Adding a headlight warning chime, variable speed wipers

[powdrhound]

I am getting real tired of forgetting to turn off the headlights before exiting and locking the cab.

Thank you to toyotanation.com for the idea to add a $10 Radio Shack chime to the headlight circuit.

I had been toying with the idea of adding a couple more clearance lights, right outside the doors, so I see the lights on before I lock up... Something...

Adding the chime was super easy. I mounted the chime under the dash cover, next to the speaker.

Remove the lower dash cover (unplugging the dimmer switch) and the kick panel cover.

The chime I bought has three wires. The red wire is tapped into the dash light circuit, the black wire to a grounding bolt, and the blue wire tapped into the door switch wire. The door switch creates a ground connection for the cab light when the door is opened. It now also fires off the chime. Working Excellently now.

My most accessible place for the Green wired dash light circuit was under the steering column, the wire going to the drive indicator light. (Also used this tap to power the lights in the upgraded Toyota radio and the lights in the new pillar post gauges. If you want to control the new lights with the dimmer switch, hook up the lights ground wires to the the dash light ground wire in the harness, a Red/Black wire. My tach did not have a separate ground wire for the lighting, so that and the radio lights cannot be dimmed. The transmission temperature guage did not have a separate ground connector for the light, so I did a little trimming of the lights ground connection, soldered on a trimmed spade terminal and attached the assembly back to the gauge with JB Weld. Voila', dimmable.)

While I had it all apart, I added Whitney's variable speed wiper controller. Removing the lower steering column cover exposed a connector. The wires on the driver side are wiper motor.

For my 1986, Blue is ignition, Blue/Black is Low speed (the one you will cut), Blue/Orange is High speed, and Blue/White is the Return power. On the controller, Red wire to fused power, Black to ground, Green to the switched side of the Blue/Black, White to the motor side of the Blue/Black. The controllers Blue wire is tapped into the Blue/White wire. Other than the Mist button on the controller not working (going to have to talk to Whitney's about that) I now have dialable speeds between 2 seconds and 20 seconds.

A busy couple days completing projects that have been on the table for months.

I am rewarding myself with a few days of Summer skiing at Mammoth this next week.

The SkiBumMobile rides again, improved.

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Adding the chime was super easy. I mounted the chime under the dash cover, next to the speaker.

Remove the lower dash cover (unplugging the dimmer switch) and the kick panel cover.

The chime I bought has three wires. The red wire is tapped into the dash light circuit, the black wire to a grounding bolt, and the blue wire tapped into the door switch wire. The door switch creates a ground connection for the cab light when the door is opened. It now also fires off the chime. Working Excellently now.

Hey, that's pretty cool and sounds easy enough. Why didn't I think of that? I'm going to have to do this myself now that I got my other electronic gremlins searched out. Do you remember what chime you used? Radio Shack has a bunch of buzzers and stuff, but I don't want one that sounds like a car alarm or something.

- Stewart

[Gulfstream Greg]

JCWhitney has a " I Left the headlights on" kit for about 10 or 12 bucks. Connects directly to the fuse panel. I bought one but have not installed it yet.

[powdrhound]

I used the 273-0071 chime. My lady says it sound like a two-tone doorbell. I don't care. It will get me to turn the lights off.

Yeah, they had all sorts of buzzers, but who knows what they each sound like. This will work fine.

Changed out the spark plugs today after loosening a couple of the valve clearances (#4 exhaust valve had zero clearance). Amazing how worn spark plug electrodes can get. Should run like a sewing machine now.