Another L.e.d. taillight thread!

[OutkastBoss]

Its my experience that "temporary" usually becomes permanent. Butt connecters are a step above wire nuts and still in the realm of butcher.

I have extensive knowledge on 12volt wiring as well as proper install techniques which does include trailer wiring and LED lighting.

Wiring issues? Perhaps more wire nuts

My beef with this thread is some noob sees the wire nut and its perceived as correct so he uses on what ever he installs in his build thread etc. solider and heat shrink is the proper way folks.

With all the fail in this thread you pick up on grammar, at any rate, i stand corrected.

I could care less what your "experience" is with temporary becoming permanent. You ASSuming anything about how I do things is presumptuous at best. As for me the cover plates wont be installed and vehicle wont be driven until it works correctly and is butt connected and shrink tubed. With your "extensive" 12v knowledge you should know that this is not only sufficient but better than some of the stock connectors.

I have plenty of home/ irrigation and auto wiring experience including wiring multiple work trailers and my custom Xj trailer build. This thread was showing what wires are connected where hoping to find something in the XJ wiring setup that is causing the snafu. I have also soldered wires, batteries, and even a board, it is not that hard to do or spell for that matter.

Not one wandering soul gives two squirts what your "beef" with this thread is. I am not going to edit and censor myself to cater to those without basic reading comprehension, that is what is wrong with people today. If you chose to modify your rig or spout your mouth off like an ass without reading or comprehending the thread that is no ones fault but your own.

You are correct there is a lot of fail in this thread, all from you Failing to either read or comprehend the thread before resorting to being an internet bully, which I will have no tolerance for. Failing to be a decent human being by insulting someone going through a family emergency and failing at communicating any helpful information or even a valid statement in your derailment. In short we are all now dumber for having read what you have posted.

In the interest of not wasting my time on a keyboard commando with hack english skills I am going to set you to ignore. I make it to a few events a year. On the off chance you are not a complete peice of shit in person, feel free to stop by my campsite and have a beer or maybe just the bottle if you are this disrespectful in person. Oh and don't forget to bring your rig that I am sure is immaculate.

For everyone else, after spending the last week chopping wood in the mountains for the old man he has plenty of wood to heat this winter and he is recovering from the heart surgery very quickly. While I was there I took the opportunity to practice some of my Martial arts and meditate in a waterfall before climbing to the peak at almost 14,000ft where the very few animals that live there were insanely friendly. I even got to wheel a bit in the old mans 1973 Trail Duster so things have been good all considered.

BACK ON TOPIC
Where we left off was using a test light to identify all the wires showed they were hooked up correctly. Despite getting constant power to the brake input on the converter box, the output from the converter box only briefly flickers. We decided it was likely a bad box so I ordered one before I went out of town.

Once again we identified and attached the power wire of each input feature to its corresponding label on the input of the converter box. attached the input ground to the body. and then attached the wires to the labeled spots on the leds.. All 3 of the stock grounds are connected to each other on both sides as well Unfortunately the new box has given us the same results.

Hopefully someone has an idea on how to proceed. Otherwise I will consider mounting the reverse lights in the hatch or bumper so everything can be wired separately sans converter, or taking it to the shop. It does go for some things but I can almost always just diy to avoid shop prices.

So any helpful input would be appreciated, all others simply move on.

 

[RedHeep]

Its my experience that "temporary" usually becomes permanent. Butt connecters are a step above wire nuts and still in the realm of butcher.

I have extensive knowledge on 12volt wiring as well as proper install techniques which does include trailer wiring and LED lighting.

Wiring issues? Perhaps more wire nuts

My beef with this thread is some noob sees the wire nut and its perceived as correct so he uses on what ever he installs in his build thread etc. solider and heat shrink is the proper way folks.






With all the fail in this thread you pick up on grammar, at any rate, i stand corrected.

Shouldn't you be watching hockey reruns or down at your local curling club?

 

[87manche]

my Martial arts and meditate in a waterfall before climbing to the peak at almost 14,000ft where the very few animals that live there were insanely friendly. I even got to wheel a bit in the old mans 1973 Trail Duster so things have been good all considered.

you're like snow white or some crap.

have you tried using the converter box with a regular bulb?

 

[OutkastBoss]

you're like snow white or some crap.

have you tried using the converter box with a regular bulb?

I know right one of the Marmots was climbing alongside me at the peak and would stop and wait when I rested. There was also a chipmunk on the peak for some reason and we were way above tree line. I actually pet him on the back once he was so close. I got the feeling I wasn't the first alien visitor up there.

I will go outside and try regular bulbs with the converter box right now, I rechecked the grounds last night as well with no change. If I wire the stock bulbs without the box they all work fine.

One of my mechanic friends looked at it and said its wired correctly, he wondered If I got 2 bad boxes.
I did get them from the same ebay source and both while looking brand new and factory bundled did not come in any packaging.

