siskiou

Ah, okay! I'll search out the instructions, if we switch to LEDs.

Thanks! I'll put LEDs on next time the clearance lights are acting up on us! And we have now fixed the taillight problems! A new ground and reversing the polarity took care of the fast blinker and the weak lights, and the brake light going out when headlights were on! At least, now we won't have to worry about that part! Ready to go camping next Friday!

Can you point me to some led clearance lights that we could use? I wonder if there are any that come with ground wires, or are they all "self-grounding"? I got all of them lighting up right now, but am sure they'll be corroded again in no time!

So, you didn't have the "fast turn signal" problems I've been reading about? And is there a surface mount LED tail light assembly that can easily be switched to? We seem to have fixed most of the problems with a new ground on the left, and switching the polarity. Left side was only lighting up the dimmer of the two filaments. Now the only thing that's not working are the two little turn signal lights on the side at the back. Trying new bulbs for those next.

Thanks for all the advice! I'll go shop for a test light. And how would I add a new ground to the light assembly? The old one is not held on with a screw. It's "permanently" attached, so I can't take it off and clean the contacts. There is definitely some corrosion. I'd love to change to LEDs, but that seems to come with it's own set of challenges.

I got all the clearance lights to work by taking off the corrosion. But the no luck with the tail lights. I got the turn signal glow on the dash to go away, changed all the bulbs, but still have dim lights on that side and the brake light only works when the headlights are off. When headlights are on, the brake light on the left goes out completely. Also, the second of the two filaments on the left side doesn't come on for any of the bulbs. I have a fast turn signal on the left side, too. Wiring is a pain!!!

No, less than 30 minutes. But I had started the engine several times in the couple of hours before, and only let it run to do a few checks on the lights. Maybe we *do* need a new battery. The charger claims it's down to 25%.

I wish I knew more about all this! It's only on the back. After taking both of the light boxes off, It seems they were wired differently. On the left, the lower of the two filaments lit up, while on the right the upper filaments come on. Also, on the right side, someone added a connection between the outer and the middle lights. Changed the wiring on the left, and had just switched on the lights for a minute, to see what was lighting up now, when a friend came by. Got distracted, and since the engine wasn't running, I killed the battery. 8) It's on the charger and now I'll have to wait a bit before I can investigate further.

We have the surface mounted 1400 series, and the left side has generally weaker lights than the right. Also, when the lights are turned on, the left turn signal arrow on the dash panel is very slightly lit (when turn signal is not turned on). Is this due to a bad ground? And if yes, where do I start looking, or how would I add a new ground to the left tail light assembly? I'm not experienced with electrical, but really good at learning and following instructions! A lengthy google search just gets me lots of trailer wiring instructions, and vague references to adding a ground wire. Also, our running lights along the top front and back only have one lit bulb each. The other bulbs look fine. What should be the first thing to troubleshoot next? Unfortunately, the fixtures on the front are hard to reach, even with a ladder.

I'm half wondering if something could have made a nest next to the water heater, because the smell does not come from the water. That smells fine. We just get this sickly smell, when the water heater is in use, getting worse and worse with time. Also, I'm not sure how to rinse this water heater. The anode rod is located on the rear of it, under the sink, and I don't see anything I could remove on the front to give a large enough access to do the rinsing.

We've had an unpleasant smell in our Odyssey, every time we use the water heater. Rinsing it through with vinegar, and then bleach, did no good. Today, we finally got the old anode rod (must have been in there since the beginning!) out, or so we thought.The plug came out, but what was left of the rod was no longer attached to the plug. We managed to pull out the inner core of the rod with pliers, but there was a little bit of "rotten looking" metal around the it at one end, and it crumbled and fell into the tank. Is this a problem? Or is it okay, since the rod is designed to dissolve over time? Should we try to flush out the stuff somehow? I'm going to shop for a new anode rod, and hope that the smell was related the old anode, and that we can now use our water heater again. If it's still smelly, I guess we will have to replace the water heater.

