1999 Cherokee

All other lights work.....I have brake light on passenger side but no tail light.

Changed bulbs and still did not work, used a check light - no current going to bulb.
I tried to trace wires......they look like they are going to front of jeep along passenger door sill.

Any suggestions on what to look at?

 

Fuses ? theres more than one on newer xjs

 

Had a similar problem on my 00 xj. Found the problem to be the fog light fuse was blown changed it and the tail lights came back had brake and reverse lights while it was blown but no tail light. Thought it was weird and took a good hour to diagnose bc I too was tracing wires and swapping bulbs, I even took the connector for the bulb apart and cleaned the connections (not fun btw) but ended bein a fog light fuse of all things. And I didn't even know my fog lights weren't working bc I hadn't had them on in a while.

 

Pull EVERY mini fuse in the passenger side kick panel as well as the power distribution center under the hood to make sure they're good.

 

I put this same reply on your post on JF.

Don't just pull them out. You may need to clean them. As silly as it sounds, I've gotten fooled by dirty fuses before. Most recently was no brake lights or hazards. Tail lights, side lights, blinkers worked fine. Funny enough, they run through the same fuse. Pulled fuse, it was good, re-installed, nothing. I pulled the fuse again, used contact cleaner and a paper towel to clean it, put it back in, VIOLA! It doesn't take much "dirt" either. Good luck!

 

If it was a fuse, I won't have a tail light on one side but not on the other .....would I??

 

It's a Jeep thing... You never know...

 

No. I missed the "passenger side" part of the original post. You said you changed bulbs. Did you use a new bulb or the driver's side bulb? I would use driver's side since it's a "known good". If that doesn't work then use a multi-meter and check resistance between the hot lead and ground to make sure you don't have a short. If no short, check wiring. Something is broken somewhere.

edit: Check the socket too!

 

Did all that with the bulbs and meter.........do you know where the tail light is fed from......I tried tracing the wires.

 

No, sorry. I would start googling "XJ tail light wiring diagram".

 

Fuse F23 in the Junction Block (passenger footwell) is for the right tail lamp. When looking at the fuses in the JB, fuse 23 is in the rear (your right) bank of mini fuses, the 8th one down from the top. A 10 amp fuse. There are no tail lamp fuses in the PDC.

 

Any update?

 

brake lights are wired in parallel so if theyre on the same circuit (and fuse) one can blow and the other will light. and if they share the same fuse (i do not know) the fuse is ok. I would start by cleaning the socket of the tail light, you'd be surprised. And even if it is a fuse, pay attention to it when you change it. they're typically rated for 20% more amps than the circuit normally draws even with the larger initial draw to turn em on. they usually don't blow for nothing.

 

The '99 brake lighs have one power fuse in the PDC, #23 (parallel circuit). The tail lights have seperate fuses in the JB, left #7 and right #23.

 

I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee Classic, my truck was hit on the rear passenger side. My blinker works but my brake and reverse light doesn't. I changed all the bulbs and had a new brake light switch installed, could it be the wires have been damaged ??? It's only the passenger side, all three bulbs on the driver side are working.