Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns

Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - Printable Version

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Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - Richard - 03-18-2024

Yeah, I know. when you hear hoof beats think horses not zebras. Only in Richard’s world does this bizarre reality happen.

I bought a new toad. Maverick Hybrid. Took my time wiring up the lights. Diodes, shrink wrap, careful routing with a Newell quantity of zip ties, tinned ends, quality plugs, and such.

Plugged it all in, and it’s wonky. Real wonky. One blinker doesn’t work, and the brake/running lights are asymmetrical.

Ok, so it’s got to be me, some boneheaded miswire, or bad connection. So I start hours of troubleshooting checking the feed from the coach, making sure the colors match at the plugs, and feeding a 12V signal into the plug on the car. Still the same wonky behavior. I used a continuous ribbon cable from the front plug to the rear. No splices. I have voltage at the feed end but nothing at the exit for the turn signal. Ok, bad crimps or something. Cut off the ends and do it over. Same result. Voltage at one end , nada at the other. The wire had a discontinuity in it. Found by feeding in voltage and probing along the length of the wire. Voltage, voltage, voltage, NO voltage. Stripped the insulation to find a clean cut in the wiring. The insulation was intact. Go figure. OK, no problem, heat shrink butt splice, and the turn signal works.

But wait there is more, what about the asymmetrical tail lights. Hmmmmmmm, triple check the color codes obtained from the interweb by a guy who has written a tome on the Maverick forums about how to wire the truck. It all looks to match what he posted. Swapped lights from side to side and the pattern stayed with the side not the light. Ok, that’s a clue, the wiring tapped into is wrong. Finally found an official Ford schematic. ARRRRGH, this guys wiring colors are WRONG. To give him the benefit of the doubt, let’s say, that Ford changed it from one model year to the next.

Finally, working lights, I think I’ll go stream a couple episodes of My Pink Pony.

RE: Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - BusNit - 03-18-2024

I needed a good laugh! The first was the Newell quantity of zip ties! LMAO. Well, Good on you for figuring out a unicorn of an issue in the wiring. I take new wiring for granted that it would never and I mean never occur to me that there is a break in it.

If it's any consolation, the air brake/air dryer issue was all my doing. I misplaced two 1/4" lines on the governor. Spent freaking hours so sure of myself that all was done right. Lesson learned and have extra parts for the road bin.

I didn't know the Mavericks were able to be flat towed. I do like those trucks for their size and efficiency. Enjoy it!

RE: Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - [email protected] - 03-18-2024

Its always difficult to trouble shoot when you have an issue that you are least expecting. I have seen that in wire on occasion lately, seems the QC is getting laxed. When they make wire they do not stop running the insulation even when there is a gap in the copper wire, normally that section is cut out. We were doing a big wire pull one time and we found a spot in the wire where they had joined the wire together by interleaving the strands together, again this is so they can continuously run off the wire and they normally cut that section out. It looked like the wire swallowed a mouse. Unfortunately we were about halfway through the wire pull when we found it, had to pull all the wire back out and wait for a new spool of wire.
Glad you got through it and sorted it out.

RE: Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - folivier - 03-19-2024

Been there, bought nice looking 4 conductor wire for my Tahoe. It had a thick coating that I thought would handle pulling through the inside of the frame. Got it all wired up then a couple months later toad lights went out. Found out the wire was copper plated aluminum. Moisture corroded the wire! Had to do it all again. And yes I had about 20 wire ties I had to cut out.
BTW are you transferring all your stickers to the new toad? Seems a shame to have to start all over.

RE: Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - pairodice - 03-19-2024

I sure hope this is not foreshadowing for my work next week on my toad lights (Land Cruiser)… I may go with a direct bulb in the tail lights rather than breaking in/diodes and such. That way if there is a problem with the toad lights I know where to look… but it does require drilling a hole into the light housing but I did it on my last Jeep and it worked great.

RE: Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - Jack Houpe - 03-20-2024

I love wrap ties but they will cut you faster than a razorblade if not trimmed close. Newer cars with LED's can be a challenge took me half a day to get trailer lights hooked up on Kathleen's Cayenne, thank goodness for adaptor modules.

RE: Pink unicorns with rainbow crowns - [email protected] - 03-20-2024

(03-20-2024, 05:17 AM)Jack Houpe Wrote: I love wrap ties but they will cut you faster than a razorblade if not trimmed close. Newer cars with LED's can be a challenge took me half a day to get trailer lights hooked up on Kathleen's Cayenne, thank goodness for adaptor modules.

Nothing gets me more than sharp tie wrap ends, a pet peev of mine. I go through and cut them all flush when I see them with sharp points. I use an electronics flush cutter, makes them nice and flush and no sharp edge anymore.

These are my go to flush cutter:
https://a.co/d/aHXsgrU