We have the Progressive Dynamics PD 723Q. I really don't know. Am not electrically knowledgeable and would need detailed instructions to figure this out safely. We do have a multimeter. And with the negative wires (there are 3) disconnected at the battery and plugged into shore power, the lights, fan in the range hood, 12 volt outlet above the fridge and water pump are all working fine. Just the furnace does not function without the battery disconnected.

Thanks, everyone! It's hard to decide if this is a decent charger or not, but we'll keep it for now. I'm just wandering about the "excessive charge current" and what exactly it means. The manual was silent about that aspect. Maybe Progressive Dynamics will have more info about it.

Yes! I found a pdf for it a few minutes after posting. Always happens that way. In the manual it says that it switches to a trickle charge, once the battery is fully charged. Does this mean, it won't cook our battery, if left plugged in? It also says to check the battery water level at least once a week. And that if the light on the charge sentinel flashes slowly, there is excessive charge current. What exactly does that mean? Because it always does this, once the battery is fully charged on ours.

What would be the correct upgrade for our current charger/converter? PD723 I can't find much info about it online.

Oh, you mean to only connect them to each other, when the battery is disconnected? We currently only have the negative wires disconnected. Should we also take the positives off, and bolt them together, or is that not necessary? I was also thinking of eventually adding a switch to turn the battery off, though not sure how to do this, with having several negative/positive wires.

Thanks! And then connect the bolted together ones to the terminal? By adding a pigtail? And what will that change, compared to having them separate?

There are three wires on the negative, and also several on the positive (not sure right now, if it's also three, but most likely). I don't quite understand the instructions. Electrical is not my strength, unfortunately.

that the 12 volt appliances are not working when on shore power only? 1986 Toyota Odyssey We took the negative off the battery, to prevent overcharging, because we want to have the motorhome plugged in, with a small electric heater running on the days with freezing temperatures. I noticed that we have lights and the stove hood fan working, but not the water pump, light panel showing the tank/battery levels, furnace etc. Those only work, when the battery is connected. Do we have a problem, or is this the way it's supposed to be? Edit: Water pump is working, furnace is not. Furnace works great, when battery is connected.

Yes, I think he soaked it in tranny fluid, though not totally sure, and that he blew out some gunk from the cable sheath, while the cable was removed and soaking.

Got it fixed today! It was the kickdown cable, and the mechanic had to drop the pan to get at the throttle valve, to get the cable out. $80 later, the transmission works better than before, and we are very happy that it was a cheap and easy fix! And we found what seems like an honest transmission mechanic, who didn't try to talk us into getting a rebuild done, like several others, whom we spoke to on the phone. There was no sign of a torched cable jacket. I'm hoping, the same thing won't happen again, but at least we know, what to look for now! Thanks for all the help and support, everyone!

Thanks, John! I've saved the manual for future use! Interesting reading! I'm starting to understand why transmission work is so expensive! Thanks, Mike! I'll try to see if I can get it to go back in again, today. Looks like some cables have stops and others don't, depending on the car brand. We'll give that a try! And it sounds like the aftermarket stuff is not necessarily a good deal. Other people recommend getting the genuine Toyota one, too. Thanks so much, Linda! According to the VIN, we need the early 1986 version! Could have been an expensive mistake, to get the wrong one!

From that post, it sounds like you have to drop the transmission! Though he managed to fix it somehow. Thanks, Mike! I tried moving the cable back in, but it's not moving. Do you remember, if yours had stoppers? I don't see any on ours, and wonder if this cable just never had any. Will try to work on it some more in daylight. For now, I sprayed to WD40 into the sheath, to see if it loosens up by tomorrow. Sure would be nice to at least be able to drive it to a transmission shop safely. How much did it cost you to get the new cable installed? Did they/you have to drop the transmission, or just the pan? Is yours the A43D tranny?

I'd love to find a genuine Toyota part, but have not had any luck. BTW, when asked for the model, is 1986 pickup the correct choice?

Hm. Let me try it again here:http://www.jcwhitney.com/american-shifter-company-automatic-transmission-kickdown-cable/p3086554.jcwx?filterid=c3759d2183y1986g2u0j1