FJ62 Electrical Wiring Problem

[zenriding]

I have an 89' land cruiser that was miss wired a few years ago when I took it into a shop. Here's what happens.

1.) when I step on the brake pedal the dashboard lights get brighter, but the brake lights do not get brighter.
2.) The left headlight and taillight light up pretty bright. The right headlight and taillight are pretty dim.

I'm assuming that I have a some wires crossed. Is this possible, and where would I first start looking.

 

[cruzerDave]

Nothing worse than a silent thread so I'll at least chime in to say, yeah, sure sounds like a short - check the wiring diagrams from the manuals you can find on this board, sorry I don't have the link. What was it brought in to be re-wired, this might give a clue as to the part of the truck to start looking in and about once you have the schematic in front of you?

 

[rcmccars]

a good place to start looking for that prob might be wiring for a trailer hitch. Pull the side pannels off in the cargo area and look for splices and wire taps behind the tail lights. Even if the truck doesn't have a hitch now it 25 years old and old wiring might be shorting out.

 

[dbenke]

The dim lights are most likely a ground issue. the dash lights seem to be getting feedback from somewhere, fix the ground(s) first and see what happens

 

[askneevel]

I had a similar issue in my '89 62, where I'd step on the brakes and the dash lights would come on. It turned out to be a faulty brake light- when I checked the light, I could see inside the bulb that the two leads were touching that should not have been.
It was awesome to repair what seemed like a mysterious problem that quickly and simply.