I finally own a FJ

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ginmtb said:
First Sunday of every month they have a car show here near my house at the Blackhawk Plaza in Danville. Don't see many 4x4's there. Might be cool to get a bunch of us together there... All vehicles are open to attending - a Mini car club shows up even. Lots of old cars and lots of newer cars too. We would definitely stand out compared to the Mustangs, Vettes, and muscle cars... :)
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I cant do first sunday of Feb ill be out of town but I'll try catching up some other time. Other than that Im fine with whenever and wherever.
 
I checked the tires last night and they were all down in the 20psi range, with 50 as a max on the tires. I filled them up at a filling station, I had to put more money in the machine for each tire, those things take some serious air.

Turning / parking / etc is much much easier now, thats for the tip.
 
That is a nice looking rig(you already have the bezel info to fix everything!)
Seriously, I really like the color. There doesn't seem to be any real standout troubles-ride and enjoy(just do the fluid thing first). It will tell you when there is a problem--what you will get on this Forum is the information to know what the rig is telling you--pay attention-there is too much knowledge and experience not to.
Welcome, and happy wheeling!!
 
I flipped the bezel, that did not fix anything, but at least it is in the right direction now. High beam still blows the fuse, and no blinkers (even though all the signal lights are one). I removed the cover to the steering wheel to take a look at the switch, it looks brand new and didnt see any potential issues with contacts etc. I also went around to each of the signal lights and disconnected them, then tried the turn signals again. Nothing. I did notice the wires leading to drivers side fender signal were slightly damaged, looked like the tire rubbed it slightly, I was hoping disconnecting this would fix everything, but no luck.

Any tips for finding the reason for the electrical issues would be greatly appreciated. At this point I am considering taking it to someone to fix these electrical issues. I wouldn't hesitate for a moment doing a top end rebuild on this car (if i had an issue with it) but I am so clueless when it comes to electrical.
 
Re your electrical issues, if you don't have a multi-tester, get yourself one. It will be one of the most useful tools you'll have and you can get one for around $10 or less, or if you're lucky you might find a Harbor Freight coupon that will get you a free one. Do any of your turn signals stay on but not blink with the engine running or at least the ignition switch in the run position and the switch on? If so this indicates the problem is at the other end. I assume you've "checked" the fuse? Oh I'm also assuming you have a wiring diagram but if not get yourself one ASAP. Fuses can look OK, i.e. not be visibly burned through but still not functional. Check at the fuse panel with your multi-tester. If the fuse is OK and you've got 12 volts there, go to the individual signals. Pull the lens and bulb and use your multi-tester to see if you've got 12 volts at the bulb (put the red probe of the tester on the little blob of solder in the bottom of the socket and the black probe on a bare spot on the frame). If so, your problem is the ground, a not unlikely condition! The rears are grounded through the housing and are notorious for dirt and rust interrupting the ground there. Clean the area around the hole where the mounting screw attaches with sand paper and brake or electrical parts cleaner and use a toothed lock washer or two between the housing and frame. I use some dielectric grease there too. The fronts may also ground where the housing attaches to the fender or there may be a separate ground wire running from the housing to a fender mounting bolt. Clean those grounding points with sand paper and cleaner, and use toothed lock washers and dielectric grease there too. If none of this solves the problems, look for shorts (bare wires) along the harness between the individual light and the fuse panel. If you find any, like the wire you mentioned to the front turn signal that looked like it had rubbed on the wheel, wrap it with electrical tape or better yet, cut it out, replace it with short length of wire of the same gauge soldered at each end, and finish off with shrinkable tubing. The rear harness usually connects to the the main harness at a plug that's clipped to the frame near the passenger side rear wheel. Check for 12 volts at that plug. I forget where the front signals harness goes to or comes from.

Don't be intimidated by electrical problems! A multi-tester, wiring diagram, sandpaper and cleaner, and a little dielectric grease plus most important of all PATIENCE! will do wonders.

Good luck and HTH!

