Headlight retainer relay, parking lights problem?

[Rainy Day FZJ]

I have a problem with no ground to the taillight control relay. It causes the relay not to turn on. As far as I can tell it is switched by the column switch ( checks out OK) and this unknown relay called the headlamp retainer. I believe that this relay is the root of no ground to the taillight relay. The retainer control box also controls the headlights and running lights after the vehicle is turned off and the door has not or has been opened. The FSM has nothing written about it and I don't have a EWD. I would imagine that this is for us pansie a__ americans who want the headlights to stay on after the vehicle has been shut off. I was hoping that the main plug in for it would have a bypass plug of the sorts. But no such luck and the search has nothing on it, does anyone know about this system?

 

[Rainy Day FZJ]

Does anyone have a 80 that they are parting out and could send or sell me one?
10 looks and no one knows anything.

 

[jkeating]

I'm having a similar problem, except with the headlights. I just recently got ahold of the electrical diagram for the FJ but I haven't had time to completely sorted things out yet. You're right about the headlight retainer relay; it's purpose is to interupt the ground to the tail light and head light circuits once the door is opened with the engine shut off. It could be the source of your problem, but I wouldn't buy one without checking into other potential sources of the problem. The relay is on the left kick panel and is referenced as L1.

The connector has eight pins:
1: 12V switched from ignition switch
2: Tail light ground connected to combo switch
3: Headlight ground connected to combo switch
4: No connection
5: Drivers (Front-LH) door courtesy switch
6: Power from interior fuse block (ECU-B)
7: Input from headlight diode
8: Input from tail light relay coil (when this ground, relay should close)

I hope this helps. I've not actually seen the relay yet so I can't give you any visual clues. Please post results if you find the source of the trouble.