New Paint fj62 and Tail Light problem

[TextorFJ62]

I recently got my FJ62 repainted and have been too busy to post, but here is the finished job. Fernando's here in SF did the job and it came out looking brand new. I have been trying to fix the last electrical issue it had and have posted previously on the subject of the tail lights. I have tried EVERYTHING to fix it and am loosing my hair over getting it taken care of. The light works, but the issue is not so clear cut. The last two pictures below show what is happening. With the lights on the passenger tail light and side marker are dark. (pic 2). With the brake applied, the tail light lights up the way it is supposed to. (pic 3). I know this is a double filament bulb and have replaced it to make sure filament 1 is not burnt out.

I am pretty sure it is a ground issue as I did get the tail light and side marker to light up for about a day after fiddling with all the connections back there. They stopped working when the big rain storm hit here last week.

I have downloaded the entire service manual directly from Toyota (great to have no matter what) and can't find a wiring diagram or illustration that will tell me where the tail light ground is! I mean where the thing actually grounds out. It's killing me! I honestly don't know where to look for the "ground" point on the car for this electrical circuit. Has anyone had this issue before and know how to fix? I am hesitant to take it to the dealer if it something I can find myself and re-attach to the body of the truck.

Thanks for taking a look.

--Andrew

 

[TextorFJ62]

Ok so I just went out to look at the tail gate ground after figuring out where it is and saw some funky stuff with the wiring harness in the rear. It strings along the rear of the truck from one rear panel to the other out of two small holes in the rear quarter panels near the corners. It is held to the body above the bumper by malleable clamps. There was a lot electrical tape on the drivers side half of the harness that looked to be 20 years old. I pried it off and sure enough one of the green wires in there had been spliced with some different wire. I guess the PO back in 1990 had set up a trailer and cut the power wire to the passenger status brake light to get juice to his trailer lights. His fix lasted 17 years or so.

Either way I spliced it with some wire I had in the rig and the light came on perfectly. Is there a better way to fix this more permanently? The harness is pretty much exposed back there and definitely gets wet when driving in the rain...

--AT

 

[RockDoc]

Glad to hear you tracked it down, and the truck looks great. I would want to solder the joints and put heat shrink tubing with dielectric grease inside over the splice. If possible, it might be worth while to run a new wire over the exposed run and keep the splices up inside the truck where they won't be so exposed.

 

[dingdong]

Paint looks good.

I have the exact same problem with my passenger side tail light and side marker light. I had one evening to tear through it and I couldn't find any obvious problem with it. The PO of my truck also wired it for a trailer. He did a good job of it.

I am stuck up in the Rocky Mountains and it's -35C outside, so I will go through it again when I get home. Thanks to your post I will triple check the trailer wiring. But first I will hook up a trailer and see if that plug still works. My suspicion is the little Toyota Trailer Translater box has given up the ghost.

A strange thing is, my rear passenger side speaker stopped working at the same time. I know they aren't related, except for the fact that I noticed my taillight was not working when I went to check on why the speaker wasn't working.

My factory service manual has all the wiring diagrams in the back FYI.

 

[TextorFJ62]

Paint looks good.

I have the exact same problem with my passenger side tail light and side marker light. I had one evening to tear through it and I couldn't find any obvious problem with it. The PO of my truck also wired it for a trailer. He did a good job of it.

I am stuck up in the Rocky Mountains and it's -35C outside, so I will go through it again when I get home. Thanks to your post I will triple check the trailer wiring. But first I will hook up a trailer and see if that plug still works. My suspicion is the little Toyota Trailer Translater box has given up the ghost.

A strange thing is, my rear passenger side speaker stopped working at the same time. I know they aren't related, except for the fact that I noticed my taillight was not working when I went to check on why the speaker wasn't working.

My factory service manual has all the wiring diagrams in the back FYI.

DingDong,
Thanks for your post. In the search for the problem I removed the lens cover and the inside wall of the trunk on the passenger side last night. You can't really get at the wires from just the tail light. My speakers are still stock and working fine, but once I had the inside liner off and could get to the wires back there I noticed that the speaker wire goes into the same bundle that connects to the tail lights. Although it is traveling forward of the speaker point to connect to the stereo.

I don't know if this matters but it should have a ground as well? If so the ground has to be in the rear half of the truck so check the ground points in the lower tailgate and where it enters the body in the middle. under the truck, behind the bumper in the middle there is a big confluence of wires and if your ground is out or corroded it may be the issue.

I'd start with checking the tail light set up first and inspect the whole wire harness in the rear from the passenger side to the drivers side. From what I can tell the juice goes from the drivers side over to the passenger side. Taking off the panels inside the truck is a pain.

Thanks for the response on this and I hope it helps!

--Andrew

 

[TextorFJ62]

Glad to hear you tracked it down, and the truck looks great. I would want to solder the joints and put heat shrink tubing with dielectric grease inside over the splice. If possible, it might be worth while to run a new wire over the exposed run and keep the splices up inside the truck where they won't be so exposed.

Thanks RockDoc. This is exactly what I needed to know. I have a basic patch in there and want to make it more permanent before more rain or another trip to Tahoe.