Pete
 
Pete said:
Re your electrical issues, if you don't have a multi-tester, get yourself one. It will be one of the most useful tools you'll have and you can get one for around $10 or less, or if you're lucky you might find a Harbor Freight coupon that will get you a free one.
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I do have a multimeter, I have one of radio shacks nicer ones (havent used it in forever, but I believe it selects the voltage range automatically). I still know next to nothing about using these things, but I have one along with a couple more cheapo ones. I may have to be a bit of a slacker at work today and just watch youtube videos on using a multimeter.

Pete said:
Do any of your turn signals stay on but not blink with the engine running or at least the ignition switch in the run position and the switch on? If so this indicates the problem is at the other end.
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All the signals come on when the head lights are on, they just dont blink, and nothing when the lights are off. Also, I tried the hazards, and I feel like the blue indicators on the instrument cluster came on but did not blink, and the lights did nothing different. I tried the hazards again last night (while the engine was not running) and no instrument cluster indicator lights came on.

Pete said:
I assume you've "checked" the fuse? Oh I'm also assuming you have a wiring diagram but if not get yourself one ASAP. Fuses can look OK, i.e. not be visibly burned through but still not functional. Check at the fuse panel with your multi-tester.
Click to expand...

I actually replaced all the fuses with fresh ones and cleaned the fuse box itself with contact cleaner and q-tips.

Pete said:
If the fuse is OK and you've got 12 volts there, go to the individual signals. Pull the lens and bulb and use your multi-tester to see if you've got 12 volts at the bulb (put the red probe of the tester on the little blob of solder in the bottom of the socket and the black probe on a bare spot on the frame). If so, your problem is the ground, a not unlikely condition! The rears are grounded through the housing and are notorious for dirt and rust interrupting the ground there. Clean the area around the hole where the mounting screw attaches with sand paper and brake or electrical parts cleaner and use a toothed lock washer or two between the housing and frame. I use some dielectric grease there too. The fronts may also ground where the housing attaches to the fender or there may be a separate ground wire running from the housing to a fender mounting bolt. Clean those grounding points with sand paper and cleaner, and use toothed lock washers and dielectric grease there too. If none of this solves the problems, look for shorts (bare wires) along the harness between the individual light and the fuse panel. If you find any, like the wire you mentioned to the front turn signal that looked like it had rubbed on the wheel, wrap it with electrical tape or better yet, cut it out, replace it with short length of wire of the same gauge soldered at each end, and finish off with shrinkable tubing. The rear harness usually connects to the the main harness at a plug that's clipped to the frame near the passenger side rear wheel. Check for 12 volts at that plug. I forget where the front signals harness goes to or comes from.
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Seems like I just need to start going through the whole thing from the lights back with a multimeter trying to find the problem area. cleaning everything along the way. Luckily the truck is rust free and very clean (from dirt etc), so that is not the issue.

Pete said:
Don't be intimidated by electrical problems! A multi-tester, wiring diagram, sandpaper and cleaner, and a little dielectric grease plus most important of all PATIENCE! will do wonders.

Good luck and HTH!

Pete
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Thanks a lot for all the advice and the words of encouragement. I will go at it this weekend with the multimeter and see what I can track down. Luckily access is not an issue with this truck, very different from my 914 where everything is hidden away.
 
So you're an air-cooled Porsche guy? Great, I've got a '97 911 and also a 944 that I need to get ready to sell. The multimeter is a snap, black goes to ground and red to hot. Usually there's a scale setting for voltage and you probably want the 20 volt scale. To check continuity , I usually use the resistance setting. If you have it set on resistance and touch the two leads you'll see 0, so if you're checking a wire and there's no break in it, you'll see something very low (not zero because even a continuous wire has some resistance) whereas if there's a break you'll get a huge or infinite resistance.

Good luck
Pete
 
Ya, I have 70 914, want to sell it as well, it was a great car to have in los angeles, but less ideal in SF. Need to free up some space in the garage. First i need to finish the break refresh. I also have a number of motorcycles, a 69 Honda CT90 (which I would love to mount on hitch rack on the back of the FJ, its under 200 lbs I believe it can hold it), My baby is a 72 BMW R60/5 (toaster tank), and a 2001 BMW F650GS Dakar...which is basically the 4x4 of motorcycles.

