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Tail Light Wiring?


siskiou

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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.

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the left side has generally weaker lights than the right.

If that true for only the rears I would take a good look at where the maker spliced the rear lights wiring onto the Toyota wiring harness. Ours wasn't too good.

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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.

the left side has generally weaker lights than the right.

If that true for only the rears I would take a good look at where the maker spliced the rear lights wiring onto the Toyota wiring harness. Ours wasn't too good.

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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%.

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If the dash lights are doing crazy things you have a bad ground that would explain the dim light also. Clearance lights are a serious pain if you can afford it buy replacement LED's and be done with the yearly issue of dealing with little lights. They are daisy chained so if one works they all should some are fused right and left but again if one works on a side they all should, dirty connections are usually the culprit.

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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!!!

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Sounds like a bad light socket.

Try cleaning out the inside of the socket with emery paper.

Check the pins at the bottom also.

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I am replacing my original taillight assemblies with LED units when the RV comes out of storage. I am done with the corrosion and messing with the sockets on the old lights.

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It's a ground issue. Do you have a test light? A meter will not do they have all most zero resistance and will not load a circuit the voltage might look good but will not light a light. Here is what happens with a bad ground the light will find a ground through another light bulb that has a good ground the resistance of that bulb causes the light to be dim it also may cause the other light to light. It can be hard to find a ground fault, if the wiring has not been tinkered with the chance is pretty high that the problem is at the ground contact at the lamp assembly they are super cheap and the connection leave a lot to be desired. With a test light and a GOOD ground what you can do is touch the side of the bulb if the test light lights the ground is bad (with the light switched on of course).

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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.

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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.

When I went to LED tail lights, all the problems went away. Which led me to believe all the problems were inside the old light fixtures. And I was just like you, this was working, this wasn't. Checking this, checking that. But that was just me. Just saying.

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I'd love to change to LEDs, but that seems to come with it's own set of challenges.

I changed all mine with LEDs recently. Not because of lower power draw. More because of longevity and NO bulb socket to corrode. The OEM clearance lights used two wires each. Positive wire and a chassis-negative wire. The new LED clearance lights only have one wire each and were designed to be "self-grounding" which I did not like. I drilled a small hole in the back of each LED assembly, ran the negative wire into it and attached it to metal part inside via an added ring-terminal, stainless-steel star-washer, and screw. No big deal but there ARE a lot of lights to change.

By the way, the factory wiring on my 1988 Minicruiser has one half the clearance and marker lights hooked to the left front parking-light wire. The other half to the right front parking light wire. And they did it in a very cheap way with those 3M type "push clip" connectors that are not waterproof. I cut the corroded connectors out and soldered all together.

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When I went to LED tail lights, all the problems went away. Which led me to believe all the problems were inside the old light fixtures. And I was just like you, this was working, this wasn't. Checking this, checking that. But that was just me. Just saying.

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.

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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! :)

I changed all mine with LEDs recently. Not because of lower power draw. More because of longevity and NO bulb socket to corrode. The OEM clearance lights used two wires each. Positive wire and a chassis-negative wire. The new LED clearance lights only have one wire each and were designed to be "self-grounding" which I did not like. I drilled a small hole in the back of each LED assembly, ran the negative wire into it and attached it to metal part inside via an added ring-terminal, stainless-steel star-washer, and screw. No big deal but there ARE a lot of lights to change.

By the way, the factory wiring on my 1988 Minicruiser has one half the clearance and marker lights hooked to the left front parking-light wire. The other half to the right front parking light wire. And they did it in a very cheap way with those 3M type "push clip" connectors that are not waterproof. I cut the corroded connectors out and soldered all together.

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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! :)

I'm using these on my Sunrader, it's easy to add a ground wire to them

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/rectangular-marker-lamps/rectangular-led-truck-trailer-light-3-75in-led-marker-clearance-light-with-12-leds/571/

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Thanks!

I'll put LEDs on next time the clearance lights are acting up on us!

And we have now fixed the taillight problems! :sorcerer:

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! :D

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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.

I just did the little snip on the flasher for the fast signal thing. It's all over the Internet, how to do that. You just snip off a certain resistor. But then you have to check the lights yourself. It will never "fast" again.

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I just did the little snip on the flasher for the fast signal thing. It's all over the Internet, how to do that. You just snip off a certain resistor. But then you have to check the lights yourself. It will never "fast" again.

Ah, okay!

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

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