LED Tail Light Question (1 Viewer)

[D'Animal]

I replaced the 22RE in my neighbors 1988 Toyota 1-Ton.

I repaired the wiring as needed and installed missing the relays under the left kick panel.

I did not have a Flasher relay so I took one from an FJ60 and plugged it in. The blinkers now work as well as the 4-way flashers. The problem is they blink really fast.

This truck does have LED tail lights mounted on the flatbed. I think I read somewhere that the LED light will not give enough resistance and will cause the blinkers to flash like they have a bulb out. Did I dream about reading this? If I did not, what is the fix?

Also, after I installed the flasher relay the truck now drains the battery overnight.

Maybe these two problems are related. I plan on checking the wiring going to the rear lights this weekend. I would like to fix the LED's at the same time.


Thanks for your input.

Dan

 

[H2o]

i ran into the same problem on my mini with led tailights. A good friend from the club found the solution...

here is a quote

"With OEM blinkers, if you change the current load the blink rate will either speed up or not blink at all. This is somewhat intentional, so the driver knows a lamp is burned out. I would do one of two things: if the vehicle has a classic two pronged blinker (should be in the fuse panel), I would replace it with a 552 flasher available at Autozone, Walmart, etc. The 552 flasher is typically used to replace the OEM blinker on vehicles that tow trailers. The additional lamps on the trailer usually cause OEM blinkers to go spastic. The 552 is not current (number of bulbs) sensitive, but does require some current flow to get it started, LEDs alone may not be enough, but one incandescent lamp in the circuit should do. Do you have an incandescent bulb in the front? If so, you should be good to go. Second choice, wire in an incandescent bulb to the turn signal circuit (hide it under the truck or under the hood somewhere) to increase the load so the blinker "sees" the correct load. You could also use a resistor, but I suspect the bulb will be cheaper."

i didn't like the ides of the bulb or resistor on circuit, but we ended getting the 552 two prong blinker at simply attached wires and a connector to it. the 552 is a 'no load' blinker meaning it does not look at the load and modify the blink rate (as do traditional blinkers to notify you of a blown bulb in the circuit). even though my 87 mini has three prongs, it works like a charm. only problem is now, it is not connected into the fuse cluster where it was before, and you can barely hear the blinker. i will solve this by fabricating a small bracket around the blinker body, to attach it to the truck. then it will have something to resonate against and you will hear the blinker as before.

if i get a chance, i can take a picture of it.

good luck.

 

[D'Animal]

Mine is a three prong as well.

You just plug in a 552 two prong heavy duty blinker and call it good? The front light are not LED so they should up the standard bulb resistance.

 

[CMEROLL]

This is what I was told to do to slow down the signals on my 81 with LED tail lights, not sure if 88 is the same. Havnt done it yet but was told this would work. hope this helps.

 

[H2o]

Mine is a three prong as well.

You just plug in a 552 two prong heavy duty blinker and call it good? The front light are not LED so they should up the standard bulb resistance.

Yes, the 552 is two pronged, BUT will NOT fit in the Toy prong configuration. this is why you need to do some short leads to go from 552 to the fuse box where it usually plugs into. that way you don't need to worry about where prongs are located.

You don't need the third prong.

Let me take a pic and you can get a better idea.

 

[D'Animal]

Thanks!

 

[dman007]

This is what I was told to do to slow down the signals on my 81 with LED tail lights, not sure if 88 is the same. Havnt done it yet but was told this would work. hope this helps.
View attachment 198410

This absolutely works 100%
84 FJ, 3 Prong OEM Flasher Relay.
I swapped out all turn signals with LED bulbs. Was getting super fast flash at first, cut out resistor and now works like ti should. Nice and slow flashes.

 

[toy4xfun]

hey thanks guys, i bought a flasher from superbright and it will not plug in so i now have a solution.

 

[NorCalBorn]

This absolutely works 100%
84 FJ, 3 Prong OEM Flasher Relay.
I swapped out all turn signals with LED bulbs. Was getting super fast flash at first, cut out resistor and now works like ti should. Nice and slow flashes.

*I still want to see if that will work with the 90-95 flashers, off to tinker with one of my spares. I'll post a pic if it works b/c I believe it is still a similar part # relay made almost the same. (81980-12070)

The newer resistor style, the 81980-12070 I am describing is a load sensitive setup also, you can try a 4 prong heavy duty relay, keeping in mind that Toyota's are hot switched versus ground switched. Your "B" and "E" terminals remain, but the "L" is bypassed through an adapter to move it to the opposite center terminal, make sense?

The resistor supplement is a 50ohm 10 watt, ceramic style, usually the "Dale-Type" being the best as it is inside an alloy (protective) enclosure, easily mounted to a body panel and heat sinks better.

ie:

 

[corax]

This is what I was told to do to slow down the signals on my 81 with LED tail lights, not sure if 88 is the same. Havnt done it yet but was told this would work. hope this helps.
View attachment 198410

Nope, '88 is a different flasher - I desoldered each of the 3 resistors, one at a time - the one in front made the lights stay on solid, the large one on the left side and the tiny one under the relay both made the turn signals inoperative completely

- the 2 capacitors are wired in series with the large resistor on the side, so desoldering those would just kill the lights
- I think the "quick flasher" circuit is embedded in the chip under the relay, so no such luck with modifying the flasher on an '88

 

[Coolerman]

Thread dredge!
If the 1986 FJ62 flasher can be modded to work with LEDS by simply removing a resistor, the question becomes will a 1986 flasher plug straight in and work in a 1988 FJ62? If it would the mod could be made on the 1986 flasher giving the 1988 the perfect solution.

I have someone asking about me making a LED flasher kit for a 1988 FJ62 and I found this thread and got to thinking...

 

[muddpigg]

Been looking for a solution. Interested in the flasher mod, might try the 552.

 

[97 FZJ80]

I replaced the flasher with an LED flasher that had extension wires. Plug in the wires with the terminals matching the old flasher relay on the diagram. Zip tie the LED flasher inside the kick panel and worked great with my new LED lights.