Side marker lights

So, today I was at work and needed to jump some one off. There was something wrong with their battery and it caught my positive wire on the cables aflame. But, before I left for work both side markers were working and after the cable incident my driver side marker light ONLY (not the turn signal or anything else on the same fuse) went out. Could my wiring to it shorted or did the light just blow? I wanna know before buying a new light bulb. Would I be able to detect a short somehow? Should I just try my luck with a new bulb? Like I said all the other lights on that fuse work perfectly fine (tail fuse).

PS: Yes I put the cables on right and I have used them properly to jump other vehicles the same way as I put them on his. If it matters his car was a previous gen Tahoe.

Sam

 

Take the working passenger side marker bulb & swap it out with the drivers side.

 

I confirmed it a short. I left work with it not working and when I got home it was working. Thinking the sparks from the cables got it and burned the insulation. I will be checking it often to see how it fares. So which wire would be the cause of that. The ground or other one.

Here is the diagram of the wiring.

Help would be appreciated, I am sure it is not the fuse or wiring for anything but the Side marker on driver side cause all else work perfectly fine.

Sam

 

Shorts blow fuses. Since you don't have a blown fuse, you don't have a short.

 

Your light bulb issue could be something as simple as a loose connection or corrosion in the socket. (And those could be completely unrelated to the failed jump start.)

As for jump starting other vehicles, a word of advice. Don't do it. (No good deed goes unpunished.) If you do feel the need to jump start somebody, only use a portable jump box. The biggest thing using this technique does is prevent damage to your vehicle's electrical system caused by somebody else's electrical problem. It's just not worth the risk anymore. But you probably already figured that out.

 

So. It started working again and has been since. Think maybe a pot hole in the road could have caused it. I will look into a possible loose wire or light connection.
So any of you able to suggest a good boost box for under $100?

Thanks everyone.
Sam

 

So today the light went out again, but I knocked on the housing and it came back on. Is that maybe a loose wire or connection error? There was a drunk spring breaker that told me he works on car wiring and that issue runs rampant in Toyotas. He said it is cause Toyota uses all the same length and gauge of wire so the wire stretches and eventually snaps (breaks?). Just wanna know if I should take his advice and have the wire lengthened.

Thanks
Sam

 

You have a loose connection - most likely just a loose bulb. On a problem scale of 1 to 10, this is a 0.5.

Your "drunk spring breaker" was just drunk and what he told you was total drunken BS.

 

I figured as much. Spring breakers will try to get all buddy buddy with the security personnel at condos so we will 'owe them a favor'. I will look into the issue, though I was worried I might have to rewire something due to the sparking terminal and flaming booster cable from when I tried to jump that Tahoe. Glad I do not.

Thanks
Sam

 

Be careful that the bulb doesn’t fall down inside the light.

 

OMG! "There was a drunk spring breaker that told me ..."

Should I believe him?

NO!

The bulb is probably going bad or is loose in the socket. Or the socket is corroded.

Wires don't stretch in this case.