aptruncata Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Hello folks, We were all packed up friday night 10miles into the drive on the fwy on a rainy night and after hitting a large bump on the fwy, dash, tail and the clearance bulbs blacked out. I've replaced this about an hour before heading out for the same reason. There is one 15amp fuse that links them and having purchased a pack of 10- 15amp fuses i was relieved. Pulled off the fwy parked under a bridge and checked that the fuse was blown. As soon as i put in a new one, it sparked and blew that one as well....along with 8 other reserves. Has anyone experienced similar scenarios? Could it be caused by the water soaked clearance lights? long story short....we used the emergency signals to drive 3 hours to our destination. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 hahaha its so weird the serendipity of the internet. I recently replaced all my clearance lights with leds, and today I was looking for where they ran to the fuse box because one is out. I wanted to make a cut off switch for the clearance lights so I could eliminate all power to them while on the highway. I want to find the same thing where the clearance lights connect to the fuse box because they are not on the tail lights. whats weird is I believe they are on the headlight line. if I find out i will let you know soon. they arent wired to the tail parking lights like they apear to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Well, neither of you have mentioned the make and year of your 'Home. I strongly suspect that each manufacturer had their own idea as to the best way to add circuits to the Toyota C&C wiring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted December 3, 2012 Share Posted December 3, 2012 Mine is an 85 dolphin. My clearance lights turn on when the parking lights turn on, but pull the fuse and they are still on. I would someday like to install a dash switch for the clearance lights so I can turn them off on the highway. They use a lot of power believe it or not. At least before they get led upgraded. Then they still use a lot of power really compared to what they do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 ITS OK TO TURN THE CLEARANCE LIGHTS OFF ON THE HIGHWAY IF YOU WANT TOO GET PULLED OVER BY THE COPS BECAUSE THEY ARE OUT THOSE ARE RECUIRED TO BE WORKING . FIVE LIGHTS FRONT and rear and side markers BECAUSE OF THE HIGHT AND WITH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 as to water soaked and likley a light full of water is for shure a dead short dead short blows fuse as fast as you plug one in. CHECK TAILLIGHTS if full of water dead short HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE CRACK LENS CAN > DASH LIGHTSare normaly on the taillights and markers you notice the dash tells you look at back my 4 wd is stock that way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aptruncata Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 mine is an 84. if the water seeping into the lights be it rear brake or clearance lights....is there a way to prevent this? are there any fully sealed ones? I had to drive nearly 3 hours at night with my emergency signals just so i don't get pulled over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stamar Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I didn't know that maybe its a bad idea after all. I'll just leave them be in led mode Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanman Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 "after hitting a large bump on the fwy, dash, tail and the clearance bulbs blacked out." With "that" I would start by looking at the wiring, a short to ground being the most likely suspect. Start by just looking at the wiring, if you're lucky and can see it it'll be easy to fix. vanman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I would say your problem is some where in the back the factory wiring is good stuff the coach wiring not so much. Look for some thing that has been disturbed (lots of tape or added connectors). All though you have no lights a short will be easier to find then some thing that is intermittent. The lights most likely would work under water for awhile so unless you have been having issues with a single light water probably is not the culprit. The tail light sockets are pretty shaky (cheap) and some times full apart inside and short to the socket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I had a similar problem with my 88 Dolphin. If this problem is there all the time, your in luck, as it will make troubleshooting a lot easier. I believe your tail light and instrument lights are on the same circuit, and the MH manufacture tied the running / clearance lights into the tail light circuit. You have a short circuit, in a 12 volt circuit, water won't draw enough current to pop the 15 amp fuse. You have a lamp wire touching ground somewhere. First, Have you replaced or installed anything recently? Made any changes, mounted anything to a wall? This would be the first place I would look. i.e. Clearance lights are daisy chained, one of the screws used to mount the lights could have pinched the wire, or even screwed into the wire. Mounting something on the wall could do the same thing, i.e. Put up a picture and by chance screwed it into the wire (If you did this, stop what your doing and go buy a couple lottery tickets) Troubleshooting aid. Instead of using a handful of fuses, use a high current light bulb as the "fuse". If you have an old headlight bulb ( you should always carry a spare) and some small jumper wires with alligator clips, Use the small jumper wires and the headlight to replace the fuse. When you have a short, the headlight bulb will be normal brightness. when the short goes away, the light will be very dim. Attached is a diagram for the taillights for an 88, odds are, your is identical. NOTE that this drawing does NOT show MH clearance light wiring. