I'm not sure what's happening, but my right-rear outside tail light doesn't always come on. This happens mostly after I close the trunk for some reason.

I would start the car only to see the tail light dashboard light on. Then I would get out of my car, give a love tap to the right-rear outside tail light, and it would come on. If I don't open the trunk for a long time, the tail-light works perfectly fine. It's only when I open and close the trunk that later on my commute, I find that I have to get out of the car and give another love tap to turn on the tail light.

Any ideas?

 

Sounds like a loose ground or hot wire in the fixture

 

loose/faulty globe? or as above post

 

Is the hot wire in the fixture or faulty globe easy enough to fix by myself or should I take it into the shop?

 

Easy enough if you don't have big hands.
Hardest part is to remove the fixture wire harness clip.
There are other threads that address this.

 

Thanks. I'll look it up and try to fix it!

 

I have a similar problem with my outside tail lights, where giving them a tap makes them come back on. It appears to be independent of opening the tailgate.

Could someone clarify the fix? Is it to replace the whole tail light or check/repair something in the tail light to fix the loose ground/hot wire?

Thanks!

 

Easy, I ended up just replacing all the little bulbs.......