OlympicMtnBoy Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Woohoo! Hello to the group! After drooling for a while and watching craiglist for good deals, I finally bit the bullet on a 1977 Chinook here in Seattle ($2200)! She's pretty standard but in great shape for a vehicle older than I am. Interior is good, appliances all work (although I haven't fired up the furnace yet), and she runs pretty well too. Even has the hardware for the upper bunks and all the manuals. I spent my first night in her with my girlfriend last weekend and I'm planning to drive it to Yosemite a couple times this summer to hike and climb. Some pics from the previous owner can be found here: http://picasaweb.google.com/matthiesen/Ste...7ToyotaChinook# So far I only had to replace a couple of light bulbs and a clip to hold the window opener lever on. I found that the running lights on the right rear and rear side don't seem to be working so I'll have to track that down, and the left turn signal seems to stop blinking when the brake lights go on, but other than that it's working great. I'm sure I'll have some questions for you folks soon though. This is my first camper and I'm glad this group is around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoprat Posted June 1, 2009 Share Posted June 1, 2009 Howdy OlympicMtnBoy... That's a really cool rig. When ya get one set of lights not workin' when you use another set of lights, check the ground contacts on the light bulb bases. Also, if ya have a trailer harness on the rig, check for corrosion at the taps in the tail light circuit wires. Hope this helps... John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlympicMtnBoy Posted June 2, 2009 Author Share Posted June 2, 2009 Howdy OlympicMtnBoy... That's a really cool rig. When ya get one set of lights not workin' when you use another set of lights, check the ground contacts on the light bulb bases. Also, if ya have a trailer harness on the rig, check for corrosion at the taps in the tail light circuit wires. Hope this helps... John Hehe, thanks John. I checked the grounds on the running lights and they are fine, so I may have to chase some other wires or something. The running light in the rear is actually a dual filament bulb, along with the brake light. The brake light works and the bulb is good when i swap is for the left side. I think there must be a wire out somewhere since both running lights on that side are dead. No trailer harness, but I'll have to crawl around more. Thanks for the tip, I'm new at this RV stuff. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlympicMtnBoy Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Hehe, thanks John. I checked the grounds on the running lights and they are fine, so I may have to chase some other wires or something. The running light in the rear is actually a dual filament bulb, along with the brake light. The brake light works and the bulb is good when i swap is for the left side. I think there must be a wire out somewhere since both running lights on that side are dead. No trailer harness, but I'll have to crawl around more. Thanks for the tip, I'm new at this RV stuff. :-) Finally got it all straightened out. First there was a bad connection under the vehicle for the wire that runs both the tail and rear side running light. Found that by just jiggling things and one fell loose, the wiring diagram in the Haynes manual verified it was the right color. Fixed that and the tail light started working, but not the side. Voltmeter showed 9 volts, other working lights showed 11. Traced the wired from the fixture back into the closet and replaced the questionable old scotchlock connector, still no good, whenever there was a current draw to the bulb the voltage dropped, so there was still a really poor connection. Finally found it further down the line where the ground wire split off right before going to the two fixtures. There was another of those crappy scotchlocks used to make a y from the ground wire. Finally found the culprit! Woohoo, now all my lights work! So you guys were right, it was a ground after all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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