Parker lights wont turn on

[pezzie]

My 08 Corolla ZRE parker lights wont turn on :(

Can anyone help me with where i should first look?

i have just checked the fuse and its not broken. However, one side of the fuse is lightly rusted. I cant check for much more since its dark outside.

things which i have also noticed/done in the past.

1. Installed foglight stalk, everything worked perfectly fine.

2. A month later i connected remote wire for amp and sub (First time parkers wouldnt turn on). My headunit is connected to the parkers in a way so the headunit dims when the parkers are on.

3. When i have condensation in my taillights, they tend to not turn on.

4. When i dont have condesation in tailights, the parkers either turned on immediately or after driving the car for 30 seconds.

Today it rained a little heavily and i got condesation in my tailights and the lights wont turn on at all. I know i should fix it up. But i still have exams for another week. After that fixing the condensation and sealing the lights will be the first thing done.

[123R-Prozak]

k, 1. does ur dash lights work when u turn your parkers on with your stalk? if they do, more than likely ur switch is good ( havnt/dont know the wiring diragram )

2. d/c the condensation taillight/headlight and check the fuse/replace it. then check the lights.

[pezzie]

1. My dash lights dont light up so i cant see the speedo at night. The lights on that dont turn on either. Also the front parkers dont turn on either. Foglights dont turn on as well. All of these run off the same fuse, i will try to replace the fuse even though it looks ok.

I have just sanded the fuse down with 2000 grit sandpaper to remove the rust and nothing turns on. I will try to replace the fuse though.

Since i think the fuse is ok, i believe it is a short somewhere in the wiring. I believe its most likely somewhere near tail lights. I have also done dutchie's jdm tailight mod for the zre which required cutting the parker lights. They are wrapped in heat shrink and electrical tape over the top.

I also have a multimetre but i dont know how to check the voltage for the tail light harness. I only used it to ensure my audio installation was at the correct voltage.

There is also a little rust on the contacts of the wiring harness pins for the parker lights.

Can anyone guide me on how to go about it? i wont be able to do much more until next week after exams are over.

*edit* i was just thinking. If it was a short in the parker lights. Should the front parkers and dash lights turn on when the tailight wiring harness is unplugged?

All other lights on the harness are working (break, reverse, indicators)

It has also occurred to me that the first ever time the lights wouldnt turn on was when i installed the remote wire for my headunit. Could the headunit cause a short in the wiring? If so, would it be best to not have the connection or fix the wiring?

All it does is dim the screen. <_<

Edited June 23, 2011 by pezzie

[123R-Prozak]

your radio dim light would of connected to one of the lights in the dash, so when your lights are turned on your radio dims, yes?

you can try d/c that, and give your parkers a go. since its 08 you still covered under 3 years warranty?

if it was my car id check power at the bulb, & earth. if there is no power follow it back to the power source. check the operation of the switch with a multimeter.

hard to say where to start without being there..

[pezzie]

The dim light doesnt connect to any of the factory wiring in my car. Its connected from orange/white wire pioneer harness > aftermarket harness. This wire doesnt connect to anything else and i think is internal? i'll give it a go and disconnect it.

I bought my car at the auctions so its not covered by warranty.

How would i go about checking the power at the bulb? Do i set my multimeter to volts and look for how power coming out?

sorry for all the questions, i've only ever used the multimetre to check my power, ground and remote wire on the amp.

[geestivo]

Taking it to an auto electrician would probably be your best shot.

[pezzie]

Yeah I will. I have done a few things to the wiring so I want to check it all myself first. I don't want it to be something stupid like the insulation has come off and touching the car chassis.

[pezzie]

if anyone would like to know what the issue is, it was my switch. i only had it for 3 months, purchased it from toyota only 3 months ago so i could turn on my foglights. <_< anyone know how to fix one of these switches?