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Comment by Chris Codd on September 17, 2016 at 1:26am

Added a ground wire tonight and it worked like a charm! Thanks for the help!

Comment by Chris Codd on September 16, 2016 at 10:34am

Thank you all for the replies. When I removed the bumper yesterday, I noticed the bolts didn't even scratch the POR-15 so I might need to hit the brackets with the grinder real quick in a few spots. I used all the old hardware, so maybe some new split washers would help. I might try making a separate ground like David was saying, because it sounds much easier than removing the brackets to grind every spot that bolts down. This will be my project for tonight, so I will let you all know how it goes. 

Comment by Cees de Bunje on September 16, 2016 at 8:05am

I would ground each light separate to test grounding.

Comment by David Thomas on September 16, 2016 at 7:52am

To repeat what Jason said in a previous post, everything on the bumper grounds through the mounting brackets. If the brackets are coated with the por15 chances are that is your problem. You can make a ground cable with a 12 or 10 gauge wire attached from a clean point on the frame to a clean bolt on the bumper. That should ground the entire bumper if all the bumper assembly points are clean and tight.

Comment by Cees de Bunje on September 16, 2016 at 7:46am

Run a test wire from the lights to a bare spot to ground the wire and test the lights.

Comment by Jason Edge on September 16, 2016 at 6:59am

If you have the large bracket to frame bolts firmly tightened it should be digging in. I would give them an extra turn or two and see if that makes a difference. You can use a continuity tester / ohms tester and see what resistance you are getting. Make sure you are using new split washers on the nut end that dig into the metal, and you can use star washers on the bolt head side to help dig in.

Comment by Chris Codd on September 16, 2016 at 12:31am

OK, so I removed the bumper and cleaned all the wiring connections and made sure every bolt was tight, but my brake lights and license plate lights still aren't working properly. I had painted the brackets for the bumper. Is the paint preventing the tail lights from getting a proper ground??

Comment by Chris Codd on September 12, 2016 at 7:54pm

I decided to switch the license plate surround bulbs to see why the right bulb wouldn't work at all and found it worked fine on the left, but still blinks with the turn signal. So I went and cleaned the ground wire connections going to each corner tail lights and no change. All the lights are going kind of haywire except for the fin lamps. With the signal on, the tail lamps shut off when the fins blink as well as the license plate lights. I'm thinking I must have not screwed something in tight enough somewhere on the back of the license plate surround like you were saying and I'll probably have to remove the bumper again so I can get at everything a little easier. This time I'll make sure the bumper brackets are better adjusted so I can get a good snug fit. 

Comment by Jason Edge on September 12, 2016 at 6:44pm

Looking good there, Chris. That license plate light might not be making good contact on the wire tip contact or it could be a ground. It grounds through the fixture body (which grounds to the license guard inner side escutcheon, which grounds to the center bumper bar which grounds to the car frame via the large backets), so ground points would probably be those small Phillips screws that holds it to the escutcheon. For the spring loaded center contact tip under the bulb, sometimes some WD 40 and a small needle nose working back and forth will help out. Also rough up the bulb bottom contact with a quick scrape across the concrete. They can get corroded as well as the wire tip.