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aptruncata Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 i have not touched any of the electrical wiring or installed anything with screws to disturb the circuit. it may have been an issue before i purchased it but never noticed because this is the first time driving at night. I will check visually to see if any of the lines have been pinched cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Radio - instrument lights, if you can do it easily, pop the radio out, and find the instrument light wire that may go to the radio, make sure its OK. Look around underneath, particularly in the back near the taillights. I believe that's where the "splice" is to pick up power for all the clearance lights. Tail lights should be a "green" wire. They just went to where the original tail lights connected, and spliced in there for all the tail lights, stop lights, backup lights, etc. I believe the entire clearance light circuit is feed from that splice. (probably a crimp on splice). Look on both sides in the back, I don't think the original wires are long enough to reach the MH tail lights, so they may have spliced on both sides to feed the tail lights. If you can find the splice underneath, undo or cut the wires and see if the short goes away. Without a body diagram, it very difficult to tell what splices feed what circuits. When you cut the wire, if the short doesn't go away, you can tell what was being feed by the wire you just cut by applying 12 volts to it. i.e. everything on that wire should light up, so you know that part of the circuit works. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aptruncata Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 i'm just about to have my very own short circuit. lol. will do and report back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 You need a little expertise, and a lot of luck. I had one like this, it happened to be one of the clearance lights (Top front drivers side), one of the screws that holds the light on punctured the power wire. took a couple hours of going around disconnecting stuff, but finally found it. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Well, on the bright side, at least it's not an intermittent problem. Nothing worse!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 i took off a problematic tail light and found a wire rubbed bare. IF YOU HAVE ANY KIND OF A TRAILER LIGHT PLUG CHECK THAT MY 4WD BLEW FUSES BECAUSE A BARE WIRE WAS RUBBING DOWN ON THE FRAME >I HAVE SEEN LIGHTS COMPLETY FULL OF WATER BLOW A FIFTEEN AMP FUSE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Here is an old time trick, replace the fuse with a circuit breaker or a turn signal flasher. You'll then need a inductive amp meter (auto parts store) ID the tail light wire and follow it with the amp meter as the breaker closes the current will jump up and if you are lucky you can follow it to the end. If the wire changes directions the current draw will follow the short when you reach the end that's where it will be. Detective work is your best bet however any thing that has been touched is suspect including coach to factory wiring there are a lot of people out there that have twisted wires together and did not burn up their campers so they considered them self experts and that's usually where you'll find the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aptruncata Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 don't know why i have not noticed this before but last night i found this hanging from the rear driverside near the sewer valves. it appears the blub is long gone and the plastic recepticle is gone as well. i've had the urge to pop in another 15amp fuse and waddaya know....the clearance lights light up now with exception of the one thats hanging. I don't think this was the culprit because it's hanging in mid-air, i can't imagine how this would cause a deadshort on the freeway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek up North Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Maybe if you check further up your dangling wire you're find somewhere that the insulation has rubbed through and was shorting. Perhaps during your 'what's this wire' voyage of discovery you moved the wire enough to stop the short. But it might come back on the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Good find it may have been laying on the frame and just fell down. Looks like the contacts were complete uncovered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 If that was the short, you better get a couple lottery tickets :-) John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Toyota Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 it just hangs down when stoped but how much is it floping and banging around at 55 or hit a bump and live touches ground nice to find that and see what more investigating finds if your ok with the old style light i bought one at wallmart for 2 dollors the whole thing lower right on myn but no fuses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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