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ok here is the problem, my headlight warning buzzer is not working. the truck will buzz when the key is in the ignition and the door is open so i know the buzzer is working but it will not buzz to warn me that the lights are on when the truck is turned off. ive left the lights on for hours and have just been lucky so far. can anyone give me an idea what could be causing the problem and where to start looking for the solution?

thanks
sean

BT

That's not a problem, that's how it was made.

85TurboRunner

I guess the Japanese never forget to turn their headlights off but they have a problem with remembering their keys.

Tubbyfatty

my truck only beeps when my lights are on and the key is out. Im glad the P/O did soemthing to the dinger when the key is in and doors are open. I never worry about lockin my keys in because i lock my truck from my viper alarm.

Jay351

Some trucks have it, some don't. Mine doesnt.. or it doesnt work

lotalucas

i just cut mine out that thing was way annoying

Kiroshu

It must be blown because i've had a 95,93,88,89 and my 86 i have now all had buzzers for the lights on if you turned off the truck and were about to get out its kinda high pitched buzzer not like the door one. Your must be blown.

sb5walker

I think many trucks did not come with headlight warning buzzers. I know mine didn't.

So, after leaving my headlights on AGAIN two months ago, I wired up a headlight warning buzzer, but gave it time to make sure nothing terrible happened before I posted it. And, it was easy, it works great, and nothing terrible happened, so here's what I did:

I got a buzzer from Radio Shack. They have a bunch of them, most of which will work, so long as you choose one that works over a range including at least 10 to 18 volts DC, and best to pick one of the lower milliamp draws. The one I chose does work, but it's high pitched, pulsing and loud, like a smoke alarm. It does warn me, lol, but I would choose a quieter one if I did it again. The buzzer I chose is this one, which works at 3-28 volts, draws only 12 mA, and is an ear-piercing 90 dB at 2800 Hz:


It's bigger than it looks, a little over an inch and a half across.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062399

Another option is this 76 dB one, but it's also going to be loud, and the frequency is also high - 2800 Hz. Works at 6-18 volts and draws 10 mA:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062397

This may be a good bet - it has a much lower pitch, probably more like a normal car buzzer at 300-500 Hz. Says it's a "12V" buzzer, but it probably works over a range of volts. It puts out 75 dB and draws 15 mA:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2102817


And a couple tap-in squeeze connectors to connect to existing vehicle wiring. Use the larger blue size, since the wires going into the headlight switch are too thick for the red squeeze connectors:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2104093

And a couple butt connectors to connect to the buzzer:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103510

And you'll need about 5-6' of wire. 16-18 gauge will work. The buzzer could get by with a very thin wire but you need at least 18 ga to work with the blue tap-in squeeze connector.

I used adhesive velcro strips to attach the buzzer in the driver's kick panel area. You can get that at wally world or a fabric store. Double sided adhesive foam tape would work as well.


Now for the wiring. Of course I started by removing the plastic panels from the lower dash area and the kick panel.

For the negative (black) lead, I tapped into the wire coming from the driver door jamb switch. That worked great and was super convenient since it's right there. Obviously, it means the buzzer will only go off when you open the door, but that's better than getting your ears split every time you turn the key off before turning off the headlights.

For the positive (red) lead, I chose a wire going to the headlight switch. In case you weren't aware, that switch works by grounding the hot wires that go through the headlights. So, in fact, there are two separate wires going to the switch that are candidates: the red wire with yellow stripe that is only hot when LOW beams are on, and the red wire with green stripe that's only hot when the HIGH beams are on. You'll see those wires going through a nylon connector to the right of the steering column. Since I always have my headlights on low beam when I use them during the day, I just wired up a buzzer on the red/yellow stripe wire.

If you want a warning for both low beams and high, you can instead connect the hot lead to one of the headlight fuses. That'll work for both low and high beams, but those fuses are in the fuse/relay block in the engine compartment, which was more effort than I wanted to spend.

EDIT: An alternative way to get "buzzed" with either low or high beams is to tap into both of the striped wires, but you'll have to use diodes to prevent current from flowing from one headlight circuit into the other. I think the 1N4003 diode from Radio Shack should work. You need two and it looks like they come two to a package, so that's convenient:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2036269

(Any diode in the 1N4000 series would probably work, from 1N4001 to 1N4007. The higher numbers are rated at higher voltage surges. I'd stick with 1N4002 through 1N4004 if you can find them.)

I'd suggest making up the positive lead harness before getting in the truck. Cut a 4 foot length of wire (any gauge from 16 to 24 ga would be fine) and two 1 foot lengths of wire (of 16 or 18 gauge only), and strip a half inch or so off ONE end of each of the three wires.

Twist the leads from the banded end of both diodes together with the stripped end of the 4 foot wire and crimp them (I'd just use one end of a butt crimp). Then twist the other end of the diodes separately, each diode to one of the 1 foot leads, and crimp, making a "Y" configuration. Again, make sure the banded ends of the diodes are connected to the long wire and the other ends are connected to the short wires - if you get it backwards, the buzzer won't work. Use electrical tape to wrap around the diodes and crimps to make sure they don't come apart or short on something. Make sure the leads from the unbanded ends of the diodes do NOT touch each other.

You can to attach the other end of the 4 foot wire to the positive (red) lead of the buzzer, since it will be a little easier to do it before it's in the vehicle, or you might want to wait and trim the 4' wire to fit better once you decide on a location for the buzzer.

Route the harness how you want under the dashboard (I'd route it above the steering column), and use two blue tap-in squeeze connectors to attach the two 1 foot leads to the two striped wires, connect the end of the 4 foot wire to the red lead of the buzzer (if you haven't already) and connect the negative (black) lead of the buzzer to the door jamb wire as described above.

Or, you could connect the positive lead to the Taillight Fuse in the drivers kick fuse box. That will give a warning buzzer whenever you have parking lights, low beams or high beams on when you open the door. Radioshack sells a fuse tap:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2102780
An alternative to THAT is to tap into one of the wires leading from the Taillight Fuse. I think on most of our trucks those wires are solid green.

Easy! And I'm SO glad I don't have to worry about leaving my headlights on and running my battery down again. Done that too many times already.

waynesworld

hey sb5, great write up! im 4ever leaving my lights on the older i get. i think i have 1 ( buzzer )that's burnt out ,its a small black box under the dash in the center.hasnt worked since i purchased the truck .the factory part is expensive , i think it was like 90 dollars , i could b wrong ,probably am. thanks 4 the tip!

MudHippy

I'm 100% sure my 88's buzzer doesn't buzz when the lights are left on. It will only buzz when the key is in the ignition + engine is off + door is open.

Actually, it doesn't buzz ever now. Because I deleted it...on purpose. And without deleting the dome light too. Here's how.