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Brake lights do work when head lights are on


hamkid

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I just purchased a 1985 Toyota Escaper, and only the left brake light works right now if the head lights are not on. Once the head lights are on the lights do not work. I am totally new to the world of recreational vehicles and have many more questions besides this one, but wanted to get my feet wet with this question first. Any helpful hints and suggestions would be much appreciated.

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35 minutes ago, hamkid said:

I just purchased a 1985 Toyota Escaper, and only the left brake light works right now if the head lights are not on. Once the head lights are on the lights do not work. I am totally new to the world of recreational vehicles and have many more questions besides this one, but wanted to get my feet wet with this question first. Any helpful hints and suggestions would be much appreciated.

I would start with grounds the camper lighting fixtures not just Toyota's leave a lot to be desired and poor grounding will cause all kinds of strange issues.

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2x what he said. Also clean the bulb bases and sockets.

Edited by WME
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I replaced all of my marker lights and brake/turn signals with new led fixtures.  All of the connections are soldered and heat shrink tubing is installed.  This got rid of all of my light problems (so far).  It was worth the time and money spend.  Before I changed the light fixtures, I was chasing problems all the time.

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  • 1 month later...

Please explain how to check the grounds.

The first picture is the brake lights working with head lights off, the second is them not working with the head lights on.

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Your best bet is a 12 volt test light the next trick is to find a known good ground. In this case a volt meter is not your friend it will lie to you. With a good ground probe the brass case of the bulb if the test light lights when your lights are on there is a defective ground it will probably light the fixture bulb too. Here is what happens when the ground is poor the lights look at the filament in another bulb as a path to ground and will follow it, the other bulb may not light at all or dimly. It's not a fun task and you'll either spot it right away or take hours.

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I got the side that was not working to work, but now the opposite side stopped working. I’m not going to waste anymore time or money ? on trying to fix this issue. Any suggestions about what led fixture to buy? I would prefer a unit that aligns exactly with the screw holes on the original unit.

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Hey ham, do you have backup lights? Didn’t notice any? It appears you have some type of “Reflect-O-Lite” fixture on your rig. Unfortunately they aren’t made anymore. Will be impossible to find an exact fit for a replacement fixture you have. I’d buy a replacement LED fixture like Bob did. Might have to make a backing plate if your old fixture hole is to big. I don’t believe that would solve you problem though. Like Maineah said you have a ground problem that needs to be fixed first? Good Luck!

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Got it fixed! First I cleaned the bulb bases and checked the wires behind the enclosures, I found an exposed wire behind the driver side light enclosure and wrapped tape around it. Next I replaced the bulbs and even replaced the bulb on the porch light just incase. I also had to install a new bulb in the front passenger side blinker unit. The only problem I have now is finding brake lense cover for reflect o lite 1400 unit, I was impatient when I first started the job and broke them off because the screws were rusted and I need to learn to slow it down sometimes. The first picture is with the head lights on, the second is with them off. I want to thank everyone who contributed to this post, I appreciate the help very much!????

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  • 7 months later...

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