Need assistance from a sparky or like minded person

I own a Toyota Camry Wagon '89, and i'm having some trouble with the
lights. I just put in a new cd/mp3 player, and before that my dashboard
lights were working (illumination of clock/speedo/fuel gauge) but now
they dont' seem to be. all the warning lights and indicators work, it's
just the illuminators of those gauges. I figure i probably didn't
connect something back up, but could it be anything else?

Also, My tail lights won't work, brake lights yes, tails no. We thought
it may have been the bulbs, so checked the bulbs. Not them. So we tried
the fuse, and the fuse was blown. After removing said 15 unit fuse, a
mate of mine thought he'd put in a 20 unit and see if that would work,
but to no avail, and we fear this may have worsened the problem, as
after replacing with another 15 unit, the tails still refused to work.

If anyone can help me, talk me through it, maybe some diagrams, i
dunno, but if you can it would be most appreciated. Cheers

On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 19:02:12 -0700, phaedreon wrote:
[color=blue]
> I own a Toyota Camry Wagon '89, and i'm having some trouble with the
> lights. I just put in a new cd/mp3 player, and before that my dashboard
> lights were working (illumination of clock/speedo/fuel gauge) but now
> they dont' seem to be. all the warning lights and indicators work, it's
> just the illuminators of those gauges. I figure i probably didn't
> connect something back up, but could it be anything else?
>
> Also, My tail lights won't work, brake lights yes, tails no. We thought
> it may have been the bulbs, so checked the bulbs. Not them. So we tried
> the fuse, and the fuse was blown. After removing said 15 unit fuse, a
> mate of mine thought he'd put in a 20 unit and see if that would work,
> but to no avail, and we fear this may have worsened the problem, as
> after replacing with another 15 unit, the tails still refused to work.
>
> If anyone can help me, talk me through it, maybe some diagrams, i
> dunno, but if you can it would be most appreciated. Cheers[/color]


Sounds like you bumped a connector while you were replacing the radio.
Take the radio back out and look for any connectors back there. I know the
'86 had a flaky connector back there that did the same thing.

<phaedreon@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1125540132.664305.279790@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...[color=blue]
>I own a Toyota Camry Wagon '89, and i'm having some trouble with the
> lights. I just put in a new cd/mp3 player, and before that my dashboard
> lights were working (illumination of clock/speedo/fuel gauge) but now
> they dont' seem to be. all the warning lights and indicators work, it's
> just the illuminators of those gauges. I figure i probably didn't
> connect something back up, but could it be anything else?[/color]

As SupraGenius mentioned, you probably loosened a connector when installing
the radio so there is a good possibility that you will have to remove the
radio and take a look inside. Before you do that, check the rheostat on the
dashboard to make sure it is not turned all the way down. Hopefully, you
were not foolish enough to cut any of the factory wires, otherwise it could
take a LONG time to find the problem. If none of the connectors are loose
and you didn't intentionally cut any wires, look for one that is chafed or
pinched - if the fues is blowing immediately, something onthe lighting
circuit is shorted to ground.
[color=blue]
>
> Also, My tail lights won't work, brake lights yes, tails no. We thought
> it may have been the bulbs, so checked the bulbs. Not them. So we tried
> the fuse, and the fuse was blown. After removing said 15 unit fuse, a
> mate of mine thought he'd put in a 20 unit and see if that would work,
> but to no avail, and we fear this may have worsened the problem, as
> after replacing with another 15 unit, the tails still refused to work.
>
> If anyone can help me, talk me through it, maybe some diagrams, i
> dunno, but if you can it would be most appreciated. Cheers
>[/color]

First, don't let that mate work on your car and do not follow his advice
because he doesn't know what he is doing. Never replace a fuse with a
higher amperage rating than specified. If there is an excessive draw, you
can end up with melted wires or a fire.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

On 31 Aug 2005 19:02:12 -0700, [email]phaedreon@gmail.com[/email] wrote:
[color=blue]
>I own a Toyota Camry Wagon '89, and i'm having some trouble with the
>lights. I just put in a new cd/mp3 player, and before that my dashboard
>lights were working (illumination of clock/speedo/fuel gauge) but now
>they dont' seem to be. all the warning lights and indicators work, it's
>just the illuminators of those gauges. I figure i probably didn't
>connect something back up, but could it be anything else?
>
>Also, My tail lights won't work, brake lights yes, tails no. We thought
>it may have been the bulbs, so checked the bulbs. Not them. So we tried
>the fuse, and the fuse was blown. After removing said 15 unit fuse, a
>mate of mine thought he'd put in a 20 unit and see if that would work,
>but to no avail, and we fear this may have worsened the problem, as
>after replacing with another 15 unit, the tails still refused to work.
>
>If anyone can help me, talk me through it, maybe some diagrams, i
>dunno, but if you can it would be most appreciated. Cheers[/color]

The dash lights are on the same fuse as the tail lights - that's
deliberate so you know you do not have taillights either.

Toyota radios wire up differently from American radios, with two
illumination wires (not one to ground like American cars). One lead
is constant power 'in' from the fuse and taillight relay, the other
goes 'out' through the dashboard light dimmer rheostat to chassis
ground.

If you goofed and hooked the taillight fused wire to a ground at the
radio, it would cause the taillight fuse to blow immediately.

Hint: get a 55W sealed-beam headlamp, and make up a few jumper leads
so you can 'plug it in' in series to the prongs where the taillight
fuse would go. This gives you a visual indicator that the circuit is
still shorted, because the light glows at full brightness. (Put the
lamp on a piece of cardboard so you don't melt the carpet or floor
mats.)

Wiggle the wires, or unplug the connector on the back of the radio,a
and try turning on the taillights again - if the headlight test light
goes out, or better yet gets dim and all the taillights come on dim,
you've just located the problem...

--<< Bruce >>--

--
Bruce L. Bergman, Woodland Hills (Los Angeles) CA - Desktop
Electrician for Westend Electric - CA726700
5737 Kanan Rd. #359, Agoura CA 91301 (818) 889-9545
Spamtrapped address: Remove the python and the invalid, and use a net.