I'm trying to help my 19 year old son with an electrical problem on his 1996 Neon (his first car). The rear left turn signal / brake light stopped working. The front left turn signals (above bumper and side) are blinking fast. We put in a new rear bulb, but the problem is still there. Everything works OK on the right side. I'm puzzled about this and not sure what to do next. I hope it's not a wiring problem. Any suggestions on how to proceed / diagnose this? Thanks!

 

You've done a very good job so far -compared both sides and also front and back.

Typically, a non-functional bulb (defective or disconnected) will cause the "bad" side to either blink faster or not blink at all.

What was the condition of the previous brake light bulb when it was removed? It is a two element/filament bulb - one low wattage for the "running/parking lights", the high wattage for "stop/turn" - not the single element/filament back-up light bulb.

Was the glass discolored or clear? If clear, did you look at each of the two wires inside the glass to see if one was broken?

The bulb(s) may be OK - if the power doesn't get there or the power has no where to go (a bad ground). A simple automotive circuit tester (that lights) or a multimeter could be used to:

1. Verify the power is to the socket (use a known good ground)
2. If power is to the socket, "jump" the socket power wire to the ground wire via the test tool above. Still lights/12Volts? If not, the ground portion of the ciruit/socket is bad.

But you could do the easy thing -swap the tail light bulbs from left-right and right-left. Does the problem follow or not?

No offense, make sure you are working the tail/stop and not the back-up bulb.

 

Some electrical cleaner in the connector could help as well. A test light will verify the connectors are getting power.

 

I am having the same problem with my 97 neon and wondering if it could be the relay and only be bad for the left back ... it acts like its not getting power to it but all the other lights on that back side work except the blinker/brake.