BJ40 24V headlight problem

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F

fredtastic

10 Year
Joined
Dec 9, 2013
Threads
1
Messages
8
Location
Sweden
Hi everybody,

I have a BJ40 from 1975 with som electrical problems. When I bought it the passenger side headlight was the only one working, and a bit weak. I changed the one on the drivers side and it was shining 3 times as bright compared to the other one. After 10 minutes driving, both lights went out and hasn't worked since. At first the high beam worked for a while but it also gave up.

I have a 24V system. Parking lights work, indicators in the front work. Rear lights, brake, indicator etc. works on one side only.

Very grateful for some advice in this matter.

Best,
 
Try this.

Ensure the dipped lights are selected. I.e. No blue light on the dash. Now connect a multimeter to each headlight connector in turn and verify the voltage. Connect the black lead to both the earth connection and the chassis each time.

Report back with findings
 
First question is: What model Cruiser do you have?
A full 24V European model or a Canadian 24V model with 12V headlights?
This 12V headlights in a 24V Cruiser is also known as the evil tap where the driver side bulb is between 12V and ground and the passenger side bulb is between 12V and 24V.

Do you have the correct wiring diagram?

Rudi
 
bj40green said:
This 12V headlights in a 24V Cruiser is also known as the evil tap where the driver side bulb is between 12V and ground and the passenger side bulb is between 12V and 24V.
Click to expand...

Anyone else think that's dangerous? If one bulb goes, you're in the dark in a hurry.
 
Fast Eddy said:
Anyone else think that's dangerous? If one bulb goes, you're in the dark in a hurry.
Click to expand...

That's the way Mr Toyota designed it for the Canadian market. :meh: But, I think you are missing what's going on. If one goes, you still get only 12 volts. Nothing in the headlight circuit is connected to 24 volts. In other words, the right headlight is attached at the + post of the 12 volt side. The left headlight is attached to the - post of the 24 volt side.

To the OP, as mentioned above, a multimeter is your best friend at this point. Start trying to figure out where the wires are going and the voltage on the other side.

:cheers:
 
Fast Eddy said:
Anyone else think that's dangerous? If one bulb goes, you're in the dark in a hurry.
Click to expand...

No, that's not dangerous. They are not in series. These are 2 separate circuits which have one relay in common.
24V center tap.webp

Rudi
24V center tap.webp
 
Last edited:
I have a similar problem in my 1982, 24V ,BJ40 as one of the Sealed Beam is less illuminated in the Dim position.

PO has completely changed the wire harness & I found the dim position wire splits and goes separately to each light. If I put a 5 pin relay before the split and run two separate wires from there to each light will solve this issue ?
 
Wow, thank you everybody for your fast replys. :)

The car is originaly from Costa Rica, 24V system and 12V headlights if I'm not wrong. I'll get on the voltage measurement tomorrow (7:30 pm now in Sweden) when I get to the garage.

I'll keep you posted on the results.

Again, thank you all!
 
WDT Siri said:
I have a similar problem in my 1982, 24V ,BJ40 as one of the Sealed Beam is less illuminated in the Dim position.

PO has completely changed the wire harness & I found the dim position wire splits and goes separately to each light. If I put a 5 pin relay before the split and run two separate wires from there to each light will solve this issue ?
Click to expand...

Yes that can help if you feed the relay directly from the battery with an in-line fuse and use decent wires of course.
I think you'll need two relays. One for Low Beam and one for High Beam.

Rudi
 
Ok,

I have now measured the voltage on both headlights. It turns out that I was wrong, both are 24V (measured 23,8V on both with ground on chassis and socket) thus a European model Rudi. This puzzles me why it's not working. One headlight is brand new and the other old. When I installed the new one it was very bright on half beam. I now noticed that the old was bust (tingeling sound when i shake it) but the new one seems to be solid. Do they affect each other in some way?

/Fred
 
fredtastic said:
The car is originaly from Costa Rica........
Click to expand...

Hate to tell you that there are no 24V Cruisers imported in Costa Rica so your Cruiser is originally from a "General Market" or "European" destination.
Maybe your Cruiser made a world trip in it's lifetime. Who knows? It doesn't matter anyway.

fredtastic said:
Ok,

I have now measured the voltage on both headlights. It turns out that I was wrong, both are 24V (measured 23,8V on both with ground on chassis and socket) thus a European model Rudi. This puzzles me why it's not working. One headlight is brand new and the other old. When I installed the new one it was very bright on half beam. I now noticed that the old was bust (tingeling sound when i shake it) but the new one seems to be solid. Do they affect each other in some way?

/Fred
Click to expand...

What kind of light bulbs do you use? The old style incandescent or H4 Halogen bulbs?
If you changed from old to new the brightness will be overwhelming.
And NO they don't affect each other.
I would look for bad contacts, fuse and fuse holder, damaged wires and so on.

Rudi
 
What lamps did you use 12V or 24V you did not mention this if you put a 12V lamp in a 24V system you will get twice the brightness then failure shortly after that.
 
Dieseler, that was exactly what happened to me.. I have the lamp right here and it says:

Brand: WAGNER
28V
4800
50/40W
D2

So I guess it's cleared for 28V? and i get 23,8V from the wires...
 
So those Wagner 4800 are 28V 50/40W incandescent sealed beams lamps.
For the one that was very dim..... maybe a wiring error?
If the ground wire is on the wrong terminal, you'll have Low and High in series which results in a very dim light while in the other position of the headlight switch you have normal brightness.

Why don't you test it with a cheap 24V light bulb before you buy a new $20 sealed beam?

Just thinking,


Rudi
 
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