808_4runner

HI!

i am having a problem similar to this.

i have an 89 4runner sr5 v6 manual trans and i started switching out my tail lights with LED's. some interesting stuff happened... i am thinking that there is extra circuitry in the bus cans of these bulbs. it goes as follows: my first swap was the signal flashers. when activated they would flash a lot faster than the normal 1Hz rate. (maybe thats because i did not put LED's in the Front signal houses. ) Then a few weeks later i got the brake lights swapped with LED's as well. but every time i stepped on the brakes my front parking lights would come on. then my dash would light up and clock would dim as if i turned on my head lights.

soooooo i gave up on doing the LED light upgrade and swapped everything back to good ol light bulbs.

but now there is a new problem.

when i turn my head lights on nothing else comes on with it. no dash lights up. no parking lightS on. clock display doesn't dim. no licensee plate lights and no tail lights.

i checked all my bulbs and all my fuses. noticed the brake light fuse was bad and replaced it. it did not fix the problem. upon referencing the "Chilton" DIY book the poor wiring prints showed a brake light relay but it doesn't say where it is. i am thinking this is the problem since there wasn't else much in the line. except for a fusible link, i can't find that either.

does any one have the slightest clue? i am scratching my head here.

thank you for taking the time to read this.[/SIZE]

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

the chilton manual is a pOS, find the downloadable FSM.

you more than likely have a wire disconnected some where.
I converted both my 81 and 94 to LED's and used a LED compatible flasher unit both times, no issue on either truck

DenverCityCat

Good to know on the LED- Appreciate the knowledge.

nv4runner

Like they said earlier, polarity matters with LED bulbs. What you were experiencing was a short to voltage... You hit the brakes and it also feeds power to the tail light bulbs, which it shouldn't. It sometimes happens due to a grounding issue, but I have replicated it by installing the wrong bulb which shorts the two voltage terminals in the socket. Both filaments in an 1157 share the same ground terminal, so I would bet that the LEDs are wired to share the voltage terminal with separate grounds. Reversing the polarity as a previous poster did would fix that problem.

As for the lack of tail lights now, that has absolutely nothing to do with the brake circuit. There should be a 15A tail light fuse under the dash.

Since the brake light fuse was blown your tail light fuse probably is too.