Turn Signal dash indicator help (1 Viewer)

[Jah310]

I’m slowly working on the dash of my 1970 FJ 40. I’m looking to refurbish or at the very least cleanup the turns signal indicators on the dash. I want to pull them out of the dash but I’m having a hard time getting the nut off the back of the indicator lights. I’ve pulled the bulbs and housing out, but there appears to be a skinny nut the back of the two indicator lights.

Does anybody know what size those nuts are? I’m thinking a stubby wrench so I can get something behind there to turn them loose.

See nuts circled in red below.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks.

p.s. photo credit below @ToyotaMatt

 

[charliemeyer007]

Not a lot of room to work with under there. Maybe you could get a 6"or 8" crescent wrench in there to get the size. Then maybe a deep wall socket to actually screw it off. Spray on some penetrant now and let it soak for a day.
If it doesn't come loose, maybe spray some glass cleaner inside and use a qtip to clean the inside of the lens.

 

[ToyotaMatt]

I’m slowly working on the dash of my 1970 FJ 40. I’m looking to refurbish or at the very least cleanup the turns signal indicators on the dash. I want to pull them out of the dash but I’m having a hard time getting the nut off the back of the indicator lights. I’ve pulled the bulbs and housing out, but there appears to be a skinny nut the back of the two indicator lights.

Does anybody know what size those nuts are? I’m thinking a stubby wrench so I can get something behind there to turn them loose.

See nuts circled in red below.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks.

p.s. photo credit below @ToyotaMatt

View attachment 3802177

View attachment 3802178

View attachment 3802179

The size Spec of that metric hex nut is a blank in my head at the moment ….

But 19mm maybe ?

Ok ….

So once you determine the correct hex metric size hex .

Get a 3/8” drive Chrome 6 point deep socket , you will need to use carful kid-gloves precision here …

If you have a BELT SANDER ? Presto !!!

If not ….. you can do it by hand ..


make the end of the chrome HEX socket dead-nuts flat , this way it can crab the thin-kerf hex nut with ease and turn it off , i have been able to use my thin-skin gloved hand to rotate the socket just like that , NO ratchet required

and ......


make sure to dis-connect the B+ Cable from battery !!!


This is the Way

 

[Jah310]

Thanks guys - I’ll see what can get that to work. The right indicator is so close to the windshield heater tube that a deep socket doesn’t look like it will fit back there… other than cleaning them I need to get them out to get a good ground. May need to just solder a wire to the casing to ground out if they don’t want to play nice!

 

[charliemeyer007]

+1 for a new ground wire. Yea 50 year old wiring.

 

[brian]

26mm

 

[Jah310]

26mm

Thanks!

 

[Jah310]

Alright - ended up just running a dedicated ground form the indicator light housing for each light. Took some tooth paste and polished up the outside lenses and the look way better. Nice to have the indicator lights working.

Note for some reason, I thought the indicator light in the dash were green so I got green LED bulbs from super bright lights and only one red one for the four-wheel-drive indicator. Turns out after polishing I saw the indicator lenses are actually red. I put the red bulb in the left indicator light and it’s way brighter than the green one shining through the red lens for the right indicator. I’ll pick one more red LED bulb up and stick it in there and hopefully we should be good to go.

 

[charliemeyer007]

I think mine are green. Good job fixing the issue - looks nice.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

On my 71 fj40 the park brake light is red and the turn signal indicators are green.
Good job getting it working.

 

[Jah310]

I think mine are green. Good job fixing the issue - looks nice.

Thanks! Yeah I thought they were green too but the lenses are certainly red. A deep dive into the forums will probably shed some light (see what I did there) on when they changed from red to green. I can’t tell what color the front drive indicator light is - looks clear but probably bc it faded on the avocado farm it spent most of its life on…

 

[Jah310]

On my 71 fj40 the park brake light is red and the turn signal indicators are green.
Good job getting it working.

Ah, interesting. It appears maybe the change was in 71. Mine is a Jan of 70…mine also doesn’t appear have a park brake light.

 

[RodrigzCrzr]

FD light on mine is green.

 

[Jah310]

Awesome thanks!

 

[Living in the Past]

Looks like 5/70 is the date the turn signal indicators changed from red to green. 4WD indicators were always green. Brake warning were always red. 9/72 the turn signal indicators moved to the face of the speedometer.

 

[talegate]

I have a Costa Rica assembled-new '75 FJ40 with components from prior years, even from the 60's, and then recently restored in-country there before shipment to the States). The bare bones dash of that vintage is very similar to ones I've seen in pictures for units for the 1972 model year. I have a light on thos restored FJ that's located just to the right of the instrument panel, just like the position of the red lit one shown in this thread. Is that where the high beam indicator usually is mounted for those years? I cannot find a hole in the floorboard for a dimmer switch, nor can I find any indication that a column mounted switch was deployed. I can't imagine the restorers neglecting to reinstall either the old or at least a replacment floor activated switch. Although, I've experienced a lot of those "I can't imagine that they" situations of late.

I was drawn to this particular thread because of the subject matter. I have another anomaly well. The light switch, presumably new, appears to be missing the chrome-like collar. Some people refer to them as beauty rings. Anyway, the reason I even noticed anything to do with the light switch was that the first time i fired up the vehicle after it arrived from Costa Rica, and then shut it down, I could not get the headlights to turn off. So, I disconnected the battery till I had time to research further. I started by examining the headlight dash switch and noticed that the collar is missing. The collar is not unlike the collar used on the adjaent wiper switch. Seeing that the collar was completely absent on the light switch made me think the restorer might have had some problems that required the switch me removed and reinstalled. The turn signals turned off when the switch was pushed in, but when it was pushed on the next and final off position, it seemed that it was not able to travel far enough forward toward the dash. I then moved the set screw in the knob assembly and reset as best I could, and was able to have the problem disappear, at least for now. I still sense that the problem has to do with the knob not being able to be pushed FAR ENOUGH forward, just a miniscule amount, to be able to turn off the light. But again, for now it's working. The real question I was trying to get answered is whether or not there is a source for such used parts? I hate to buy a whole new switch assembly just to get the beauty ring.

 

[talegate]

I just went through the '75 again looking for a hole in the floor board for a dimmer switch. There is no hole, but I did discover that the arm protruding to the left off thel steering column can be pulled toward the driver, which activates the brights. I notice that when you release it, it returns to low beam. The only way for it to stay on high beam is to keep holding the stem towards the driver. Is that the way these things work? Or, should it flip from dim to bright , then revert to dim with another pull of the stem, and so forth between dim and bright.? I can't imagine the driver would be expected to hold it by hand for any extended period when brights are desired for a long stretch of dark road.

 

[charliemeyer007]

I think if you don't pull back all the way the high beam will flash for like signaling you are passing. When pulled back all the way the hi beams stay on.

 

[brian]

not sure about the grey market stuff, but on my 75 has the high beam with the turn signal stalk...normal forward postion, and one click back for high beams.

 

[talegate]

I just rechecked. Previously the stalk was resistant to being pushed forward. I pushed a little harder and exercised it a few times and it's working well now. Thanks so much.