Buzz buzz blinker- electrical gremlin (1 Viewer)

[red66toy]

Hey everyone! Could use some hive mind power. I am having a weird electrical issue with my FJ62 (hahahaha, I know ). Anyways, the right blinker makes a buzzing sound when I activate it and doesn't blink, lights are solid. I thought it was a burnt out bulb in the front. Replaced it and cleaned up the socket (had some corrosion). Still didn't fix it. Quick check online says there is a short somewhere. Too much current is being pulled. So I checked to see if there was continuity between the ground and the hot at the socket. Nope.
Pulled the front bulb. No change
I unplugged the rear right light. No change.
I unplugged the whole rear harness. no change.
I swapped flashers. no change
The turn signal switch is only 6 years old (New OEM unit used).

At this point I am kind of stumped what to attack next. There is a possibility it could be the switch... but since its not that old I feel like it wouldn't be it.

Thoughts? And thanks for any help!

 

[Spook50]

My first thought would be a sticking contact in the flasher, but if you've already eliminated that as the culprit, that axes that thought. Have you added trailer wiring or done anything at all with the blinker or marker light circuits lately?

Have you checked the +12 source lead to the flasher to make sure it's still getting a full 12V?

Was the flasher unit you swapped in a known good/new part?

 

[red66toy]

My first thought would be a sticking contact in the flasher, but if you've already eliminated that as the culprit, that axes that thought. Have you added trailer wiring or done anything at all with the blinker or marker light circuits lately?

Have you checked the +12 source lead to the flasher to make sure it's still getting a full 12V?

Was the flasher unit you swapped in a known good/new part?

I actually got rid of trailer wiring a ways back and cleaned up the wires. So that all got cleaned up nicely. But that was after the rear harness connector. Unplugging the rear harness made no difference. Which makes me think there is a short or something upstream of that?
I will check the flasher voltage tomorrow.
The flasher I swapped in was a known good part.

 

[CruiserTrash]

I actually got rid of trailer wiring a ways back and cleaned up the wires. So that all got cleaned up nicely. But that was after the rear harness connector. Unplugging the rear harness made no difference. Which makes me think there is a short or something upstream of that?
I will check the flasher voltage tomorrow.
The flasher I swapped in was a known good part.

Thought about it more last night Chase, and I’m on the same page with what you’ve dug up: there’s probably a short somewhere.

Even though that switch is relatively new, I’d still clean the crap out of it with Deoxit. Maybe use a flashlight to check that one of the contacts isn’t bent weird.

Another possibility is extremely corroded wiring, like inside of the insulation somewhere. That would present a lot of resistance and thus limited current flow and a voltage drop - a larger V drop than what would normally occur. This is the converse of a short, but would nonetheless cause funny things to happen. Like maybe instead of causing the relay switch to fully make contact, the coil isn’t able to energize enough so it’s only pulling the switch a little - enough to make it buzz against the switch contact. The noise is most definitely the relay, there’s nothing else in there that would make noise.

Do you have some long test leads for your multimeter? You could test resistance between the appropriate flasher module contact (the contacts where it plugs in) and the bulb socket hot pin. I believe the proper flasher contact would be labeled “L”, but I need to confirm that.

 

[CruiserTrash]

I would also test resistance between the flasher hot pin and ground! Anything less than infinite resistance is a problem for that one.

For the previously mentioned test you’ll want something below 5 ohms or so. If you’re seeing 10, 100, 1k, any numbers above about 5, there’s corrosion. I think that should be 16awg, which has a spec of 0.004 ohms per foot. 14awg will be 0.0025 ohms/foot and 18awg will be 0.0065 ohms/foot.

The runs to the front blinkers can’t be more than 10’….

 

[red66toy]

Awesome! Thanks @CruiserTrash . I’ll report back.

 

[red66toy]

Ok so I have had time to mess with this more again.
Took out the switch, it was pristine and clean. Terminals on the connector at the column was clean as well.

When testing the resistance from the L terminal at the flasher to the hot terminal for the blinker bulbs front and back, I get a reading of 0.05ohms. Seems like a great connection. There is infinite resistance between the hot bulb terminals and the grounds when the switch is off. When I turn the "right" switch on the resistance between the hot bulb terminals and the ground wire is 2 and 10 Mohms .

On the left circuit, the resistance between the hot bulb terminals to the ground when the "left" switch is on is 9 M ohms and 20M ohms.

Not sure what is going on at this point. The right does seem to have at least half the resistance as the left, but still pretty high.

Thoughts?

 

[ToyotaMatt]

one or both of the locking latching tabs break from age and time on there own


this is a HYBRID connector , they rattle appart , yet look still connected

.


up front there are a few i think feeding lamps ...


.

 

[red66toy]

one or both of the locking latching tabs break from age and time on there own


this is a HYBRID connector , they rattle appart , yet look still connected

.


up front there are a few i think feeding lamps ...


