new taillight wiring question

[hyooz2004]

the new tail lights that came with my under tail have 3 wires comin from each light and the stock harness has 3 wires from it. obviously the ground is black so i hooked that up and when i hook us the other 2 the light comes on but doesnt get brighter when i pull the brake and if i switch the other 2 wires and leave the ground the same thing happens.. any idea on how to do this the right way? thanks

[Degsy]

the new tail lights that came with my under tail have 3 wires comin from each light and the stock harness has 3 wires from it. obviously the ground is black so i hooked that up and when i hook us the other 2 the light comes on but doesnt get brighter when i pull the brake and if i switch the other 2 wires and leave the ground the same thing happens.. any idea on how to do this the right way? thanks

Sounds like black is your brake light line. Don't go by normal color conventions. Meter the wires out to see which is shich.

derek

[hyooz2004]

yea i figured out the light problem.. now when i pull the brake it lights up but its not that bright. the tail lights itself are bright but the brake lights arnt that bright.. any ideas that will make it brighter? different bulbs? i might add some red leds somewhere i guess

[Degsy]

The bulb is installed 180 degrees off. The wrong filament is lighting when you press the brake lever. Or there is a bad ground on the brake circuit.

[hyooz2004]

thanks man that 180 degees off made sence but i tried to reverse the bulb and you can only install it one way.. could i safely increse the wattage with a new bulb or will it overheat?

[ZX-12R]

thanks man that 180 degees off made sence but i tried to reverse the bulb and you can only install it one way.. could i safely increse the wattage with a new bulb or will it overheat?

This is one of those situations where the best answer is "it depends." Most likely the increase in wattage won't be that great so you shouldn't have any problems. Lights with intermittent usage like directionals shouldn't have any roblems. You should be a little more careful with any lights that are on continuously (like your tail light).

If you are switching to LEDs, heat won't be an issue.

[tjspeed3]

yea i figured out the light problem.. now when i pull the brake it lights up but its not that bright. the tail lights itself are bright but the brake lights arnt that bright.. any ideas that will make it brighter? different bulbs? i might add some red leds somewhere i guess

Could it be that the brake wire and the tail/marking lights wire are swapped?

[JeffL]

thanks man that 180 degees off made sence but i tried to reverse the bulb and you can only install it one way.. could i safely increse the wattage with a new bulb or will it overheat?

So switch the wires.

[hyooz2004]

tried that

[RandyO]

obviously the ground is black

my experience is ground is brown

[Stoneman]

my experience is ground is brown

No! If it's brown, flush it down! Where've YOU been?

[Punjistick]

if it's yellow, let it mellow