So the wiring in my camper is pretty crazy. I redid all the coach wiring, but as far the the truck chassis wiring, I just put in new connectors or cleaned things up when I found them.

Twice now, my left blinker won't work. So far this only happens when I have the headlights on. But it doesn't happen every time I have the headlights on.

I'll notice the the bulb in the dash for the blinker will be kind of lit up. Then when I switch on the blinker, it just stays on. A solid "on", not blinking. What can sometimes happen when it does this is that my rear left side marker light, my rear clearance lights, and my reverse light are blinking, but not the left turn signal in the rear.

So this is a 78 Toyota pickup with a camper on it. I'm on the road and so I'm just hoping to get pointed in the right direction. It's hard to get under this thing, and I don't really have somewhere to work on it other than campsites, so if I could get help narrowing it down, that would be cool.

Do you think a short somewhere? A bad ground? Should I be looking back at the wires of the taillight, or up in the steering column?

I'm thinking I should check the ground first...

 

The bulb sockets get alot of corrosion in them. I pull the bulb out and there is a way to disassemble the socket ( just cant recall right off ) and with a wire brush, give it a good cleaning. A little WD40 helps to. Here is some things I did to mine>> https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f199...l#post51970291 3rd picture or so down is the light. Mine was the ground was so corroded.

 

[QUOTE=Terrys87;52198221]The bulb sockets get alot of corrosion in them. /QUOTE]

I wonder if your truck uses 1157 bulbs where tail light and blinkers share same housing and connector. A short between the hot pins of tail light and blinker could cause a problem.

 

Ok, thanks.

Before I go crawling under it, I'll just check out the bulbs.

 

Sockets looked good, but I sprayed contact cleaner in there.

Like I mentioned, this only happens when the lights are on. I haven't experimented enough to know what's just random, and what is repeatable, but I tried using the blinker, and it worked. Turned on the lights while I had the blinker on, and the blinker still worked. Shut both off, then turned the lights on first, then the blinker, and the blinker wouldn't work.

I also notice that when the left blinker isn't working, if I turn it off then turn on the right blinker, the left blinker is dimly lit. Not blinking, but dimly lit when the right blinker is going.

I checked the connections I could get at and everything seems tight. But there are splices upon splices back there...

Obviously it's hooked up right, because it works fine most of the time. There's just something misfiring somewhere when the lights are on.

I tried it a few times in the last half hour. First time when I turned the lights on first then the blinker, it didn't work. 5 minutes later it did work. But I was inside pulling on the all the connections making sure they were tight.

So I still don't know what's random and what's actually cause and effect...

 

The blinker and taillight are different bulbs. But all three are in the same housing, just like Toyota was using all through the 80s. Three bulbs, one fixture with one cover, and the cover just has three color sections to it. Amber/Red/Clear.

Not sure if that's what you're getting at?

The taillight has a different socket. Two nodes on it instead of the one node that the reverse light and blinker have...

 

Wanna find and post schematic of your trucks taillight and blinker?
Also inspect blinker relay for any issue, inspect the back of fuse/relay block where you blinker relay is. This could get wet if you have leak in body, cause corrosion/shorts.

 

Ok. I don't know where the relay is but I'll look into it. I have the "20R engine" Toyota FSM, but that's it. Looks like back in 78 it was broken up into separate booklets.

The schematic will probably not be accurate. Since Chinook built a camper on the chassis, they messed with the wiring (thus the wiring mess). The taillights are spliced into for the side marker lights, the rear clearance lights, the license plate light, etc.

I'm not sure if Chinook put out a wiring schematic of what they did.

Splices upon splices, wires going everywhere. It's hard for me to get under this thing, but next time I'm in a good place I'll slide under there and see if I can at least find the ground wire.

 

Frickin' hacks! I hate it when people butcher the wiring.

Tail lights, side markers, clearance lights, license plates and dash go together. That's fine. However, Blinkers / Hazards should absolutely not be dependent or connected to taillight circuit, expect from power supply.

IF you could not physically trace the wires, best you can do not is check your light control switch combo stalk for shorts. The closest blinker and tail light circuit come physically near each other is at the that stalk.

If that's all good, I highly recommend:
Find schematic for that truck, or closest model (Screw Chinook).
Physically trace tail light and blinker and hazard wring, and
Rewire according to schematic for your truck.
Remember, turn signals should take power from IGNITION.
Hazard and horn take signal directly from fuse that always has power, regardless of Ignition.

 

Ok thanks. When I get a chance to trace some wires, I'll see what I can find.

 

I am still going to say it is in your one piece rear tail lights.

The sockets even the blubs get corroded then it tries to ground back through the tail light circuit.

As far as hack wiring I am sure it was not like that when it was built but being how old it is repairs on the road are often done quick to get back on the road.

 

Hard to say. No one had been into the camper wiring since chinook, it didn't look like to me. You'd have to take the walls and ceiling panels out to get to it. The connects were all "clam" connectors, and they were sloppy.

But still, it's possible someone has been into the taillights here and there.

One piece rear tail lights, eh...I sprayed cleaner in all the sockets, and they all looked good. I may still replace all the bulbs, even though they looked fine and obviously work fine 90% of the time.

Thanks.

 

I have had them look fine to the naked eye yet cause all kinds of problems.

If I have issues I use a fitting brush to clean the sockets .

Wow I would have thought that Chinook would have a ready made harness that would plug right into the Toyota Harness

Live and learn

 

Yeah especially by the very last year they made them. Oh well. I think a lot of RV work was pretty messy, once you start tearing things out and looking at them.

Ok, I'll find something to clean the sockets with, and buy some new bulbs.

Thanks.

 

New bulbs didn't help. Still need to clean the sockets, then go from there if that doesn't do it...

 

I am not sure which tail lights you are running. I cant see them being factory tail lights, but if they are Toyotas, the wiring in the tail lights have crimps that are a poor design. On the trucks, I go and remove those crimps and solder the connections together.

 

YEP!! Check to make sure the common ground on the socket is really connected to ground.

 

I still need to find the ground and check it.

I have the stock Toyota tail lenses and lights. In addition to the poor connections of Toyota, Chinook went in there and spliced the hell out of them to get the rear clearance lights wired in.

 

Was too difficult tracing where the ground went after going through the floor...so I ran a new one. While I was under there looking for a place to put it in the frame, I saw another ground. I wasn't sure what it was for, but I unscrewed it, sanded the frame down to bare metal around there, then put it and my new ground in that spot.

So far, the blinker is working.

Thanks for the help.

 

Cool! Good to know.
Bare metal is key. By frame you mean the body, correct? The real "frame" may not have connection to electrical ground.