.

View attachment 3405712View attachment 3405713View attachment 3405714View attachment 3405715

Thanks. So the ground terminals on the bulb connectors to the battery ground have 0.05ohms of resistance and the power has the same to the flasher. So I think the connections are good at this point. I even swapped in a new front turn signal harness. No fix. I am starting to suspect the dash indicator bulb as a culprit. The wiring all seems to check out. All the dash bulbs are LEDs at this point... but I have yet to use an LED bulb that doesn't go bad way before their claimed life. I wonder if there is a short or something in it. It works though, but never fully goes out when it blinks.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Thanks. So the ground terminals on the bulb connectors to the battery ground have 0.05ohms of resistance and the power has the same to the flasher. So I think the connections are good at this point. I even swapped in a new front turn signal harness. No fix. I am starting to suspect the dash indicator bulb as a culprit. The wiring all seems to check out. All the dash bulbs are LEDs at this point... but I have yet to use an LED bulb that doesn't go bad way before their claimed life. I wonder if there is a short or something in it. It works though, but never fully goes out.

i would install two 194 incandescent to eliminate that possibility ?

temporarily ...

- are u running a LED flasher or the stock one ?

- some wedge-type LED 's are NOT a super good tight fit and can wiggle out too / vibration ....

 

[red66toy]

i would install two 194 incandescent to eliminate that possibility ?

temporarily ...

- are u running a LED flasher or the stock one ?

- some wedge-type LED 's are NOT a super good tight fit and can wiggle out too / vibration ....

Yeah I think that is the next step in the testing.
I was running an LED compatible flasher from amazon since I had LED rear bulbs but there was still an issue with the right blinker. I put in one of Cruiser Trash's super cool LED modded OEM units and it still didn't fix the issue. So the flasher was not the issue.
If swapping to filament bulbs on the dash solves the issue I will likely replace them with OEM bulbs and call it good. LED bulbs are cool but I dont want to have to go in and replace them after a few years. 35 years like the OEM bulbs is more my jam. hahaha .

 

[ToyotaMatt]

Yeah I think that is the next step in the testing.
I was running an LED compatible flasher from amazon since I had LED rear bulbs but there was still an issue with the right blinker. I put in one of Cruiser Trash's super cool LED modded OEM units and it still didn't fix the issue. So the flasher was not the issue.
If swapping to filament bulbs on the dash solves the issue I will likely replace them with OEM bulbs and call it good. LED bulbs are cool but I dont want to have to go in and replace them after a few years. 35 years like the OEM bulbs is more my jam. hahaha .

this is NOT a exaggeration , i found the 2 green ones in the 62 Cluster to be way way too intense


.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@red66toy @ToyotaMatt

I found in both of my 60s that a mix of LED and incandescent bulbs in the dash work to even out the brightness. LEDs for the indicators and turn signals were too much so I left them incandescent, but put LEDs in the backlight spots and it all looks good. And yeah those original Koito bulbs seem like they’d last 100 years if the trucks ran that long, which maybe they will!

Now Chase between this and the stuff you messaged me on IG, I think there’s got to be an issue somewhere deeper in the harness or at a connector. I’m going to read over everything you sent again and get back to you today. I like puzzles and this is certainly a puzzle.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@red66toy Do you happen to have an analog multimeter? With oscillating circuits- like this flasher - a digital meter is going to be jumping all around. On an analog meter you can easily see the motion of the needle back and forth. It’s the right tool for the job with a circuit like this.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Question for you Chase:

1. You are still only having issues with the right side, correct? Left side operates normally?
2. When the right blinkers turn on and STAY on (not flashing) you’ve verified that BOTH front and rear are lighting up and staying lit?
3. What happens when you unplug the front right blinker AND unplug the rear harness?
4. The original relay was buzzing when you put the right blinker on. Was it still buzzing with the replacement flasher or my modified flasher?
5. Is the 62 like a 60 where on the bottom of the steering column there’s a huge harness connector? It connects all the steering column switches to the rest of the harness. Connection clean and secure there? The wiring for that on my 60 is very tight to fit under the column shroud and might be prone to kinks or bends from moving it around for service?
6. Other connectors …does the blinker switch have another small connector immediately behind it, before the large connector under the steering column? How about a connector for the bracket that holds all the relays (hanging down about your brake pedal)? That thing drops down after you remove a couple 10mm bolts and maybe there’s a connector there. Have you check the front blinker connector? The rubber pad that sits against the body gets hard over time and cracks apart - maybe somehow that’s causing something to contact the body (ground) that shouldn’t. Then there’s all the connectors going to the right rear light. Have you traces and checked all of them?
7. Not sure about 62s, but 60s have a ground underneath the tailgate that serves the rear lights. It’s a ring terminal under a small bolt. Make sure take that apart and clean it well. I even used sandpaper to take a little of the paint off under the ring terminal. I zap it with a little fluid film after it’s back together to seal it in.

