95 brake light / tail light issue... (1 Viewer)

[ecoast]

Just picked up a clean 95 80 series; has a couple electrical issues...

key off-
all 3 brake lights dim, two rear sidemarkers illuminated

5-6 volts at tail light fuse (???)

disconnect 2 plugs in jack area- no change

step on brake pedal -no change

operate headlight switch thru range - no change

disconnected all rear harness plugs in driver kick; only one that makes it go out is the 4prong relay directly behind fuse box...

(removed trailer control)
no aftermarket item except radio

I ordered ESM, and downloaded 96 ESM, but was looking for the 'short list' on where to look and wondering where the brake/tail circuits come together in the harness(es)...

 

[shocktower]

Well they are on the rear passenger side with the trailer/blinker brake light control ( some times called hopper) which needs to be, in the circuit or you will have issues, also make sure on both rear quarters, are not all full of water/moisture and causing a short/draw clean the drains too . I would buy some Dexoit amazon sells it for cleaning the corrosion on electrical plugs. Oh yeah welcome to the money pit club

 

[ecoast]

trailer control was pass rear; it was removed.
It is a universal amber conversion module, so it just piggy-backs on the OE harness and is not essential, afa I can see.
Please explain if I am mistaken...


(I guess I should have mention I have 25+ years in 12v auto aftermarket experience...)

I will poke around pass rear again tomorrow after it stops blizzarding here!

 

[Malleus]

You need a couple of diagrams, starting with the connector diagram (these are from the 95 EWD):

Here is the taillight circuit:

 

[Malleus]

The circuit diagrams show you where the connections are, but you have to refer to the connector diagrams to make any use of the information. Be aware that the diagram may show the general location, but it isn't always as specific about the location as I'd like.

I'd recommend just downloading the whole FSM, EWD and associated information from TIS:
https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInf...urce_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftechinfo.toyota.com%2F

$15 dollars gets you 48+ hours access, which is more than enough for one year model. There is much more available there than the printed matter.

 

[Malleus]

My first suspect would be the pigtail for the tailights. I bought a 1994 last year that had no front turn signal. Turned out to be the socket connection. I hot wired it with a chewing gum wrapper (thanks McGyver) and it got me home.

My second choice would be the body ground; they get rusty.

FWIW, I've started cleaning and sealing all the connectors. Every time I open the hood I get a new one done.
11 Ounce Aerosol Contact Cleaner 94338225 - MSC (needs to say "plastic safe" or you'll melt stuff)
https://www.permatex.com/products/l...ricants/permatex-dielectric-tune-up-grease-4/

 

[ecoast]

My first suspect would be the pigtail for the tailights.

can you elaborate? Driver or pass side? --- and THANKS for the info; I had a 96 ESM, but am waiting on printed 95ESM; if I have not figured it out by by then (next week when I get it...)

I have deoxit and have been going thru it all; luckily rust free southern car---but still had water intrusion from assuming roof drains, which I will locate/clear.

 

[Malleus]

I have two rust free trucks; they both have nasty grounds and dirty connectors.

Check both.

Pull the trim panels behind the third row seats. Look into the wells. If they're clean, you do not have a water problem. The rear sunroof drains are an unlikely suspect (the front drains are another story). More reasonable suspects are a) the molding around the sliding windows, or b) the washer hose (left side, under the jack), in that order.

 

[landcrshr]

5-6 volts at tail light fuse (???)

There's something you can look in to.

What happens when you pull the "tail" fuse? Is the voltage upstream or downstream? That will guide you in the right direction.

What happens when you pull the "stop" fuse?

...disconnected all rear harness plugs in driver kick...

Are you sure you disconnected the "ID2" plug? That one should remove all voltages downstream. Take a close look at ID2, corrosion from a leaky windshield will cause these problems.

 

[Malleus]

^this too

 

[ecoast]

I have two rust free trucks; they both have nasty grounds and dirty connectors.

