521 blinkers, rear end lights????

[uberkevin]

So my tail lights haven't worked sence Ive had my truck but my blinkers forsure have,

my problem is I'm get my right running light to work but my left isn't even

with the same bulb, I know the wiring (or at least the lights) are easy to work with so I don't know whats going on. My blinkers

on my dash dont work or in the back and Ive changed the fuses and have clean the wireends to the fusebox.

Now I must say my left side rear light harness is cut at every light'bulb-connection.

 

 

New rear light harness anyone???

[flatcat19]

Do you have a DVOM?

 

Source, load, ground.

 

Olddatsuns.com has a wiring diagram PDF you can download.

[uberkevin]

Ive got wire diagrams and I understand it but for some reason still

isn't working.

 

And a DVOM?

[flatcat19]

Digital volt ohms meter.

[uberkevin]

oh lol yeah Ive got a good one.

 

All the wires should have power when the truck is running right?

 

And could it be the blub connector? I don't know what the hell they would be called.

[ggzilla]

Most likely they are two independant problems. I've worked on a lot of 40 year old cars like this. If they are related, it's probably the ground of the rear combo lamp assembly.

 

Start by checking the front running lamps. If they come on then it's not the fuse or the light switch.

 

Next, remove a rear bulb and check for 12v inside the lamp socket. If no 12V when light switch on, run a long wire from the battery NEG back (like jumper cables) and recheck for 12V.

[uberkevin]

Sounds easy enough.

 

It seems like it should have been way easy to do this.

[flatcat19]

If your truck wasn't raped by an imbecile prior to you getting it.

 

All those rusty light buckets and piss poor crimp jobs don't help matters much either.

[uberkevin]

Hhaha yeah not at all, I seen a wire when I first got the truck with 3 other wire spliced into it....

 

Ive been looking for a whold new wire harness but no luck yet. gunna have to call the junk yard.

 

I took the one from the beer truck and all the wires went "it was green!!!" the only thing wrong was the

driver side lights each was cut basally cut at the blub.

 

I guess going off the passenger side tail light wire didn't work :confused: :confused:

[DanielC]

I have seen a fairly common problem with the rear lights on a 521. The taillight wiring harness connects the lamp socket to the frame of the taillight. The frame is bolted on to the bed of the truck, and the bed in turn is bolted to the frame of the truck, and the frame should be grounded.

All these parts had a good electrical contact when the truck left the factory, but that was 40! years ago. I have fixed some wacky taillight problems by adding an extra wire from the taillight frame to the frame of the truck, and also adding an extra wire from the frame to the engine mount, just looping around the rubber part of the mount.

 

Here is a good thread to read about your 521 taillights.

http://community.ratsun.net/topic/18092-521-taillight-rebuilding/page__hl__%2B521+%2Btaillights

[flatcat19]

Tommy's in Pasco has a couple 521's.

 

And out in Sunnyside is TeePee pull-a-part.

He had a few out there also.

 

 

How did your truck run on the way home today?

[uberkevin]

It wanted to die two times or so, but felt way better than it did still.

 

My gf said it felt like it had more power or got up to speed faster haha.

 

Awesome I'll call tommy's tomorrow and see if I can go pull that off of there.

[uberkevin]

So I got my tail lights and brake lights working but not my blinkers. they don't work on my dash or anywhere??

It was the old corroded connecter to the light.

[flatcat19]

Try the flasher unit.

 

Cheap to replace.

Sounds like a likely culprit.

[uberkevin]

Location?

 

Do my hazards run on the same thing because they work work.

[uberkevin]

Oh and I posted a pic of the L16 I have if you didn't see.

 

Haave you seen this one before?

[flatcat19]

No and yes.

[uberkevin]

heavy duty flasher!

 

[flatcat19]

Put 12v to one side, and ground the other.

See if it clicks.

[uberkevin]

It didn't so I grabbed another.so they work now lol thanks,

but when I turn my lights on my blinkers they stop working aha ?? That and a new water pump and im pretty set.

 

And then the BODY!! :rofl:

[flatcat19]

Don't forget bumperettes.

[uberkevin]

where should I start after those??

 

Rear end tailgate i'm thinking.

[uberkevin]

So why are my head lights killing my blinkers, they arn't even the same wires right?

[banzai510(hainz)]

Is your battery and alternator good??????????????

 

You do voltage cks on this???????

 

oif it loading down the blinkers will be slow or not work.

 

however since the rear lights dont work. that might be related not that much of a 521 expert on the lights in back.

 

I know they can feel up with water and rust out in the sockets.

 

go under neath and you can turn the plastic light holders and pull them out from behine and ck the bulbs.

[DanielC]

"So why are my head lights killing my blinkers, they arn't even the same wires right?"

 

Here is a picture of a fuse box in one of my 521 trucks.

The big white wire coming into the picture from the bottom right, is the feed to the fusebox, from the battery. The fuse it is in line with, is the headlight fuse.

Depending on the year, and any fusebox changes somebody else made in the last 40 years, two, three, or four fuses are always hot. These always hot fuses are on the right side of the fuse box.

the "always hot" fuses get their power from a buss bar on the underside of the fuse box. This buss bar is just riveted to the the battery power lead connector, and the fuses it supplies power to.

 

The smaller (dirty) white wire, on the far right screw of the fusebox supplies power to the ignition switch.

That power returns to the "key on" fuses on the black wire with a white stripe. One of the fuses on the left side of the fusebox supplies power to the turn signals.

 

So follow me on this. This is how power gets to the turn signals. Lets start at the battery positive. White wire to fuse box. Fusebox bus bar to small white wire. Five connections just to get to the small white wire. From here the small white goes into the cab, and plugs into the cab wiring harness. Then to the ignition switch. Back into the cab wiring harness, and again plugs into the engine room wiring harness, and to the fuse box, on the black wire with a white stripe. Several more connections. Then power for the turn signals goes through the turn signal fuse, into the engine room harness, connects to the cab harness again, and then it goes to the emergency flasher switch. After the emergency flasher switch, the power goes to the turn signal flasher, and then to the actual turn signal switch, mounted on the steering column. There are many more connections to plug all these parts together. When you turn on a turn signal, the turn signal switch applied the power to the turn signal lights on the correct side to the truck.

 

Turn signal flashers work like a electric thermostat on your house furnace. Current goes through the flasher, and the current heats up a bimetal switch inside the thermostat, and when it gets hot, it opens the circuit, and then the bimetal switch cools, and closes again. This is what makes the turn signals flash on and off. If a bulb burns out, less current flows, and the turn signals slow down, because the flasher takes longer to heat up, because less current is flowing.

 

Now, here is the important part. All those connections I described earlier, any one of them could get bad, or they all could degrade a little, and reduce the current flow enough to make the turn signals slow down.

Remember the connection from the battery, to the fuse box? If that connection is degraded a little, when you turn on the headlights, it causes the voltage to the fusebox to drop a little.

 

If your turn signals are working just barely, with all the 40 year old connections that exist in that circuit, turning on the headlights could be the "straw that broke the camels back" and makes the voltage available to the turn signals just below the voltage they need to function properly.

 

Oh, the orange wire, with the inline fuse blade fuse holder, that supplied power to the stock 521 headlight relay. This bypasses the current to the headlights from going into the cab, the light switch, and several connectors. it makes the headlights burn brighter.