Ok, I call uncle.
I am at my wits end regarding my electrical system. And I know this has been covered a bagillion times before, but it seems like the symptoms can be so different and the solutions can end up different as well. Ever since I bought my FJ40 6 years ago my turn signal/hazard circuit has been messed up. The PO had an aftermarket flasher installed, and a hazard bypass wire installed so that instead of power returning from the flasher back to the hazard switch and then on to the turn signal switch it instead went straight from the flasher to the turn signal switch. I removed the aftermarket flasher but have kept the bypass, since '76 and '78 model years were wired that way but for some reason my '77 wasn't. However, my turn signals do not work at all unless my hazard switch is pulled. And when it's pulled the 4-way flashers do not go on, but I have power to my turn signals. This system worked fine until a couple weeks ago (with no 4-way flashers, obviously). I had both signals working fine, and then all of the sudden my right turn signal stopped working. Just the right turn signal. No blink, nothing. My left signal is still fine. Here is what I have found out:
-I have 8.8V at the Turn fuse. That's my first clue.
-I have 12.3V at the Stop fuse, which is the fuse power is drawn from when the hazard switch is engaged.
-My wiring diagram says that I'm supposed to have a "GR" wire coming from my Turn fuse, instead I have a "GO" wire coming from my turn fuse. Strange.
-My wiring diagram says I'm supposed to have a "GL" wire going from my flasher to my hazard switch and I'm supposed to have another "GL" wire going from my hazard switch to my turn signal switch. My hazard switch only has one "GL" wire, and I'm pretty sure it's coming from the turn fuse.
-I appear to have good grounds, because my bulbs were/are bright when connected to 12V.
Here's my path forward:
-Check the battery ground strap to the frame again.
-Check the resistance from the bulb housings to the frame and make sure the housings are actually grounded well.
-Check the voltage of the "WL" wire going into the keyswitch. And then check the voltage of the "BY" wire coming out of the "On" position of the keyswitch. I guess, just looking at the diagram, that I have some sort of bad voltage loss across the keyswitch. What can be done to remedy this? Does it automatically mean I should be looking for a new one? Or maybe I have a loss across the ammeter, in which case I need to figure out what's going on there.
Any other ideas or things to check? Just seems like being methodical is going to be my best bet.
I am at my wits end regarding my electrical system. And I know this has been covered a bagillion times before, but it seems like the symptoms can be so different and the solutions can end up different as well. Ever since I bought my FJ40 6 years ago my turn signal/hazard circuit has been messed up. The PO had an aftermarket flasher installed, and a hazard bypass wire installed so that instead of power returning from the flasher back to the hazard switch and then on to the turn signal switch it instead went straight from the flasher to the turn signal switch. I removed the aftermarket flasher but have kept the bypass, since '76 and '78 model years were wired that way but for some reason my '77 wasn't. However, my turn signals do not work at all unless my hazard switch is pulled. And when it's pulled the 4-way flashers do not go on, but I have power to my turn signals. This system worked fine until a couple weeks ago (with no 4-way flashers, obviously). I had both signals working fine, and then all of the sudden my right turn signal stopped working. Just the right turn signal. No blink, nothing. My left signal is still fine. Here is what I have found out:
-I have 8.8V at the Turn fuse. That's my first clue.
-I have 12.3V at the Stop fuse, which is the fuse power is drawn from when the hazard switch is engaged.
-My wiring diagram says that I'm supposed to have a "GR" wire coming from my Turn fuse, instead I have a "GO" wire coming from my turn fuse. Strange.
-My wiring diagram says I'm supposed to have a "GL" wire going from my flasher to my hazard switch and I'm supposed to have another "GL" wire going from my hazard switch to my turn signal switch. My hazard switch only has one "GL" wire, and I'm pretty sure it's coming from the turn fuse.
-I appear to have good grounds, because my bulbs were/are bright when connected to 12V.
Here's my path forward:
-Check the battery ground strap to the frame again.
-Check the resistance from the bulb housings to the frame and make sure the housings are actually grounded well.
-Check the voltage of the "WL" wire going into the keyswitch. And then check the voltage of the "BY" wire coming out of the "On" position of the keyswitch. I guess, just looking at the diagram, that I have some sort of bad voltage loss across the keyswitch. What can be done to remedy this? Does it automatically mean I should be looking for a new one? Or maybe I have a loss across the ammeter, in which case I need to figure out what's going on there.
Any other ideas or things to check? Just seems like being methodical is going to be my best bet.