axelkoup

So i've had a problem with my taillight relay a few times now, every once in a while, my dash lights and running lights would cut out, a simple kick to the kick panel cover and they would come back on...... rarely happened, now it happened all the time

so i jiggled the taillight relay and the dash light and taillights would come on, some jiggles it would be real dim, then bright, and the relay was hot... i ordered a new relay, awaiting napa, in the mean time ive just tried to not drive when its dark out, doesnt work much with daylight savings time, its dark by 530 now

and, now, occasionally, if i turn on my turn signal, the headlights quit, if you pull the lever, the high beams work, but not the high beams, if you turn the lights off and right back on, they work, untill you hit the turn signal...

curious if anyone else has had this problem, im hoping the relay will solve the problem, if not then ill assume the contacts for the relay are either corroded or dirty... as for the headlight issue, possibly be the turn signal switch? curious to hear some replies, before i pull my column apart

btw, its a 94 pickup, sr5, loaded, 3.0, 5-speed, power everything

thanks,
Koup

axelkoup

so i got my new taillight relay, after waiting 6 days for it to come in, i plugged it in and nothing.... head lights worked, but the parking/interior lights didnt work in the both of the 2 positions they should've....soooooooooooooooooooo,

i said fuggit, drove it home from school yesterday, as soon as i got home, i pulled it in the shop, looked over the fuses once again, looked fine, until i pulled the tail fuse out, and this is what i found:


turns out, harbor freight had a huge problem with their fuses doing this, i even made up 2 jumper wires, with female ends on one end and male connectors on the other, slip the fuse on it and stick it on the battery, wouldn't blow, straight off the battery, so dont buy harbor freight fuses

sooo, i put another fuse in, plugged the relay in, no parking or interior lights..... so i just started twisting and bending the headlight switch, then the lights started working, so i popped the cap off the end of the turn signal/headlight switch lever, squirted some contact cleaner in it and just ran it back and forth... started working but kinda had to finesse it to keep them on, all the while the headlights stayed on, but the parking lights did w/e they wanted... i cant get the thing apart, i tried pullin the end off, but i'm sure its probably a clip style of some sort, and my old mans cost for a switch is $50, it comes in tomorrow... already got the column all apart, gotta pull the steering wheel off to get the lever set screw off

i mentioned it to a few people and they said its not so un-common, so add it to your brain's inventory of possible problems......

as for the fuse heating up like that, i power probed every wire in the column harness and everything worked fine, so hopefully tomorrow, after i get the switch on, it'll work

yotaman101

Well, I hope everything turns out good, that must suck driving in the dark with no headlights. I tryed it once, when there was a full moon, even then, its difficult.

axelkoup

no no, the headlights worked, just no other lights haha im surprised i never got stopped...

there were somepoints, on a few rainy nights i would ride the brake pedal, just enough for the taillight switch to trigger but not enough to actually make the brakes work.... sketchy, didnt know how fast i was going, and as the motor would make more vacuum the brakes would start to compress and then i'd have to let off and the taillights would shut off.. hahaha it was a mess, buts its all good now

axelkoup

but i replaced the switch, it worked great, except when i would wiggle the taillight fuse, to i crawled under the dash, again, and checked to make sure the female terminals weren't corroded, they werent, they had just opened up from the heat, so i stuck a piggyback adapter, which is basically a piece of copper or brass, that wraps around the leg of the fuse, making the leg actually thicker, plus it has a male end on the back of it to splice in a 12v accessory, this took up the slack in the fuse block....

if it ever screws up again, speaking of the fuse block, ill simply pull the fuse panel out, pull the 2 wires out, and hard wire them with an in-line fuse setup... but im not pulling that fuse panel out until it is deemed ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, cuz it looks like an absolute PITA