Restoring Rusty

[Gregski]

just a quick pic or two of the taillights / backup lights to show you I am actually doing something not just talking about it, LOL

there is a ribbon cable (touching the exhaust pipe in first pic) that runs along the driver side frame rail from the front of the truck to the rear, it consists of four wires: brown, yellow, dark green, and light green (would it kill them to use two more distinct colors like green and blue rather than light and dark green?) anywho

those wires run to the driver side taillight, where they are joined by a black ground wire which connects to the truck bed, from there they connect to the driver side taillight and daisy chain off to the passenger side taillight

got all that good, quiz on Thursday

picture quality aint too great (shadows) sorry the sun was relentless and I have another west facing garage - you think I would learned my lesson after 10 years in the last house

second pic my deleted trailor hitch quagmire (this would be cleaned up proper 20 minutes later)

[rusty76]

I think you just pulled those wires out to make it look like you we're doing something. Lol

[Gregski]

backup lights troubleshooting

man oh man, the neutral dark green and light green two wire cable is made up of three parts that I know of, working our way from under the dash we have section 1, then there is section 2 in the middle, then section 3 connects to the transmission

picture shows Section 2 and Section 3 which can be unplugged from Section 1 which is still in the truck, not sure that unplugs easily

OK, wires, we get it Greg, where are you going with this?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by rusty76

I think you just pulled those wires out to make it look like you we're doing something. Lol

Dang, you got me, LOL

[Gregski]

ok, so following the help and advice of some wonderful people on this forum, the Greg unplugged Section 3 of the neutral cable from the transmission switch and jumped it like so

then turned the key to the on position, heck even started the truck (why?) cause he don't know any better, he'll explain later

result - nothing, de nada, nic, backup lights did not go on

[Gregski]

so The Greg plugged his trusty yellow (paid for not free from Harbor Freight) multimeter into the plug of the Section 3 wire and got a reading of 0 volts, no bueno once again, no dice

he plugged the wires in to each other cause he don't know to ground the volt meter first to a ground then probe the other wires, he will learn that later

[Gregski]

then the Greg unplugged Section 3 of the neutral cable all together and started working his way back, he repeated the Jumping test and no go, he repeated the volt meter test and no go, so he went to unplug Section 2 and aha, check this out, the plug be jacked on one side, one connection aint much of a connection, but is it tucked away under the dash where nobody can see ~ you becha !!!

[Gregski]

So was that it? Did that fix it? Oh NO

The Greg tested Section 2, jump test good, got one reverse light anyways, volt reading now shows negative 11. something volts or positive 11. something volts depending which way I plug in the red and black leads from the voltmeter to those light green and dark green neutral wire connectors

stay tuned.... going to dinner

[enaberif]

A negative number just means your feeding the negative and positive on your volt meter backwards. It doesn't matter to be honest because well we all know having negative voltage is not possible so you know you have 12v just swap your leads lol.

And from the sounds of it you have figured out the grounding process with a voltmeter but to just refresh in your post #1409 black lead should have been grounded and red probe used to find your voltage. And I would probably say the light green = ground and dark green = power or 12v.

[greg64]

Greg, the light green wire is the backup light hot wire. Just checked my schematic. Brown is tail, yellow and dark green are the turn/brake lights. The chassis is used for ground, that's why the ribbon cable has 4 wires and not 5.

The yellow wire in post 1408 should have power whenever the ignition is on.

Incidentally, with the truck not running, you should be measuring 12.6V if the battery is fully charged. 11.something means your battery is low.

If you want a feel good moment, try running a test wire from positive on the battery to the light green wire at the transmission switch connector. This should turn on both backup lights.

You know, the power side goes through a fuse in the fuse box, according to my schematic (and memory). Try probing both sides of this fuse with the key on. Should be 12 on both sides.

