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Led tail lights "upgrade" major headache!!


Goddesey

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Hi there,

 

New here! Been renovating my 1987 Odessey and have finally found a problem that's truly stumped me.

 

Had old bargman lights, the rectangle triple surface mount kind, cracked and housing all falling apart with water damage etc. Some bulb wasn't working I forget which but figured it was a good time to replace the whole tail light set up. 

 

Got some partsam led lights to replace them with. Spent a good time, many hours figuring the strange mystery wiring. Blew the brake fuse twice in the process. Finally got every function working properly on one side but suddenly engine wouldn't start.

 

Checked battery out and it had 12V. Checked every fuse, all good. So I disconnected the wiring I'd just done and engine strains but then starts up! 

 

Any advice? I searched a bit online and seems others have had trouble after led install. Might just return these and go incandescent but would be nice to use what I've got. 

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The range of a fully charged battery is a very narrow one. If it's low even the slightest load can prevent your vehicle from starting. If it was at just 12 volts it was already in trouble. You might have drained it without realizing it when you were shorting out fuses probably by cross wiring. Here's an explanation.

Linda S

 

  • 12.6V volts or above - Your battery is healthy and fully charged. No further action is required.
  • 12.5 volts - Your battery is at a healthy state of charge, but we'd recommend re-checking it within a few days to ensure the voltage hasn't dropped any further.
  • 12.1 - 12.4 volts - Your battery is partially discharged and should be recharged as soon as possible, using a suitable battery charger. The lifespan of your battery will be moderately affected if it remains within this voltage range for extended periods of time.
  • 12.0 volts or below - At 12.0 volts your battery is considered to be fully discharged or 'flat' and should be recharged as soon as possible. The lifespan of your battery will be severely affected if it remains within this voltage range for extended periods of time. 
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Oh I see. Thank you for that information!

 

I'm unclear on how not gained back enough charge to start up but sounds like the lights might not be the actual problem. I was messing with them quite a bit and crosswiring, blowing fuses etc before I got it right. 

 

I think I'll check the battery voltage and hook the lights up again now that I know the correct figuration of the wiring. 

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I recently installed LED rear lights although I used the Bargman LED replacements which kept things a simple bolt in upgrade!

 

One thing to keep in mind is that LEDs are polarized unlike incandescent bulbs. That is, with a regular bulb you can stick either the +ve  or -ve on either side of the bulb and it will light up. Not so with LEDs if you reverse the polarity you will get nothing. So you may need to swap some wires over to get things working correctly. I discovered on my Toymo that most of the running lights are reverse wired from the factory, which was not an issue until I went to swap to LED bulbs and most did not work. Fixing that is still on the to-do list! Good luck!

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i found on my 84 dolphin the lighting wires are the same as house wiring. black is hot and white is return(neg). i always check with the digital meter for polarity any how.

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You haven't lived till you run across a Nova Star they must have got a deal blue and green wire and a few other odd colors. The blue and green are the lighting wires I don't remember but I don't recall a single black wire.

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Yes, my escaper used a number of different colors for interior lighting. I also swapped out my Bargman taillights for off brand LED tail lights. Helpful tip for others: once your tail lights are out (and you paid attention to how they were wired or took a photo for reference) follow the wiring from you side marker lights for further reference. The side marker lights blink so it will help you sort out which wire is your blinker for rewiring your tail light. Bargman tail light wiring is very different from many aftermarket modern lights. 

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Automotive 12 volt lighting is a very simple system to work on. Your home started life as a cab and chassis. The factory Toyota wiring has color coded wires for park, brake, r turn, l turn and backup.

The motorhome manufactures tapped into this harness when adding the coach. Somewhere underneath the chassis close to the rear axle you should find the factory pigtail or harness end. From there it’s just a matter of substitution. If your factory brake wire for example is “red” and you find a blue coach wire attached to it, then you know “blue” wire should be for brake etc. A simple 12V test light can also be used for verification.

Regarding LED directional, you may need to change your flasher relay for them to work correctly. I just left my old incandescent turn signal lights operational, but my system is much older than yours.

Find the factory wiring diagram for your truck. Go from there.

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There is another thing you need to consider if you switch to LED's they may quick flash unless they are ready have a resistor to correct that. Many times a flasher unit will not correct that unless you go with LED's both end. The resistor is a quick fix.

 

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