Tai lights & brake lights not working

AH-ha! You're welcome, and that busted-in-the-terminal-crimp thing happens even with good cooper alloy wire. They get nicked and/or harden when crimped and snap over time. Vexing problem. Your fix is fine, I've done that *or* flowed in solder and have not had to talk to the connection again.

You say the brown wire was warm, I dunno, if it did not burn you there may not be a problem. Have to look at the wiring diagram to see what load is on it and then decide.

When I rewire an headlight or horn circuit for instance, I usually use 14 Ga. instead of the 16-18 usually in there. If the run is more than a few feet there is a small but measurable difference in power transmitted. Point is that what power is not transmitted ends up as enough heat that you can feel it in the wires that are working near rated levels. You'd be able to feel heat in the wire from about 30 deg C (86F) and up. Auto wiring is usually rated for substantially more heat.

THIS LINK has a chart showing what gauge wire to use for runs of how long and if you look up the SAE specs they refer to, you'll see what the related performance criteria are.

This reminds me, I have to call my local dealer about a parts order.

Albert

I'm trying to get set up to be able to repair terminal "opens" like the one at the Lamp Control Module that caused my tail lights and dash lights to go out a couple months ago.  My repair is still holding up but I expect a failure sometime.

Book 2 of the Factory Service Manual (1996 Riviera FSM) page 8A-5-12 calls out the:

J38125-A Terminal Repair Kit

J35616-A Connector Test Adapter Kit

Supposedly these can be ordered via the "GMSPO Carline Parts Catalog" in "Group" 2.535 or in the
"GMSPO Standard Parts Catalog" "Group" 8.965.

I've tried to search-engine this catalog but don't find anything promising.  I've gone to GM parts direct to try to search for this "Carline Parts Catalog" but find nothing there either.

Does anyone know where I can buy these kits?  I looked on ebay for the terminal kit that Albertj pointed me to in  an earlier post of this thread, but after looking at that kit, it didn't appear to have the specific terminal style that failed at the Lamp Control Module - the one that I'd like to be able to replace.

Thanks for any help.

brutusk1 wrote:

I'm trying to get set up to be able to repair terminal "opens" like the one at the Lamp Control Module that caused my tail lights and dash lights to go out a couple months ago.  My repair is still holding up but I expect a failure sometime.

Book 2 of the Factory Service Manual (1996 Riviera FSM) page 8A-5-12 calls out the:

J38125-A Terminal Repair Kit

J35616-A Connector Test Adapter Kit

Supposedly these can be ordered via the "GMSPO Carline Parts Catalog" in "Group" 2.535 or in the
"GMSPO Standard Parts Catalog" "Group" 8.965.

I've tried to search-engine this catalog but don't find anything promising.  I've gone to GM parts direct to try to search for this "Carline Parts Catalog" but find nothing there either.

Does anyone know where I can buy these kits?  I looked on ebay for the terminal kit that Albertj pointed me to in  an earlier post of this thread, but after looking at that kit, it didn't appear to have the specific terminal style that failed at the Lamp Control Module - the one that I'd like to be able to replace.

Thanks for any help.

The J3-such-and-such are Kent-Moore numbers, those kits are sold under the same base numbers for different folks (GM, Sumitomo, Lear, etc.) You may be able to get the GM or other dealer parts desk to sell you the terminal you need as "shop supplies."

jsevans0126 wrote:

Ok I looked more into it after work and what happened makes sense, all four lights were blown in the back. One had moisture in it cause I have a cracked tail light and it blew all four. I'm guessing the moisture shorted it out and caused them to blow. Thank you to all who gave input, I appreciate it a lot.

the right side of my tail light keeps getting water in it badly, i cant tell where or how its getting in? replaced right side bulbs monday and this morning they were already blown out. lots of water inside

cant see any cracks or a noticeable spot that needs to be sealed up?

also my third brake light has been out for awhile, went to replace with brand new bulbs, left side worked but right side still wouldnt light up... so i just took the left one out and been rocking with no third brake light for like a year now lol

LaFlare wrote:

jsevans0126 wrote:

Ok I looked more into it after work and what happened makes sense, all four lights were blown in the back. One had moisture in it cause I have a cracked tail light and it blew all four. I'm guessing the moisture shorted it out and caused them to blow. Thank you to all who gave input, I appreciate it a lot.

the right side of my tail light keeps getting water in it badly, i cant tell where or how its getting in? replaced right side bulbs monday and this morning they were already blown out. lots of water inside

cant see any cracks or a noticeable spot that needs to be sealed up?

also my third brake light has been out for awhile, went to replace with brand new bulbs, left side worked but right side still wouldnt light up... so i just took the left one out and been rocking with no third brake light for like a year now lol

You will need to remove the entire taillight housing from the car to find and fix this problem. Take off the rear wall trunk trim panel as if you were getting to the bulbs and remove all the plastic wingnuts off the studs, then push/pull the assembly toward the rear, away from the car.

*Then* inspect the assembly. You can seal it up with silicone caulk.

Might help to shine a light into the assembly thru the lens and look at it from the reflector side to find the crack. Most likely it's a seam, possibly it is impact damage.

I can find J38125 Terminal Trays on ebay for sale, but they're described typically as J38125 Tray 9, Tray 7, etc...