[Titomars]

Originally Posted by Gregski

negative, did that and the lights did not turn on, even started the truck to make sure it was running etc. still no reverse lights

Then you are not getting power to the connector you should be seeing a 2 wire harness with a light green wire and dark green wire. it should come up under the truck in the tunnel and go along the firewall till it gets near the column area then it will go inside the firewall. If I remember right, between the column and main harness connector. It connects to the same color wires under the dash. from that connector the dark green wire is the power and goes straight to the fuse block. the light green goes back to the lights. check that the 2 wire harness is plugged into its mate plug under the dash. It will be very close to the column. Also stating the obvious again check the fuse.

well i guess you found it so never mind about my post.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Titomars

Then you are not getting power to the connector you should be seeing a 2 wire harness with a light green wire and dark green wire. it should come up under the truck in the tunnel and go along the firewall till it gets near the column area then it will go inside the firewall. If I remember right, between the column and main harness connector. It connects to the same color wires under the dash. from that connector the dark green wire is the power and goes straight to the fuse block. the light green goes back to the lights. check that the 2 wire harness is plugged into its mate plug under the dash. It will be very close to the column. Also stating the obvious again check the fuse.

well i guess you found it so never mind about my post.

yup we finally got power here at the first section of wire under the dash, when we jumper this connector at least one reverse light glows - - - progress

[Gregski]

so after fixing the connector on Section 2 that plugs into Section 1 we hooked all the three Sections back up and tested again to discover that Section 3 is bad, so instead of trying to fix it we just removed it and plugged Section 2 directly to the transmission switch (we definitely don't need 15 feet of wire here so this is actually much tightier too)

so lets review:

Section 2 had a bad plug which we fixed

Section 3 was completely bad so we eliminated it

Result: only the left reverse light works, the right side does not, why? bad light bulb socket, see pic below, but easily fixed, basically the metal contact part would fall out of the plastic housing, so I bent one metal tab back more with a small flat screw driver and problem solved

now Rusty has two working reverse lights

[Gregski]

Then it was on to the hazard situation. Basically my hazards did not work because I was missing the hazard flasher, I did not realize you need one for the turn signals and another separate one (although same exact part) for the hazard lights to come on. So I unplugged my turn signal flasher and plugged it into the hazard socket on top of the fuse box, and whalla hazards work.

AutoZone $7.00 bucks

[Gregski]

1. fix rear brakes - DONE

2. replace or fix left headlight - DONE

3. fix left rear turn signal

4. check out the lifter / rocker arm ticking noise

5. refresh the power steering

6. fix hazard signals - DONE

7. get the AM radio working

8. fix reverse lights - DONE

[Gregski]

happy

[Chaplain]

Way to go.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by Chaplain

Way to go.

Thanks it was definitely a learning experience

[CodyWorks]

All I can say is wow. I've spent the last 5 hours (literally) reading every post of this thread and looking at all of the pictures. I've still only made it to page 25. The progress is incredible, as well as your attention to detail (with your work and with your post explanation). My square is a bit younger than yours but I will still be referring to this thread during my build. Keep on keeping on buddy.

Cody

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by CodyWorks

All I can say is wow. I've spent the last 5 hours (literally) reading every post of this thread and looking at all of the pictures. I've still only made it to page 25. The progress is incredible, as well as your attention to detail (with your work and with your post explanation). My square is a bit younger than yours but I will still be referring to this thread during my build. Keep on keeping on buddy.

Cody

Hi Cody, wow, thank you, how many beers did that take? LOL

[y5mgisi]

Thats funny about the headlights. I had to trim the little cup on the connector to get my connectors to stay plugged into the headlights! I just figured thats how they were making them now a days!

[Gregski]

so lets talk about that stubborn rear left turn signal, as it doesn't work

however, it works when I turn on the hazards

so what does that tell us?

[greg64]

Greg, does the left turn light work when you apply the brakes?

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by greg64

Greg, does the left turn light work when you apply the brakes?

Hi Greg, no it does not, I did that test today and the right one works but the left one does not. What does that tell us?

[greg64]

The rear brake/turn signals pass through the turn signal switch on the steering column. This gives the ability for the brake and turn functions to share a single bulb.

Since the hazard works, it's clear that the bulb itself works and that the wire is intact.

I think the problem is in the turn signal switch. As it happens, I have a replacement switch for my truck sitting here.