'72 to '75 steering column electrical swap retrofit

[DougM]

I recently purchased a '72 that has many mods by the previous owner. He swapped out the original steering column for a '75 I think based on the Haynes electrical schematics. The only electrical on the truck not working are the horn and the turn signals. I thin kthe horns should be no problem once I get the new relay I ordered. The turn signals however have a male 6 spade connector from the steering column. The original connector from the '72 after the fuse block is also a male spade connector if I am figuring correct? Is it easiest to just pigtail a female to female between them and figure which are the correct connections? Is there a better way?
Also, in case I decide to go further. The column now in the car has an inop ignition switch on the column. It currently uses the original switch on the left of the dash. It appears that some simple wire connections would allow a swap to the column??? Or would there be problems with that.?

 

[3_puppies]

the 75 has the high beams thru the turn signal switch also.
the 72 should have had a button on the floor, I think.

 

[DougM]

Yes, my 40 has the floor high beam. Right now I just need to get turn signals working to be able to get the car inspected to to register it.
I assume my steering wheel and switch are from @'75???
The 6 receptacle female connector has the wires RY RW RG
GY GW GB
It appears GB is to the left signal, GY is to the right, RG and BW are for high beam and RY to the flasher???
The switch also has the green red and white black for the hornI was able to make the horn work by just connecting the GR wire to my GR horn wire.

Under my dash of my early '72 year model, there is another 6 spade female connector that I assume is for the signals??
The wire colors appear to be G GW GY
GW GO GO
The G wire has a flasher that has been soldered into it with the other wire just hanging???

Attachecd are pics of the connectors. Any help to get these working is appreciated.

 

[DougM]

Can jumper wires be used across the 2 connectors to get the signals working??

 

[Jdc1]

This might help:

Cruiser Wiring

 

[DougM]

I have looked through there before. What confuses me is the female connector that is part of the cars wiring loom in the 3rd and 4th pics. A '72 should have had a 6 wire bullet harness off the signal switch which would mean a 6 bullet receptacle instead of the spade receptacle. Without the original steering wheel I really don't know? With 6 wires off the switch and 6 wires at the harness, I should be able to splice them together. The question is what needs to connect to what? All my other lights are working so I just want to get the turn signals to work.

 

[Jdc1]

My 40 is a 12/71 technically a 72. This is the turn signal connector.

 

[DougM]

Thank you. That helps. I guess Toyota switched to female receptacles sometime after '72. May have to look for one of those. Is that currently off the car? If so, maybe you can tell me which colors attach to which parts of the switch? Mainly just when you flip the switch up or down to signal right or left, what color is coming from that contact. Then I can try some jumpers and see if I can get them to work.

 

[Jdc1]

Thank you. That helps. I guess Toyota switched to female receptacles sometime after '72. May have to look for one of those. Is that currently off the car? If so, maybe you can tell me which colors attach to which parts of the switch? Mainly just when you flip the switch up or down to signal right or left, what color is coming from that contact. Then I can try some jumpers and see if I can get them to work.

It is currently off the 40. If I can free up a few minutes I'll see if I can do it.

 

[DougM]

Thank you. No rush

 

[pb4ugo]

You are probably going to do more in depth wiring than just twisting wires together or getting an new plug in your current setup. I went thru a similar wiring probably 10yrs ago or more. I don't really recall all I did, but the main problem you going to have is, your 72 fj40 is wired for a brake/turn combination rear light and the 75 switch wiring is for a separate brake and turn signal lights in the rear. They don't play well when wired together. My problem was going from a 1976 fj40 wiring to a single brake/turn combination style light in the rear, which i think is more difficult than your problem. I think you could find a turn signal switch from a FJ55 with the key in the column, it should retrofit in to the 75 column. Most but maybe not all FJ55's had brake/turn combination taillights. The biggest problem you're going to have is finding that switch.

 

[DougM]

My wheel and column have a key that is not being used.Still wired to the original key placement. May be from a FJ55??? How do you tell? All the previous owner told me is that he swapped the original column and wheel for a later one because he didn't need the wagon wheel sized original steering wheel since converting to power steering. Looking at pics of FJ55 steering wheels appear to be the same as mine??? Actually, some of the color codes in the Haynes manual match up to the harness coming from my column.

 

[pb4ugo]

Haynes manuals give just enuff info to get you in trouble. You should search for a wiring diagram for your year fj40 or the FSM, you could also look for a diagram for a 1975 40, so you could see the differences. Coolerman might have these diagrams also. Like I said b4, your 72 tail lights 1 on each side, are combination lights meaning you have 1 bulb(1157 style) with 2 elements in it, 1 element for brake/turn and 1 element for the running lights. The turn signal switch for the fj55 when activated turns off the brake light for that direction, and then supplies power and activates the flasher for the direction you want to go. I think 1974 and later fj40's don't do that, they have separate brake lights(red) and turn signals(yellow). It does not turn the brake light power off. When trying to make this switch work, the problem comes when your foot is on the brake and the turn signal is activated at the same time. They both supply power to the same element at the same time. No blink, they might work properly if you don't apply the brake. The ignition switch is separate from the turn switch, so leaving it on the dash should be fine. The fj55 column is similar to the 75 fj40, except for the turn switch. and has the brake light system is similar to your 72 fj40. For some reason which I dont recall, I replaced my 1976 turn switch with a fj55 switch, it just bolted in. You might have to do some wiring to make it compatible to your harness, but that should be straight forward. Later fj55's may have separate turns and brake lights, which wouldn't work. Someone who knows fj55's would know if the changed their rear lighting in later models. Like I said b4, fj55 turn signal switches are probably a hard to find item. Did the PO give you the old 72 external turn switch or column? You maybe able to do something with it. Others on here may chime in with better solutions.

 

[DougM]

I understand that it may be a little difficult to get everything working properly. For now, just to get it registered and into my name I need the turn signals, headlights, horn, brake lights and wipers working. No need to show them all working together, just turn one on after another. After the turn signals, all that is left is the wipers. I know they will work because they moved when I turned the switch. Just need to be cleaned and lubed I am sure.