Rear ground on a 60:

You’d think if that ground was not making contact it would affect both left and right, but maybe the connection between the ring terminal and only the right rear is messed up somewhere. Or maybe on 62s the left and right rears ground separately. Just giving you things to trace!

 

[red66toy]

Question for you Chase:

1. You are still only having issues with the right side, correct? Left side operates normally?
2. When the right blinkers turn on and STAY on (not flashing) you’ve verified that BOTH front and rear are lighting up and staying lit?
3. What happens when you unplug the front right blinker AND unplug the rear harness?
4. The original relay was buzzing when you put the right blinker on. Was it still buzzing with the replacement flasher or my modified flasher?
5. Is the 62 like a 60 where on the bottom of the steering column there’s a huge harness connector? It connects all the steering column switches to the rest of the harness. Connection clean and secure there? The wiring for that on my 60 is very tight to fit under the column shroud and might be prone to kinks or bends from moving it around for service?
6. Other connectors …does the blinker switch have another small connector immediately behind it, before the large connector under the steering column? How about a connector for the bracket that holds all the relays (hanging down about your brake pedal)? That thing drops down after you remove a couple 10mm bolts and maybe there’s a connector there. Have you check the front blinker connector? The rubber pad that sits against the body gets hard over time and cracks apart - maybe somehow that’s causing something to contact the body (ground) that shouldn’t. Then there’s all the connectors going to the right rear light. Have you traces and checked all of them?
7. Not sure about 62s, but 60s have a ground underneath the tailgate that serves the rear lights. It’s a ring terminal under a small bolt. Make sure take that apart and clean it well. I even used sandpaper to take a little of the paint off under the ring terminal. I zap it with a little fluid film after it’s back together to seal it in.

Rear ground on a 60:
View attachment 3405909
View attachment 3405910

You’d think if that ground was not making contact it would affect both left and right, but maybe the connection between the ring terminal and only the right rear is messed up somewhere. Or maybe on 62s the left and right rears ground separately. Just giving you things to trace!

Hi Jim! Thanks for the super response! You rock.
1. Left operates normally. Right is the only side with the issue.
2. Both front and rear lights lit up.
3. The was no change when I unplugged both front and rear lights on the right.
4. I had the issue with the generic and the LED upgraded flasher unit. I didn't test with my OG flasher.
5-6. All connections I tested looked good and tight. I cleaned with chemical cleaner as well.
7. I cleaned and checked that rear ground. It checked out great!

Last night I replaced the left front blinker harness with a new unit since it had a little corrosion on the bulb connection. I also swapped in two incandescent bulbs into the front blinkers.... no more issue! The rear lights are still LED. I am not sure what the issue was now though! Everything I tested on the systems checked out. I am going to put LEDs back in the front and see if the issue comes back. Since I made two changes I want to see if it was putting in a new harness that made the difference, even though it was on the left side that didn't have the issue to begin with. I'll report back.

 

[red66toy]

Ok I put LED bulbs back in the front blinkers and kept the LEDs in the rear. The blinker issue came back. So the fix, oddly, is to run incandescent bulbs in the front and LEDs in the rear. hahaha. I could not find any other issues in they system. So at this point I am just going to run it and be happy with working blinkers.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Ok I put LED bulbs back in the front blinkers and kept the LEDs in the rear. The blinker issue came back. So the fix, oddly, is to run incandescent bulbs in the front and LEDs in the rear. hahaha. I could not find any other issues in they system. So at this point I am just going to run it and be happy with working blinkers.

Bummer. There has to be an issue somewhere. The problem has followed three flasher modules and a new column switch. Hmmmm…. At least you’re up and running for now.

 

[CenTXFJ60]

Ok I put LED bulbs back in the front blinkers and kept the LEDs in the rear. The blinker issue came back. So the fix, oddly, is to run incandescent bulbs in the front and LEDs in the rear. hahaha. I could not find any other issues in they system. So at this point I am just going to run it and be happy with working blinkers.

Chase, curious if you ever changed the blinker bulbs in the gauge cluster back to incandescent? I'm having the same issue on a 62 I'm working on. The owner stopped by my place the other week and swapped out all the interior bulbs with LED. Went to use the blinker for the first time yesterday and both L&R sides buzz and do not blink.

 

[red66toy]

Chase, curious if you ever changed the blinker bulbs in the gauge cluster back to incandescent? I'm having the same issue on a 62 I'm working on. The owner stopped by my place the other week and swapped out all the interior bulbs with LED. Went to use the blinker for the first time yesterday and both L&R sides buzz and do not blink.

I didn’t end up messing with the dash bulbs. I will soon though. I need to put in a new stereo so perfect time while the dash is apart. I hope that would be the cure and I can run LEDs on the main lights.