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Jim - I agree that Amazon is wrong. It is the right part #, but wrong pic and application.
Ok, today's update will be in two parts. The first is what I did to the truck today, and the second, later tonight, will be pictures of the gauges.
And on the what-I-did front, I drove it! But, before that I did these things:
Trailer Connector: Wired it up, tested it, and secured the wiring.
Lighting: Tested the new taillights, and had problems. The left stop/turn didn't work right, but as I was moving it the problem changed. Sure enough, the wires to the socket were bad - see below. Socket is now replaced and the lights work right - except the left turn signal brings the dash illumination on. The right turn signal doesn't.
Glued the rearview mirror on as I'd knocked it off.
Installed the original left outside mirror. It was frozen in a position that didn't work, so I've had it on the bench with a few drops of penetrating oil dribbled on it every few days. Today it broke loose, so I put it back on to replace the stand-in, which is loose enough that it auto-adjusts when you close the door.
Yes, I'm going to LED's in the rear. I have them in the left side, but incandescents in the right. That's so I can take some pics tonight to see how much difference the LED's make.
It does look like it got hot. And, by the way, this is where the green wire was that bypassed the left stop/turn wire. I wonder if that had something to do with it.
But, the left turn signal does work, it just lights the dash illumination, while the right turn doesn't light it. I don't know how long that has been going on, but I've not really driven the truck at night so may have not have noticed it.
The ground for the left rear lights is the same one for the right rear lights - and just about everything else. So, I don't think it is a ground problem. Maybe it is the turn signal/hazard switch?
Wait! Do your dash lights flash with the hazard switch on? Big Blue's do and I was assuming that is normal. But, looking at the hazard/turn signal switch's schematic I don't see any connection to the dash lights.
The only connection to the dash lights is through the taillight filament if the ground is bad or missing. I would guess the wire is open between the socket and splice S153. Use your DVOM to measure the resistance to ground and compare it to the right side. Keep in mind the entire rear lighting system grounds at the inside of the firewall through C126 and C127.
Well, remember the green wire I took out? Now I think I understand why it was there. Somewhere between the connector on the steering column and the left taillight the left turn/stop wire is crossed with the dash illumination wire. But, we know that the dash illumination wire is only in the dash, so the problem has to be in the dash. And, I just confirmed that stepping on the brake brings the dash illumination on. So, I took out their bypass, which wasn't really a fix and actually broke the trailer wiring. And now I just have to find where the two wires are connected.
Anyway, I tested the LED's tonight. I like them for everything but the tail/stop/turn lights. But, let's start small - here's the tach:
And, here are all the factory gauges. Sorry for the blur.
Here are all of the gauges. They are bright enough for easy viewing, but not too bright at all. I'd say just right, which is good because they don't dim much.
And now for the rear lights. In these pics the LED's are in the left light and incandescents in the right. I took pics of the taillights, but they show essentially the same thing as the brake lights, so I'll just post the brake lights. Note that the right light has a much larger halo around it. And, to the eye it appears brighter than the LED's, so I'd give the good old 1157's the win for brightness.
But the opposite is true for the backup lights. The LED's provide more light and throw it further than the 1156 bulb.
Gary, FWIW, the later taillights are much brighter than the 1985 ones. Matt put a set on his, took them off because of the slight difference in the shape. They're the ones on Darth now.
These are new lenses, and they are of a later design that seems to be brighter for the tail/stop/turn portion. But are you taking about the backup lights or the tail portion? I know the 1987+ lights had a better backup light design, but didn't fit exactly right in our trucks.
On your SHO, I don't know how similar the pump is to the FWD 4.6L Continentals, but they have a little pump with remote reservoir on the front just above the AC compressor. Pump is probably different mount, but might be the same design.
I will have to try and remember & investigate this, Bill, thank you! That's a good thought.... I looked into buying one of those very cars one time....
Gary, FWIW, the later taillights are much brighter than the 1985 ones. Matt put a set on his, took them off because of the slight difference in the shape. They're the ones on Darth now.
Originally Posted by Gary Lewis
These are new lenses, and they are of a later design that seems to be brighter for the tail/stop/turn portion. But are you taking about the backup lights or the tail portion? I know the 1987+ lights had a better backup light design, but didn't fit exactly right in our trucks.
Although they had the same design, the tail lights from 1984 - 1986 were a different part number and were brighter than the earlier ones from 1980 - 1983.
Yep. Fortunately all the replacements I've seen are of the later design. So Big Blue went from hard to see to very bright.
Just had another thought about the wiring problem - if the left stop/turn signal brings on the dash illumination then won't the dash illumination bring on the left stop/turn light? I'll check that out today, but that might be a cause to go back into the dash to find the culprit.
But, Big Blue is going on an outing today so little work will get done. I'll install the rear view mirror this morning and clean the windows, but otherwise it is ready to go. We plan to take a 100 mile plus drive and get lunch along the way. And we are meting my brother and his wife for lunch, so I'd guess he'll want to drive the truck he helped bring back from Florida.
I think the change came in '88. So, were 87's like 80's, meaning they look like their later brothers but are different in places? Is that standard for Ford, and probably others, that the first year of a significant change is "different"?
But, before that I did these things:
