Sigtact

Yes, I understand exactly about the logic between the dashlights and taillights. I had not thought about the trailer connection. I'll check that out here in a few. thanks! Thanks horn, yeah that's on the list. RMFT! (I'm from Mobile)

Hey guys, so I have been reading and reading on here over the last few weeks and I simply cannot figure out why my dash lights and tail lights are not working. My truck- http://comancheclub.com/topic/52039-1988-mj-sb-4cyl-new-to-me 1988 4cyl 2WD The lights were intermittent as I bought the truck and before I did the dash/gauge swap... Now, I cannot get these lights to work to save my life. Here's the trouble I found during the dash swap- Things I have done- Triple checked fuses Verified the ground above the E-brake release replaced Headlight Switch with one from an '89 @ junkyard and even a brand new one I guess there are two ways forward to identify the issues- Is the problem with the tail lights causing the dash lights not to work Is the problem with the dash lights causing the tail lights not to work If you y'all have any suggestions or links to other write-ups that maybe I haven't seen, I would be greatly appreciated!

My next task is to troubleshoot the tail lights and dash lights so I can reliably drive it at night. So after reading, I first set my sights on the fusebox... and yes, there is the leaky fluid issue on this truck. My next step will be to quickly replace the Master Cylinder once I get the lights working. The guy I bought it from said he'd have to reach underneath to the fuse box and just wiggle things around and sometimes they would work. Well, upon closer inspection I found several fuses that were completely destroyed by the brake fluid... But also, I noticed that someone had intentionally put an average of 5A over the rated fuse for the circuits and it got me a bit concerned. One even had 15A over the rating!!! Can you tell yet there are probably issues because of this? Well, I did replace all of the fuses to the correct ones and low-and-behold the dash lights and tail lights worked perfectly! I say perfectly, but the headlight switch (HLS) was not working very well and hardly worked for the dimmer setting. So, during the dash swap I checked it out and was not really sure exactly what I saw until I saw the replacement switch/harness... Needless to say, its a good thing this didn't catch on fire! Side-by-side comparisons for those that don't know to see just how bad the connector melted Next, I am going to replace the harness and splice the new female spade connectors into it and use the new switch. I decided to try the $4 junkyard switch instead of the $20 autoparts store new one... I figured if it didn't work, then its only $4 and I'll get the new one. Unfortunately, after the dash swap the tail lights and dash lights no longer work... so I'm going to troubleshoot that tomorrow, but not really looking forward to it without my multimeter (its in Alabama and I hate buying new stuff when I have top quality gear about 3-4weeks away).

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So here is my "new-to-me" 1988 MJ. To be honest, I grew up doing electrical mods on cars for stereo competitions and not mechanical so I figured I'd try this little truck out and see what I can do! I purchased it for well under $2000 in late Dec. '16 and overall it had a few little issues... nothing too bad. Power Steering Pump was making a hellacious noise when turning... (fixed, just added fluid) Exhaust leak (no big deal) Tail Lights and Dash Lights work intermittently Leaking Valve Cover Gasket Leaking Rear End seal Someone upgraded the bench seats for two dirty buckets Dash looks hideous with the carpet, and interior is cracking in spots Truck has has a cheap paintjob... its flaking in spots The problem is that I took a new position with my company and am on a long-term assignment to Southern California and all of my tools are back in Alabama... so the progress has been a bit slower than I would have liked. I've been scouring the junkyards here with a medium crescent wrench, a $6 multi-bit screw driver set, and a leatherman pocket knife. I eventually broke down and bought a HF mechanics toolset for $35 to hold me over until the end of the month when I visit Alabama to ship some tools back out here. I absolutely welcome any advice that you guys have on these trucks. My goal for this truck is to keep the stock look, but replace parts where I can with better condition ones (i.e. dash, seats, replace idiot lights, etc.) I'll make some follow-up posts to this thread with the progress on issues that I'm having and all! I'll post the pictures that I have that I remembered to take in the last two weeks and be sure to take more going forward :)! Here is the truck-

Agreed... RMFT! Also, you guys should check out a guy called Jermaine Funnymaine Johnson... he does the "How Alabama Fans watched __ Previous Week's CFB Games" https://www.facebook.com/funnymaine he's hilarious... even if you're not Alabama fans, its still highly entertaining!