 

[besthaticouldo]

I'm glad you're going through this so you can help another local guy out with his...lol hint, it's this guy!

 

[OutkastBoss]

I'm glad you're going through this so you can help another local guy out with his...lol hint, it's this guy!

Wish me luck! Between the XJ and our house I have like 6 projects going on all at once, it is nuts around here!

have you tried using the converter box with a regular bulb?

It reacted the same way, hazards/turns/running lights all work as they should but the stop function does not.

The only difference is that the stock bulbs don't briefly flicker when the brake is pressed like the l.e.d.'s do. Which makes sense if they are only getting a small amount of current briefly when the brake is pressed.

Once again you can hold the brake and the tester shows constant power at the converter box brake input but not at either stop/turn wires.

It is hard to work on when you do not know where to proceed, all the threads I am finding pretty much show to hook it up like it already is.
It seems weird that everyone says you have to use this specific converter box that I can't find locally.

 

[RedHeep]

Separate turn signals. Much easier.

 

[OutkastBoss]

Separate turn signals. Much easier.

Plan B is to wire the stop wires from xj to stop/turn on led directly and the Turn Wires from xj directly to taillight on L.e.d. That makes the top oval stop/turn and then the bottom circle and side circle would be running lights. leaving me to mount the reverse lights in the hatch or bumper.

I think it would look better with stop/turn/tail in one though.

I have just figured a few things out wired "correctly":
1. If I wire only the stop it works through the converter box
2. If I wire in the taillight and stop they both work fine.
3. as soon as you hook up a turn wire to the box the brake on that side stops working but the turn will work.
5. Then if you ground out the power wire for the turn signal a relay clicks inside rear quarter panel and the brakes work. if you turn the turn signal on like this it would short though.

On a whim I decided to hook it up like this.

1. Stop wire from xj to taillight on box
2. taillight to stop wire on box
3. turn wires to correct places on box.

Every function worked properly with the exception of the fact that the running light was bright and the brake was dim. SO everything worked independently and together but when the parking light was on it would dim when the brake was hit instead of the other way around.

For future reference this is an 01 with the tow package.

 

[OutkastBoss]

I am finally making some progress, based on my last findings I posted I tried something else using both boxes

1.The stop wire from the Xj goes to the Left turn input on the box
2.The turn wire goes to the stop input on the box.
3.The tail light from xj goes to tail light input on box.

With it like this the turn signal would flash both sides but if you wire a second box for the other side the same way they appear to both work just fine.
I am getting a very dim blink in my 3rd brake light with the turn signals (it is l.e.d. so more sensitive to feedback).

Also I am thinking that maybe the hazards and maybe turn signals are a bit dim looking.
Does this look right to you guys?
http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/Outkastboss/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140819_184543_zpsc3ec8fac.mp4.html?filters[user]=115666785&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=1
(for some reason you have to cut/paste the whole link into your browser)

I know that this is ok but if it is not quite right I may try to rewire it again, as I received a PM from a friend with pics and description of how his was done.
I still need to test that my tow plug still works for my trailer, but I am halfway through a brown dog motor mount/bracket install and can't move the XJ.

 

[RedHeep]

Which lights are you using?

 

[OutkastBoss]

Which lights are you using?

They are the ones Jcr sends :
http://www.superbrightleds.com/search/led-products/ptf-r56/

Well with the lights wired like that I found that the stock trailer wiring no longer worked and I need to tow my off road trailer.
So I wired back in the stock bulbs and everything works properly again, only I did notice that the constant power on the stock trailer plug is no longer hot. I was going to use it as a charge wire for a battery bank in my off road trailer later so that isn't good.

I checked all the fuses and they seem fine so now I am trying to troubleshoot the stock trailer wiring harness with the origional bulbs wired just so I can get back to square 1 and then maybe try and wire it the way I was sent pics of by pm. (even though he did not have the stock trailer wiring)

I am still worried It wont work, I am thinking the stock trailer wiring harness is causing the confusion. I don't run in to a lot of projects that cause me this many problems but this is a pita.

Idk if I can troubleshoot it much as is because I am halfway through a brown dog bracket install and have a bunch of grounds up front disconnected. I am going to try and wrap that up so I can maybe get these leds figured out.. Maybe I will get lucky it is my bday after all.

 

[RedHeep]

A 4 wire plug or a 7 wire plug?

4 wire plugs don't have a constant 12v wire.

 

[OutkastBoss]

A 4 wire plug or a 7 wire plug?

4 wire plugs don't have a constant 12v wire.

7 wire pretty sure it is factory it adds a few plugs in the wiring and a couple relays that I am not sure are there otherwise.

 

[RedHeep]

You have a factory 7 wire trailer plug in the back of your XJ?

 

[OutkastBoss]

You have a factory 7 wire trailer plug in the back of your XJ?

