Running lights don't work

[Blue~Go]

I agree, it's aggravating! (And I WISH my '99 had amber tailights - although fat lot of good they're doing you so far. But I give Ford a thumbs down for eliminating them after around '95 or so. I dislike that I can't put my hazard flashers on while I'm braking -- and have them show.)

At first I thought well, Chinook did this to save having to run wire aft for the taillights. (Even though I still think it was dumb.) But then... since they ran ANOTHER wire (from that trailer wire) forward to the Chinook fuse block then aft again to the lights.... how was that saving anything? I guess it must have saved some labor over running their own cutaway wire, but still. Geesh. I don't know how everyone wasn't blowing fuses all the time back when all trailers had incandescent bulbs.

Don't get me wrong: I love my Chinook and they did a great job in many, many ways. But I give them a mini-boo on this one. (It was a larger boo when I was lying on the ground at a busy rest area at night...)

[A Rooney]

My premier does not have those fog lamps,up front,or obviously the corresponding switch over the driver seat,However I vaguely recall images of that switch where they are labeled "driving lights"? Just occurred to me that that circuit on the upper right of your concourse diagram may refer to the fuse for the light up front and low,? And not as I was thinking represent separate circuits for the tail running lights,and body marker lights.? Rooney

[Blue~Go]

Yes, the Ford taillights and all the Chinook body marker lights are fused at that one fuse on the upper left, labeled "marker lights," and carrying a 7.5 amp fuse.

It's a setup that I would just have to change/improve, except for the fact that with LED bulbs available now, the draw can be much reduced. Still kind of a goofy setup, but workable (whereas with all incandescent lamps, add a trailer and... poof! you are almost instantly over 7.5 amps.

Fitting LED bulbs to the marker lamps would be great; I haven't researched that at all yet though, since I'm fine with the LED trailer lights I have on all my trailers. But I'd still like the margin that LED marker lights would add.

[Scott]

I dislike that I can't put my hazard flashers on while I'm braking -- and have them show.)

Tell me about it! If I have a turn signal flashing and I hit the brakes (which happens EVERY time I turn), the only brake light that illuminates is on the side that's not flashing. I like to turn on the hazards for unexpected traffic slowdowns, but then there are zero brake lights. DOT not approved. If anything, the brake lights should rule. This has bugged me since day one.

Not directly related to the wiring scheme, but I thought I'd add a bit of info about my tail lights. The passenger side reverse bulb died. I Spent 20 minutes online reading about taillights (19 minutes too many). Yawnfest. LEDs, incandescent, too bright, too dim, and so on. To avoid a gamble, I splurged on a ten pack of the original style bulbs for $7.00. OK I'll replace all six bulbs, then trace the wiring to find out why the brake lights are overruled by the turn indicators. The plan of attack was to remove the lens fasteners, clean/buff lenses, replace bulbs, check functionality, reassemble. 45 minutes? Oh no. Construction-wise, there's a fiberglass box tabbed to the Chinook shell to receive the lens. The seams are slathered with silicone from the inside. Most (all) of the goop has lost its grip by now. It has been a wet winter, and the passenger side taillight housing leaked very slowly into the coach under the closet. Not a catastrophe, but it was damp. The driver side didn't leak, but instead made an aquarium of its own creation within the housing (see pic for puddle and bottom left fastener slightly corroded). It's over an inch deep. It just fills up and overflows. I guess I'm a bit surprised that the housing for the tail lens incorporates a bowl that holds water without any sort of drainage, or any way to digest grime, despite the ample drainage that the Ford lens assembly has inherently. Two of the eight screws that fastened the lenses lost their heads during removal (corroded interior wood screws removed by hand). I extracted the broken fasteners with a reverse threaded cobalt drill. Then inspected the wiring and I saw why the brake lights submit to the turn signals. In my case, all of the wires are right there in the housing, and would be simple to correct. Unfortunately I haven't done it yet because of these other distractions, plus limited time. Next time. I guess I'm posting this so you'll know what you might be getting into depending on era and condition. Certainly can't say if yours will be the same setup, though!

[Blue~Go]

Well how lovely. I do always like to see "guts" photos though!

My taillight area on the passenger side is somewhat exposed on the inside now (well, if I clean out the closet....), so I'll have to take a look.