I have lost interest in the sports cars for now...but my tastes always change. A late 60s 911 wouldnt be terrible.
 
@Pete
I think I need some assistance with a similar issue.
 
Picked up a simpler multimeter, and books on basic electronics and used ng multimeters. I am also almost finished making a color wiring diagram for the 72/73 models. The Haynes one is basically worthless. Will share when I am done, and my process in finding the short.

Took a good trip up to San Rafael and back (to pick up some half doors for when the summer rolls aroubd). I seem to have a brake issue and am wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar. I topped off the smaller reservoir when I first got the truck home. After a short ride today I noticed that the larger reservoir (front brakes). Was over flowing all over the steering box from the top, and the smaller one was low again. Does the master cylinder need a rebuild?

The fluid is also old and gross, so I was planning on replacing the fluid and bleeding anyways. Wondering if I should rebuild the master cylinder at the same time.

I inspected the drums and underside and do not see any evidence of a leak.

Thanks
 
Yep. The seals between the two reservoirs are letting fluid leak from one to the other. If the cylinder wall isn't pitted you can try a rebuild kit. I went ahead and bought a NAPA replacement MC. Also, before you replace fluid, check all your brake cylinders to make sure they are working properly. Even if they don't leak, they might be frozen and you won't be able to adjust your brakes properly.
 
I went ahead and ordered a new BMC, i am hoping it is here on tuesday. then I can also deal with the mess the fluid created in the engine compartment.

I am going to start going through the system today with a multimeter in hopes of finding the shorts. I created a color wiring diagram for the 72/73 since i couldnt seem to find one online. if anyone else wants it, you can grab it here:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/free-72-73-fj40-color-wiring-diagram.834490/
 
I spent a good chunk of the afternoon mucking around with the wiring on my 40. Somehow the high beams started working again, which is great but I definitely did not fix the problem, so I fear that it will pop up again at an inconvenient time.

Still not lick on the turn signals, but I have some more clues.

1) all signal lights come on when the lights are turned on
2) I get no action from the turn signal
3) if i turn on the hazard lights I get nothing, If i compress the break the indicators on the cluster light up (but do not blink)
4) the relay appears to be after market, "New Era" brand. Many of the relay wires are not connected, just a handful of green with colored streaks

I am going to keep playing with it, see where I can get, I am pleased that the beams are working, even if i dont know why they started working again at least there is some change.
 
So I gave in and took it to Bob Haverkamp at All Audio in San Rafael. He was listed on this forum (https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/cruiser-mechanics-listed-by-state.349535/) for car electronic and audio, and his yelp reviews were stellar.

First let me say Bob is awesome, coming in on his day off to help me out, he methodically dug through the system with am amazing combination of expertise and patience. It took us about 3 hours to figure everything out, and the whole time he explained everything to me, including me in the process. His rate is extremely reasonable, so reasonable I threw in a 50% tip because he deserved it.

So, the issues:
The hi beams blowing a fuse was pretty easy, he seemed to know what was causing it almost immediately. The insulation to the hi beam indicator light had rotted away and the positive lead had fallen out the back making contact with the dash, and causing a short. He has that fixed in about 30 minutes.

The blinkers provided more problematic to track down. We did a quick visual inspection of the wiring, then he pulled out the wiring diagram to start tracking stuff. Because both the blinkers and hazards, we eventually landed on the hazard switch (after checking the blinker box, and the indicator switch on the column, and a bunch of other stuff), problem ended up being an bad connection between the harness and the switch, one of the sockets on the plug had flattened out and was not providing power.

So now everything is working. I couldnt be happier, and while I hate admitting defeat, I am really glad I met Bob and had him fix it, I dont know that I would have ever found the hazard switch problem.
 
Here are some more pics of the rig.

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The winch roller seems to be missing the top roller. Is tis something I can order on its own or do I need to replace the whole roller?
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Spot lights are functional, but I don't imagine I will get a lot of use out of them. They are water tight. It's the one thing I wish was different about the truck, but don't care enough to put a new windshield frame in.

Are you thinking they were brave because of the lack of support?
 
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