Need some help with some wiring please

[Beercaps]

I’ve been driving my 94 HB for a few years now, chipping away at problems when I’m able. Just moved back to Texas and just got the truck to a point where it would pass inspection, now the passenger headlight and taillight don’t work. No blown fuses in the panel, turn signal, brake light, hazards and reverse all still work. I’m at the point where I’m about to just wire in some toggle switches and make something work. If anyone has an idea of what I should look into first I’m all ears and it would be greatly appreciated.

[SBJ]

It's probably the switch on the steering column. You don't necessarily need to to buy a new one to fix it...you can actually take the switch apart and clean up all the contacts. Take some fine grit sandpaper and clean all the grit and crud off, then coat everything in a thin film of terminal grease before putting everything back together. I did that fix, then owned the truck for another five years and the problem never came back.

[Beercaps]

Originally Posted by SBJ

It's probably the switch on the steering column. You don't necessarily need to to buy a new one to fix it...you can actually take the switch apart and clean up all the contacts. Take some fine grit sandpaper and clean all the grit and crud off, then coat everything in a thin film of terminal grease before putting everything back together. I did that fix, then owned the truck for another five years and the problem never came back.

Should I take off the white back or the black front and any tips for getting it apart without messing up the clips? Sorry for all the questions I’ve been fighting this thing for days while getting to work in the dark and stressed about getting pulled over for ticket and I’m just getting frustrated honestly

[SBJ]

Originally Posted by Beercaps

Should I take off the white back or the black front and any tips for getting it apart without messing up the clips? Sorry for all the questions I’ve been fighting this thing for days while getting to work in the dark and stressed about getting pulled over for ticket and I’m just getting frustrated honestly

I believe I took the back (white part) off the switch. Unplug it and remove it from the steering column if you haven't already. The two halves are held together by a series of little plastic tabs, you can use a small flatblade screwdriver to release them and pry the switch apart.

[Beercaps]

Got it apart, and cleaned, the tabs didn’t fight as much as I’d thought they would. Upon reinstallation and testing the passenger tail light still doesn’t work, double checked the bulb and it’s not burnt. Haven’t found and obvious wiring issues yet either. Going see what happens when I plug in some trailer lights, there might be current there. If so I’ll rig something up for temporary. For the headlights I’m just going to make due with some LEDs and keep my fingers crossed. I appreciate the help too, I know better than to ask without searching first but I’m sure I’ll have more questions down the road.

[alabama_lowlife]

Yeah, I was gonna suggest the same thing SBJ did.

[Deerhurst]

Please don't do LED in your headlights. Here is why:


Cheap LED light flicker.

LED headlights have excessive blue in them. The blue wave of light is harmful to night vision and is very difficult to focus on. ~5000k is as close to daylight as you are going to get. This would be described as "cool white". 4500k, "true" or "warm" white is a much better color.

Cheap LED headlights have little to no cutoff meaning they are a flood light. Due to this you have very little of the light produced put on the road where it needs to be. Most of it goes everywhere else such as the sky and the eyes of the driver's around you. Do you want a head on because your headlights blinded someone, like me, who has astigmatism in both eyes?

If you are in cold climates LED beam does not make enough heat to keep snow and ice from accumulating in the lens.
LED, especially cheap ones, are actually dimmer than a cheap halogen. They only appear "brighter" because of the beam color when in fact you see worse and less.



If you want LED, the only ones I'd recommend are JW Speaker, Trucklite or Morimoto. All are a drop in 7x6 unit. All are fairly expensive.



The best bang for you buck is Hella or AutoPal ECodes with some nice bulbs like Osram Nightbreaker.TThose will easily out perform most LED 7x6 units on the market.



The best you are gonna get is a HID projector retrofit.



A 35w HID with a decent ballast and decent bulb will put out 3500lms each. In a decent projector you'll never blind oncoming traffic when adjusted properly.



The brightest LED I know of that is drop in is the Morimoto 2Stroke. I believe it's about 2000lms each.



I cannot find numbers or beam pattern shots for any of the cheap LED 7x6 units.



A decent halogen can easily do 2000lms. The cheap nasty garbage H7 halogen is 1600lms. A better bulb can be much more.



I have access to a lux meter if you want some raw numbers. I have H7 Silverstars in the high beams of my car, 35w Morimoto HIDs in projectors in my truck and car. The truck has at least 5 years on the bulbs.


I'm kinda the headlight guy around here, it seems. It's an addiction.

[nunya]

Splices for trailer lights are a great place for corrosion to mess up the wiring, I had to cut out and solder all the splices, then cover in heat shrink. I replaced the connectors and slathered them in bulb grease. I then tucked all the splices into a plastic bag and zip tied it all shut, up as high as I could. Of course a couple months later I had to open it all up to add LED lighting for my moon visor and tap into the reverse light to activate a back up camera. Again I soldered all the connections and covered with heat shrink. Crappy connections and corrosion will cause intermittent lighting issues and no end of frustration. Good luck!

[Beercaps]

The wires for the non existent corner lights still had current so I got everything hooked up through them, it works.

Deerhurst, I know they’re not the best option but it beats missing work. It’s a bandaid anyway, just something to get me by while I chase wires. I fully intend to go back to something more stock ASAP.

Nunya, would a bad connection in the back affect the front? I’d totally believe it honestly. For something that should be simple these trucks have a ton of wires running everywhere and I’m great with fabrication but electrical is not my strong point.

A quick rundown on the background of this truck, I picked it up for $500 “non running”, it was missing the fuel pump relay. The only reason I knew to check that was the cover wasn’t on properly and I could tell something was missing so a quick google search got me what I needed from the auto parts store. I paid the guy, plugged the relay in and it started right up. It’s been a learning experience since then but today was the first time I felt like I was getting my butt kicked.

My overall plan is to get something cheap and familiar so I can park the truck and work on it until I’m satisfied, then pass the temp replacement to my son so he can start on his driver’s ed.

[Deerhurst]

I wouldn't waste the time on the LEDs. I'd just spend the $45 once on autopals that come with bulbs.