Check both.

Pull the trim panels behind the third row seats. Look into the wells. If they're clean, you do not have a water problem. The rear sunroof drains are an unlikely suspect (the front drains are another story). More reasonable suspects are a) the molding around the sliding windows, or b) the washer hose (left side, under the jack), in that order.

yep; sills,rear panels, kick panels, hush panel & backer, plastic duct, etc. , Actually looks good in rear; definite water in sill front pass & driver sides.

afa grounds, I'll go thru all those first tomorrow; wipers are running slow too, I noticed today when I moved it


@landcrshr , I had the three plugs in driver kick that go rear disconnected; symptom remained...
Not certain it was ID2, but I did pull trans control relay for pin 7 mode as well as the headlight retainer rely while in there


I don't want to muddy the water here, but there was evidence of someone trying to jerry rig a fix; 3 scotchlock connectors going to headlight retainer relay, ignition column harness, and third is heading up behind keyswitch/center dash bezel...
I disconnected 2 of the three; going to pull radio/bezel tomorrow as well. Have to do the diff switch anyways.

Once I disconnected the 2 scotchlocks, I had dome/door light, cruise, radio, and front marker lights return...



Getting closer.

thanks for the good ideas; looking forward to driving this thing once I have brake lights!

 

[Malleus]

yep; sills,rear panels, kick panels, hush panel & backer, plastic duct, etc. , Actually looks good in rear; definite water in sill front pass & driver sides.

afa grounds, I'll go thru all those first tomorrow; wipers are running slow too, I noticed today when I moved it


@landcrshr , I had the three plugs in driver kick that go rear disconnected; symptom remained...
Not certain it was ID2, but I did pull trans control relay for pin 7 mode as well as the headlight retainer rely while in there


I don't want to muddy the water here, but there was evidence of someone trying to jerry rig a fix; 3 scotchlock connectors going to headlight retainer relay, ignition column harness, and third is heading up behind keyswitch/center dash bezel...
I disconnected 2 of the three; going to pull radio/bezel tomorrow as well. Have to do the diff switch anyways.

Once I disconnected the 2 scotchlocks, I had dome/door light, cruise, radio, and front marker lights return...



Getting closer.

thanks for the good ideas; looking forward to driving this thing once I have brake lights!

Those vampire taps were for the alarm.

 

[gummycarbs]

Once I disconnected the 2 scotchlocks, I had dome/door light, cruise, radio, and front marker lights return...

Check those wires carefully. Scotch-Loks tend to slice the wire. I had intermittent door locks and interior lights due to damaged wires, all from the original alarm.

 

[ecoast]

@Malleus , well, sir, you hit it on the head!

There were a couple issues that made it a little confusing-

~brake switch was right on 'the verge' of adjustment; sometimes brakelights on, sometimes not
~crap load of bad #194's

AND the winner:
loose ground wire in driver 1157 socket; pull / push wire = dim / bright bulb

MANY thanks.

 

[LINUS]

A tip for body ground eye/ring terminals is to grease the screw (good form in general ) - and the ring backside, then install it.

I've got grease shoved in near all connectors & sockets, terminals throughout my 80 & it really stabilizes how it behaves if you try to drown it on a trail or whatever else.

White lithium or dielectric grease - buy a tube & just hit whatever you work as you go through your 80. A excellent <$10 investment.

 

[Malleus]

^this.

Originally, the body grounds were screwed into painted body panels. The tapping screw threads made the ground contacts. Now, after 20+ years, the ring terminals have ground the paint and primer away so there's (potentially) even more contact area. But, in the intervening years, it's oxidized. Cleaning that area and applying a contact promoter and rust inhibiter, like the dielectric grease, makes everything much better.

 

[ecoast]

@LINUS, it was the wire itself loose in the plastic 1157 base; you could push/pull the wire 1/8" in/out of plastic and it would make /break contact...

replaced socket/3 wire pigtail for 6 bucks...