Having functioning clearance lights is crucial for larger vehicles like a truck. Trucks with these lights are more visible to oncoming traffic and provide other motorists with a better sense of the vehicle’s width.
As other drivers will be able to see your truck’s dimensions clearly in the light of the clearance lights, you’ll be capable of avoiding a lot of potential accidents.
Customer complaints regarding malfunctioning clearance lights, however, are common. For this reason, in this article, we’ll discuss different options for repairing the clearance lights in your Freightliner.
Freightliner Clearance Lights Not Working
1. Check Damaged Wires
If all of your truck’s other lights are functioning normally and the clearance lights are the only ones not working, you may need to replace some of the wires. To locate the broken wires, a careful examination of the wiring is required.
The clearance lights should then function normally once you insulate or replace the faulty wire. The damaged wires cause multiple issues, and you won’t be able to use your clearance lights until they’re repaired.
Because of this, you should inspect the wiring to make sure everything is in order before attempting to replace the relay or using any other troubleshooting option. If you are unsure of what to search for, consult an experienced friend for assistance.
2. Check Switch
The clearance lights on your truck may be controlled by a separate terminal, however, this may vary by model and manufacturer. If you need a separate switch to activate the clearing lights, the issue is likely not with the fixtures themselves, but rather the switch.
Once you’ve inspected these wires, you should test the switch to ensure it’s in good working order. If the switch is malfunctioning, you will have to replace it. Getting a replacement switch is as simple as placing an order with an online retailer or visiting a local hardware store.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to swap out the switch on your own, saving you money from the repair company. However, if you have no idea where to begin, it is recommended that you enlist in a workshop.
3. Check For Flickering Light
Flickering is more commonly associated with fluorescent tubes than track lights. Most often, three issues arise with track lighting.
Whether it’s a single light bulb that suddenly gives off a pinging noise, a lamp holder that finally succumbs to old age, or the entire track’s worth of lights going out at once, it may be a frustrating experience when any of these things happen.
However, if you notice that your track clearance lights are flickering, this could be an indication of a serious problem and should not be ignored.
Make sure you don’t have a dimmer switch connected to a low-cost, compact fluorescent light by experimenting.
To save money, you can replace one or two of your incandescent light bulbs with more expensive compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs), depending on your setup.
If the flickering persists after the lights are turned on, try turning them off and back on again.
Ensure an incandescent dimmer isn’t managing your low-voltage track lighting. Freightliner Clearance Lights often have unique shapes and colours and require electrical low-voltage dimmers.
If you need to replace a dial-type dimmer and don’t have the original packing, or if the model number isn’t displayed on the cover plate, you’ll need to remove the dimmer from the board.
If you switch off the power at the panel and then return to the dimmer, remove the cover plate and use a noncontact voltage tester to test if the power is out. To remove the dimmer from its box, just unscrew the screw keeping it in place.
You can verify if it is compatible with your system by looking it up on the manufacturer’s website. If the dimmer isn’t compatible with your track lighting setup, you should get a new one.
To get started, take a series of close-up pictures of your current system, making sure to display the colour of each wire and the marking of the screw it attaches to on the existing dimmer. Before wiring in a new dimmer, you should disconnect the old wires from the retaining wire nuts.
Carefully tuck the wires into the packaging. The cover plate must be screwed on. Replace the circuit breaker and try out the new dimmer when it has been installed.
4. Check The Bulb
If the Freightliner Clearance Light is completely off, you should ensure the bulb isn’t burned. Technicians are often accused of this omission because they are too sluggish to test the light bulbs.
Be sure to test the bulbs even if more than one light fixture on the same track is out. All you have to do to test if a light bulb is working is insert one prong of your multi-meter into each prong of bulb.
To do a continuity test, turn the dial on your multimeter to the appropriate setting. When the prongs on the tester are brought together, a beep will sound. It’s also meant to beep when you touch both of the light bulb’s prongs, indicating that the bulb is functional.
If the tester doesn’t make any noise when you touch the prongs of the bulb, but it does when you touch the meter’s prongs together, you have a faulty bulb. Just get a new one, and you’ll be good to go!
After making that the bulbs are okay and jiggling the fixture’s base, you can move on to more in-depth troubleshooting.
5. Check The Fixture
Once you’ve double- and even triple-checked the bulbs, you may test on to testing each faulty fixture.
The testing is carried out similarly to that which you would use to evaluate the functionality of your clearance light bulbs.
You may verify that power is getting to the bulb socket by connecting the same lines from your multi-tester to the socket because the connections between the socket and the bulbs are the likely culprit if you can see power flowing into the socket.
Take down a light fixture from the track. To do this, pull the locking tab and turn the base of the fixture counterclockwise by 45 degrees. By doing so, the light fixture can be unlocked and detached from the track.
Make sure you remember which side of the track will have two prongs and which will have only one. This will be helpful when installing the new fixture on the track, as you will not have to guess which side requires two prongs.
6. Check For Corrosion
If the switch is good, the problem will likely be corrosion on the wires or the relay socket. For a quick fix, try cleaning the corroded component; if that doesn’t work, try cleaning the contact points; if that still doesn’t work, try replacing the relay that controls the clearance lights.
A blown a fuse is another possible source of this problem. A 12-volt tester lamp can be used to inspect the fuses in the electrical panel.
This will help you determine the basis of the issue, and you may be able to fix your Freightliner’s clearance lights without taking it to a repair shop.
Most affected users determined that the issue came from frayed or broken cables. Therefore, before attempting any other troubleshooting, ensure the wiring is checked.
7. Check The Circuit Breaker
This is your last shot effort to fix the issue; nevertheless, this step can be used from the start of troubleshooting if desired.
However, we choose to leave it till the end because, in our experience, the faulty component is almost always located within the fixture itself or in the electrical box directly next to it.
If you still haven’t figured out what’s causing this power, turn off the circuit breaker for that area and then turn it back on. If you’re lucky, that’s all it takes to fix the clearance track light; if not, you’ve reached a crucial stage for do-it-yourselfers.
The Bottom Line
Freightliner has been around since the beginning of the truck industry, giving them access to a wealth of ancient records and a worldwide network of industry experts.
However, there is still a chance that their tracks have issues, and in this article, we have discussed how to fix one of those issues: the clearance lights. Your truck’s sustained reliable functioning depends on your attention to its maintenance needs.
Troubleshooting might be difficult; in case you get stuck in it, don’t be hesitant about contacting an expert for assistance.
