Electrical Glitch

[twobirds]

Hey Toy Box Fam,

I've had an odd issue with electronics since my fiance and I bought our 87 National RV Dolphin a few months ago. The overhead lights in the coach only work on one side. We have also had strange issues with the front cab electronics.

I don't have a lot of experience working with electrical wiring, and I'd like to know how to diagnose these issues. Every now and then, we'll get in, start her up, and the clock on the cab radio is on. We move as slowly as possible to turn the main power on, and as soon as we touch the volume knob, the power to the receiver goes out.

I've read another post that potentialy, the dash lights are connected to the same fuse as the brake lights. I'm not sure that this is my issue, and I don't want to poke around too much in fear of making it worse.

Can anyone help out? I'd greatly appreciate any help!

New Phin Parents

Edited January 24, 2010 by twobirds

[Gulfstream Greg]

Sounds like you have more than one problem. The radio sounds like a bad ground or just loose wires there. It is unlikely that the cab radio is connected via the cab lights but anything is possible. Could be a bad radio also.

Coach lights are usually connected one after the other. In other words a main wire will feed to one light then on to the next light. So my guess is at one light the connection has come loose and power has stopped there. You will have to pull down each non op light and check the connections. And even though one light may work the connection traveling from it to the next light may have come loose so pull down the good ones too. There are always other possibilities like someone accidentally cut a wire somewhere or even a bad connection at the fuse panel or a bad fuse.

My two cents on the poll. Air bags do fail and they do age like tires. A close inspection is really the only way to tell if they need replacing. I think the general consensus is they are worth there weight in gold. Relatively speaking of course.

[twobirds]

Sounds like you have more than one problem. The radio sounds like a bad ground or just loose wires there. It is unlikely that the cab radio is connected via the cab lights but anything is possible. Could be a bad radio also.

Coach lights are usually connected one after the other. In other words a main wire will feed to one light then on to the next light. So my guess is at one light the connection has come loose and power has stopped there. You will have to pull down each non op light and check the connections. And even though one light may work the connection traveling from it to the next light may have come loose so pull down the good ones too. There are always other possibilities like someone accidentally cut a wire somewhere or even a bad connection at the fuse panel or a bad fuse.

My two cents on the poll. Air bags do fail and they do age like tires. A close inspection is really the only way to tell if they need replacing. I think the general consensus is they are worth there weight in gold. Relatively speaking of course.

Thanks for the throrough response. Well, this is only slightly embarrassing, but I was able to fix the cabin light. It was a simple issue with a burnt fuse in the cabin. Once I replaced the 15 watt fuse, all lights inside the cabin came to life (except one bulb) AND the porch light has power now too. I am headed out to check the ground wire in the the cab radio. As for the airbags, I took a look at them (they look dry and cracked) and have done some reading on suggested psi combos for tires and airbags. I've also found some good info on Firestone's Ride Rite bags which seem like they will be the way to go. I will probably have a mechanic help me get the coach in the air, replacing tires at the same time I install new airbags, running the airlines to the original valve stems on the outside of the coach. If I can get a couple photos taken during the process, I will post them later.

[Maineah]

Good deal on your coach lights mine has a fuse for each side (right and left). Your dash lights have a fuse of there own, small one only 5 amps did you try the dimmer control on the dash? Some times they just get dirty and turning it back a forth will clean the contacts.

[84TOYRV]

When did they start installing ABs on Toys? I don't think Cricket has them. She has air shocks. Are we missing out on something?

Tudy

84 Dolphin "Cricket"

[twobirds]

Time for an update on the electrical issue. Now that the house lights are working, and we've replaced the dirty old carpet with vinyl wood tiles, I've had some time to get back to the cab stereo that is still not working.

I got a multimeter (view style) and took the dash apart.

After my Haynes Manual showed up from Amazon, I took a look at the wiring diagram, and it seemed to make sense with the bundle of wires behind the stereo. You can see main power coming into the stereo, splitting to go to the cigarette lighter, and continuing onto the stereo.

Here's a picture of the wires as they enter the stereo area. You can see the red power cord (which measured 9 volts at the cigarette lighter) split off to head for the stereo as a Orange/white cord.

From the split, the power cord goes through a couple odd fuses and into the wiring harness connector. The stereo ground has been attached to the mounting bracket, which I used as a ground when receiving voltage for the cig lighter.

Now, just to review, I HAVE seen the power come on the clock radio. When this was happening, the clock would turn off as soon as I tried to power on the stereo. From what I understand, the green wire is for clock power when the engine is off, or key is in the off position.

To summarize:

1. Am I using the right tools?

2. Since there is power to the cigarette lighter (although it's not working), have I found the problem, and what should my next step be?

3. Should I just take this to a stereo place?

If I can provide more clues, please let me know.

Thanks,

ThePhin.

[Maineah]

OK it looks like you have a replacement radio so all bets are off. 9 volts is not enough I don't think the lighter is a good place to pick up power any way. Usually after market radios have two power wires generally, yellow +12 volts all the time for the memory and the clock. Red, 12 power from the key (turns radio on) black, ground and blue. The blue is used for power antennas or receive amps if you have neither don't hook it to any thing it will confuse the issue. I would guess if your lighter does not work the 9 volts is probably a back feed form the radio if the clock works. Your black box is most likely a choke it's used to reduce noise. It looks like the plug is an adaptor plug to interface with the Toyota wiring there should be power speakers and grounds right in the Toyota plug that is where your radio wiring should connect. Earlier Toyota's had two plugs one for power and the other for speakers so you may have to pick up power from the smaller plug.