Yes I believe so, the original receiver said Mopar on it and the big round 7 wire socket that was on the hitch had a mopar part number when I had to replace it after smashing it in Moab because it was hanging under my Jcr rear bumper with integrated receiver.
( removed Mopar hitch when I got Jcr bumper)

Also the Pm I got with pics of Brads led wiring is inside the drivers rear quarter and mine has more connectors and 2 relays back there i do not see in his, all the extra connectors/wiring/relays match and appear to be stock.

I had considered trying to wire it from the stock trailer wires, but when I unhooked all of the bulbs I got no power to any of the stock trailer wires except the constant. Which I get nothing from now but that may be due to the disconnected grounds up front. Until I finish the brown dog bracket install. I pretty much have to put this on hold until I finish that and it has been raining (no garage).

 

[RedHeep]

I would start with the harness that is upstream of the factory trailer wiring converter. Find the actual wires carrying the different signals. Eliminate the factory converter if you have to. Then figure out how those wires carry the signal to the factory tail lights. Run those into the converter for your new tail lights.
Once you have tail lights that work, it will be easy to put another trailer converter in or to splice another harness in for your trailer.
Methinks that factory trailer wiring is getting in the way.

 

[OutkastBoss]

Thanks for getting me on the right track guys, I was being stupid trying to leave the stock trailer wiring. It contained 2 relays that they used to convert the signals, they were interfering with the taillight converter box.

The stock trailer wiring plugs in before the rear taillight harness and has 2 relays. Then the stock taillight harness plugs into the stock trailer wiring harness.
You can't just wire off of the stock trailer wiring because once you pull the regular bulbs the trailer lights do not work. I bet you could use resistors where the stock lights were if you really wanted to to get the stock trailer wiring to work the trailer and the taillights.

I used the pics in the Pm I got as a reference to remove the stock trailer wiring harness. Then I wired one trailer converter box together inside the drivers rear quarter panel and a couple wires ran under the hatch trim to inside the other quarter panel.
I used the stock taillight wires to continue the signal out to the leds. I cut the main plug and relays off of the stock trailer harness out to bumper and tapped into it from the output of the converter box.
The electric brake wire to the factory trailer wiring was run separately so I left that hooked up and I seem to still read aux power at the plug from one of the other wires I left hooked. The basic functions of stop/turn/tail are working at the 7 pin plug as well.

Btw I used crimp connectors and shrink tubing on all connections and I do not recommend wiring yours inside the taillight boxes like I tried to at first, they are better off inside the fenders.

Everything is working perfect and it really is very easy to wire. Just learn from me and cut out those stock relays and wire everything from your converter box if you have the stock trailer wiring!

 

[XJEEPER]

Thanks for the update and for sharing your experience.

 

[OutkastBoss]

Thanks for the update and for sharing your experience.

No problem man I wish I could have found a thread that would of told me: the stock trailer wiring relays will interfere with your conversion box if you don't remove them!

I deleted my pics at the begining of this thread because I do not recommend wiring them in the taillight boxes like that but For the benefit of future searchers here is that PM!

GoSlowGetStuck

Re: led's
Yes but I didn't have the factory tow package. I had to use an aftermarket tail light converter (which I think is what you're doing too right?)

First off - for tail lights and reverse lights I am using the factory wiring and connecting directly to the LEDs. I'm not using the tail light output on the tail light converter. For grounds I am using all the factory wiring as well. I do have the tail light converter grounded on the "input" side but I am not using it at all on the output side.

Basically on the converter I have:

Input side:

Brown (tail lights) - not used
White (ground) - ring terminal and screwed into the body
Yellow (left turn) - I cut the factory green w/ black wire before the left side tail light connector and spliced into that.
Green (right turn) - Spliced into factory black w/ red wire before the left side tail light connector.
Red (brake) - Spliced into factory white w/ tan wire before the left side tail light connector.

Overview pic:

Close-up pic:

Output side:

Brown - not used
White - not used
Yellow (left turn) - I re-spliced the output into the green w/ black factory wire. This matches to the factory left turn signal inside the left tail light.
Green (right turn) - I ran this wire over to the right side and spliced into the black w/ red wire hidden behind the panel there. This matches to the factory right turn signal inside the right tail light.

Left side pic:

Right side pic (the wire from the converter is red in this pic because the green output wire wasn't long enough):

Now inside the tail light box itself...

I share one of the factory black grounds between the white grounds on the side marker and stop/turn/tail light.

I share the factory brown tail light wire between the black wire on the side marker light and the black wire on the stop/turn/tail light.

I connect the factory green w/ red stripe turn signal wire to the red wire on the stop/turn/tail light.

I do the same thing on both tail light boxes.

The factory left turn signal is green w/ black before it gets to the left tail light harness, but it's green w/ red after the tail light harness.

The factory right turn signal is black w/ red before it gets to the right tail light harness, but it's ALSO green w/ red after the tail light harness. You can tell they used the same tail light harnesses on both sides.


Hopefully any of that helps!