93 Pevia light questions

Asked by jysp Oct 15, 2013 at 12:49 PM about the 1993 Toyota Previa 3 Dr LE All-Trac AWD Passenger Van

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

We were just given a 93 Toyota Previa it had a couple of burned out tail lights so while replacing them I checked all of the other lights and noticed a couple of odd things:
1) The rear side maker lights on the fender have a standard 1157 2 filament bulb.  The right side bulb was burnt out so I replaced it.  Now the left and right side are not operating in the same manner:
  - With the car running and the lights off the both sides seem to work the same.  The tail light is off, when I apply the brake one filament turns on.
  - With the car running and the lights on:
     - the Left side has one filament on, when I apply the brake the 2nd filament lights up.
     - the Right side has one filament on, when I apply the brake the light turns off
  - This is a new bulb.  I swapped the bulbs left to right, same result.

2) The Daytime Running Lights (front) were working at the beginning of the process, then at some point they stopped working.  The manual says they work on low powered headlights.  The High and Low beams on both sides work.  I called the dealer, they could not tell me anything about the DRL's, how they operate and from they use the head light relay.

jysp answered 11 years ago

I figured out issue (1) rear side marker light. It was the ground, or white wire going to the outside of the receptacle. To test this I cleaned off a bit of the hitch with the grinder to ensure I was getting a good ground. I then took my jumper cables attaching 1 clamp (black) to the cleaned off area of the hitch then taking the other end of the same wire (black) I clamped onto a small screw driver. I then turned the lights on and applied the breaks, the lights on the left were on, the lights on the right were off. I then took the clamp with the screwdriver and started checking: - I touched the side of the bulb; the light came on - I touched the side of the receptacle; the lights came on - I touched the bare white wire that is against the side of the receptacle; no light - I pushed the bare white wire against the side of the receptacle; the lights came on. I was out of solder, but will apply some solder over bare white wire ensuring it attaches to the side of the receptacle to get a better ground.

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