The FSM calls out the J38125-A kit.  Does anyone know which "Tray Number" this corresponds to?

Thanks for any help.  Incidentally, my terminal "fix" mentioned a few posts up is still working (for now).

brutusk1 wrote:

I can find J38125 Terminal Trays on ebay for sale, but they're described typically as J38125 Tray 9, Tray 7, etc...

The FSM calls out the J38125-A kit.  Does anyone know which "Tray Number" this corresponds to?

Thanks for any help.  Incidentally, my terminal "fix" mentioned a few posts up is still working (for now).

Since the metals did not break from fatigue when you tweeked them, I doubt your fix will fail anytime soon.

Maybe go to a junkyard and get a similar connector out of a similar GM car and use a pin pick to get the terminal out of the connector, put it in your problem connector and butt splice the wire. Maybe.

Albertj

albertj wrote:

Maybe go to a junkyard and get a similar connector out of a similar GM car and use a pin pick to get the terminal out of the connector, put it in your problem connector and butt splice the wire.  Maybe.

Albertj

You can lead a horse to water.... Albertj - you have provided your usual excellent advice.  However, not being as intelligent as I'd like to think I am, I continued to tilt at windmills.

I found out quite a lot about the J-38125-A Repair kit:  The letter "dash number" (in this case, the '-A') indicates the "revision-level" of the repair kit and not the "tray number" in the kit.

When the '96 Riviera was new, the "-A" repair kit was the current repair kit with two (2) terminal trays and (2) crimping tools.  It was originally released several years earlier as the J-38125 kit with one terminal tray and one crimping tool.  Nowadays, the current kit is Revision "H" or the J381325-H.  It costs about $12,000.00, has about thirty (30) "trays" and has about 8 different "crimp" tools.  The full "-H" repair kit could only be economically purchased by a "top-line" GM dealer with a going-concern repair department.  I doubt that the busiest GM dealer in the country has the full -H  kit.

Bottom line:  If you want to keep your Riv running long into the future, the next time there's a Riviera of your year in your local junkyard, snip off the ends of all wire bundles taking the components they plug into along with the snipped-off ends of the wire bundles.  Then you'll have everything you'll need to repair bad terminals by splicing in those spare terminals. You'll also have the components that they plug into, therefore, they will be self-organizing.  

The original two (2) trays contained Packard Electric in one tray and some other companies terminals in the other tray.  They have no-doubt been revised over the years for what terminals they contain.  I do not think it advisable to merely try to identify what "tray number' the Packard-Electric tray currently is or what "Number" the other manufacturer's tray is identified as today. It is doubtful that it will contain the same terminals/parts as what it did 1996, or when your Riviera was new.

Please see the following link where I learned about this:

https://sandyblogs.com/techlink/?p=4611

Here, there is someone selling the full "-H" repair kit. Do you think your wife would like it for Christmas or your Anniversary maybe? "But honey, it's only $12,000!"

https://www.ntxtools.com/network-tool-warehouse/OTC-J-38125-H.html

brutusk1 wrote:

albertj wrote:

Maybe go to a junkyard and get a similar connector out of a similar GM car and use a pin pick to get the terminal out of the connector, put it in your problem connector and butt splice the wire.  Maybe.

Albertj

You can lead a horse to water.... Albertj - you have provided your usual excellent advice.  However, not being as intelligent as I'd like to think I am, I continued to tilt at windmills.

I found out quite a lot about the J-38125-A Repair kit:  The letter "dash number" (in this case, the '-A') indicates the "revision-level" of the repair kit and not the "tray number" in the kit.

When the '96 Riviera was new, the "-A" repair kit was the current repair kit with two (2) terminal trays and (2) crimping tools.  It was originally released several years earlier as the J-38125 kit with one terminal tray and one crimping tool.  Nowadays, the current kit is Revision "H" or the J381325-H.  It costs about $12,000.00, has about thirty (30) "trays" and has about 8 different "crimp" tools.  The full "-H" repair kit could only be economically purchased by a "top-line" GM dealer with a going-concern repair department.  I doubt that the busiest GM dealer in the country has the full -H  kit.

Bottom line:  If you want to keep your Riv running long into the future, the next time there's a Riviera of your year in your local junkyard, snip off the ends of all wire bundles taking the components they plug into along with the snipped-off ends of the wire bundles.  Then you'll have everything you'll need to repair bad terminals by splicing in those spare terminals. You'll also have the components that they plug into, therefore, they will be self-organizing.  

The original two (2) trays contained Packard Electric in one tray and some other companies terminals in the other tray.  They have no-doubt been revised over the years for what terminals they contain.  I do not think it advisable to merely try to identify what "tray number' the Packard-Electric tray currently is or what "Number" the other manufacturer's tray is identified as today. It is doubtful that it will contain the same terminals/parts as what it did 1996, or when your Riviera was new.

Please see the following link where I learned about this:

https://sandyblogs.com/techlink/?p=4611

Here, there is someone selling the full "-H" repair kit. Do you think your wife would like it for Christmas or your Anniversary maybe? "But honey, it's only $12,000!"

https://www.ntxtools.com/network-tool-warehouse/OTC-J-38125-H.html

The price-efficient but difficult thing to do would be to pick up a kit from a dealer who's closing.