Chrysler Repair: 96 Town and Country Tail Lights, fuse box, light assembly

Question
Hi, Roland.

We have a 1996 Town and Country LXi and the driver's side tail lights are giving us fits.  The topmost brake light was out, but the blinker was working.  The light didn't look burned out, but I replaced it anyway.  Now the brakelight is working and the blinker is not.  Also, the reverse lights are out on both sides. (again, seemingly not a bulb issue.)  The whole tail light assembly looks like it may be in series.  Could there be something I've done wrong with installation?  Is it likely to be something else?

Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Matt,
The bulb holders in the rear assembly were problemmatic in these years. I would suspect there is a short/open in one or more of them on that side. The blinker and the brake light use the same filament, so if one works and the other doesn't it has to be some sort of a short that is modifying the current flowing through the system which impacts the blinker functioning. On the back-up lamps, you might check fuse 12 (10 amp) in the underdash fuse box as that powers the bulbs according to the '98 manual I am referencing, but I can't be certain of that. The power to the bulbs is on a violet black/wire and the two bulbs are wired in parallel on that color.
Roland