BTW, the first Chinook I looked at was a 1997. It had the stock Ford van taillights (just like my '99 does), but they were the ones with amber turn signal lenses. Oh happy day, you can see all the functions at once! And yes, perhaps not get rear ended since you can run the flashers while braking during a sudden slow down. Of course at that time I didn't realize that "modern" Ford vans did not have amber lenses.

I guess Chinook was using up old stock of their cutaway taillights, because as far as I can tell the last year Ford used the taillights with amber lenses was 1995. Then they went to the all red, wherein certain functions override other ones (ahem, isn't the design supposed to improve, not go backwards?). Maybe some regulation expired then....

I've always wondered if the housings with amber were still available from Ford, and if they could be retrofitted. Vehicle chassis wiring not being my specialty (to put it mildly), I have never pursued it.

[kdarling]

Yep, the old style yellow-red-white assemblies can be had for less than $40 from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/1992-1993-1994-E ... B004DS1L30

Trying out those and another more modern set on my '94, there were two problems:

First, somewhere along the line Ford changed the bulb socket lock hole tab pattern. I guess my bulbs have the old tab pattern, so I keep having to dremel mods in the newer taillights so my bulbs will go in and twist to lock. Hopefully your later model would not have that problem.

Second, there's some kind of annoying height difference when gaskets are included. To put newer assemblies in mine, I have to remove some of the newer light gasket. Again, it's more likely you'd have the opposite problem and need some small filler if going to an older assembly.

The remaining problem is still that Chinook seems to have used the combined turn/brake trailer wiring instead of the superior separate Ford wiring. But if all the wires run to the back, then that should be easy to fix.

[Blue~Go]

The remaining problem is still that Chinook seems to have used the combined turn/brake trailer wiring instead of the superior separate Ford wiring.

That has always seemed like kind of a bonehead move to me (and they generally seem to have done things fairly logically). Then add the fact that the wire for the marker lights goes back to the rear (at that point it is the Ford trailer wire harness), then back to the front (to the auxilliary fuse panel by driver's left shin), then BACK to the rear (to the taillights and rear marker lights), then back to the front (front marker lights). Geez, is there any voltage LEFT? And the wires are of course small.

Luckily LED lights came along because that "marker lights" (also tail lights!) fuse couldn't keep from blowing when I had a utility trailer hooked up (it had a lot of marker lights). Once I figured out the problem I simply switched to LED lights on the trailer. They are good for a number of other reasons anyway, and of course solved my problem, but why create that problem in the first place? Geezzzz.

[Scott]

Just to clarify a little ... I have the older tri-color lenses. But the issue for me is the wiring. The correct wires are all right there in the housing, but not connected "correctly." Boneheaded for sure. And to use what are basically drywall screws? Not sure how that decision was approved at the design meetings. I don't mean to sound like a whiner, because I absolutely love my Chinook, but sometimes I find things and I just have to scratch my head.

Can you recommend a LED replacement tail light bulb? If you know of a good one, it would save me some reading!!

Headlights are next.

[kdarling]

The correct wires are all right there in the housing, but not connected "correctly."

In your photo I think I see coming in:

White - ground
Brown - parking
Purple - reverse
Yellow - left turn
Red - left stop

The stop wire is normally the problem, because it's not sourced from the Ford dedicated brake-only wire.

Instead Chinook hooked the left brake light to the trailer wiring combined left turn/stop. So it blinks with left turn or hazard signals instead of solely acting from the brake pedal. Right side does same thing to trailer combined right.

We have to see if the original Ford dedicated light green brake wire comes to the rear, so we can move both the left and right stop bulbs to it.

Regards, Kev

[Scott]

The correct wires are all right there in the housing, but not connected "correctly."

In your photo I think I see coming in:

White - ground
Brown - parking
Purple - reverse
Yellow - left turn
Red - left stop

The stop wire is normally the problem, because it's not sourced from the Ford dedicated brake-only wire.

Instead Chinook hooked the left brake light to the trailer wiring combined left turn/stop. So it blinks with left turn or hazard signals instead of solely acting from the brake pedal. Right side does same thing to trailer combined right.

We have to see if the original Ford dedicated light green brake wire comes to the rear, so we can move both the left and right stop bulbs to it.

Regards, Kev

I finally got around to removing my lenses again and investigating the wiring further. You're correct. I was mistaken in thinking there was a brake-only lead. I'm going to have a look under the driver side door still step to see if I can find the light green wire. Unless you've already looked there?