, I would start by just tapping the wires. If that works, you can cut and solder/crimp as desired...

- The 2 side plugs are black/white and just control the backup lights. As I recall, you will only need to use the black one there or whatever I said in my notes.

- The middle plug has 3 wires. One is ground, one is to the brake light and one is to the running lights. I dont recall the colors but I believe I used the ground and brake only. The other wire I just taped as noted above.

The way I tested all of this was to unplug the stock light and use aligator clips to attach to the wires I noted above. Once I confirmed that worked, I then taped into those wires to confirm it worked right (with no CELs or warnings). When that all worked, I then (and only then) cut wires.

I hope this helps...

 

[hlywd1ford]

thanks .. trying to fix it now..

 

[Lucky14]

Fingers crossed.

 

[hlywd1ford]

Problem solved - rewired connections with seal tights and sealed 4th wire. Default lights off. Thanks brother !