New to the Jeep community. I come from a line of mechanics and I kinda know my way around an engine. I have a 1995 Jeep Cherokee Sport Standard Transmission. My tail/break lights don’t work. There’s new bulbs and I’ve looked at the fuse box. I removed and put back the fuse that connects the lights, since it wasn’t broken. But still can’t find reason why my lights don’t work.

 

So, they're twin filament bulb, so that rather suggests a ground issue - but it's odd that it's both sides.

Before we start a few obvious checks (power to the socket? trying a ground jumper straight from the socket to a known good ground) :-
1 - do you have a 3rd brake light (sorry but I don't know when the home market got them, 'cos they were new for exports with the '97 facelift)
2- is it just the tail lights? i.e. ta g &parking lights + sidemarkers all good?

With a bit more info. to narrow/confirm the extent of the problem, others might be able to jump in with an immediate answer.

 

1 - do you have a 3rd brake light (sorry but I don't know when the home market got them, 'cos they were new for exports with the '97 facelift)
-Yes, it’s in the back glass. It’s the only break light that’s working.

2- is it just the tail lights? i.e. ta g &parking lights + sidemarkers all good?
- Yeah, the blinkers don’t show and when I hit the break it doesn’t show. Reverse lights don’t show either.

 

So you basically have nothing at the back.
Time for some diagnostics

 

except the 3rd brake light - which means it's nothing forward of where that wire splits off form the harness &, it seems the tag lights - which, again, means the fault is at the back

not sure about the blinkers, whether that's just at the back but assuming, for the moment it is, that gets back to both tai light enclosures having bad grounds. My original thought that was unlikely on both sides being outweighed by the fact that we now know that none of the lights in them work.

Normally I start with the bulb, then the socket & work my way along, but in this case, I'd definitely start with a good supplementary ground; if that works problem's cracked, if it doesn't then that's a bit more knowledge & we can move on (diagnostics at its simplest).

 

I understand the wiring and connections on the passenger side of the cargo area are prone to corrosion. Might be worth pulling the panel up there and looking.

 

I’m not sure of the actual wiring of the rear lights but there is no guarantee that the third light is a direct part of the two main break lights. However, I would think another possible spot would be the wires that go from the body/roof to the rear hatch that flex. But not fun to get to.

 

I must admit I'd assumed that the 3rd brake light was just T'd off the harness somewhere but the alternative would be for it to have its own supply direct from the switch, which seems unlikely.

The wiring diagram in the FSM would clarify that - if you understood how to read it, which I most certainly don't.

The wiring between the body & hatch is a known trouble spot but the only relevant wires there are for the 3rd brake & tag lights, which would cause problems if they shorted together, meaning the tail lights would come on with the brake lights, & vice versa - but that is not OP's problem. Besides, as I understand the info. we have both the 3rd brake & tag lights work as they should.

 

good chance its a wiring fault back there

time to brake out the test light

FSM with circuit diagram showing wire colors, splice and plug locations etc etc free download

 

Quickly passing over that terrible pun, that's what I was hinting out, still think it's be as well to check the grounds first, because the alternative is 4 separate wiring faults which, even on a Jeep, seems less likely.