Hi Kids!!
Must say it's been a long LONG time since I've been on here. Lots and lots to catch up on am am excited to do so. It's been a crazy year and since driving home in the polar vortex,....the coach has literally sat in the barn. It's a good thing there's no payments on this thing and it's got a place to stay,lol! If I'm not mistaken it's been 2 years.
Last year we had 2 options, we could either "choose" to stay home for the winter so I could have elbow surgery and 3 weeks later, have shoulder surgery...at the same time my wife having wrist surgery. OR, we could choose to skip surgeries and go visit my folks in Ft Myers Beach. Silly us, we opted for surgeries. This year I have 2 similar choices, but am choosing Ft Myers...PERIOD!
We are planning to leave Michigan the 18th of this month and with my work as a 27 year chimney professional, my work is still in full swing to some degree so it's not left much time for all the prepping that's needed. As it turns out I now have a tow vehicle and won't go into that at this time, but having never EVER tried the 7-pin plug on the back of the coach I thought I'd better give it a shot. So, today I took a 7 round to 4 flat adapter and plugged it in while running the coach so I could be sure the wires and lights were all going to work. SURPRISE!! When I turned on the coach blinkers I noticed that the rear passenger side wasnt working. The front had a bulb that identified itself as bad just by the way it was acting, but the rear had no blinker light at all. It does have parking breaks but no blinker. So I reached in the back engine compartment and unscrewed a white fiberglass housing that surrounded the tail light panel and then removed the black rear of the light panel...that houses the lights themselves.
With any luck at all I have successfully loaded / attached the two best pics and am wondering if anyone has a suggestion to find another rear passenger side light assembly? The actual lens is glued in as we had leaks there years ago and I just sealed the lenses to the coach. It's the back panel that holds the lights that I'd like to replace.....BEFORE the 18th. I'd actually need it to be here in 14 days or hopefully MUCH MUCH LESS just so I can get that and everything else in ready condition. ( I bought a jeep that wound up needing a new motor AND TRANS within about a month of my purchasing it...then the new motor had a cracked block and had to be replaced AGAIN and although having never done anything like this in my life...I removed both engines, mounted, stripped and reinstalled all by myself and am now getting the Jeep ready to tow and the same time as I now have lights out. )
Can ANYONE offer hope?
Our coach is a 1991 Grandvilla U280
I think they are Isuzu lights, but not sure how that works. Don't know the year, and if I remember the right is upside down on the left and visa-versa.
There is juice to the plug on the black panel, but I suspect the flimsy "circuit" board type "ribbon" is broken at the turn light socket.
Please advice
PS
I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving :)
Looking forward to getting caught up soon.
Karl, I believe it is an '84-'89 Isuzu Impulse, same as in my '89 GV
Thank you, any magic sources for something like that?
Do you know if I were to find one would it be the actual back guts that I need and not just a front lens?
Carl,
It will be tough finding the GV tail light parts in ANY time frame, much less quickly. Did you try calling the factory to see if they still have any units in stock? I seem to recall someone buying a complete light assembly from FOT within the last year.
I'll have to do that tomorrow morning. I just found this out about 2.5 hours ago. Worst case I'm wondering ...since I'm towing the Jeep and have lights wired to work as brakes / turn on back of it...and since the tail light works on the coach...maybe if I'm unable to source them maybe we'll be ok. Once in Florida the coach will be parked. I have blinking power to the 7 pin plug on the coach.
I have a '93 U300GV. I needed a taillight assembly. Tennesee RV found one for me but it took a few weeks.
We'll be passing right through there on our way...when that time comes. Funny, our coach used to belong to the owner of Tennessee RV....many many years ago. Did I mention, many :)
Would feel really good if I'm able to have it done before leaving, but I know I'm pushing it. Was just so much to do leading up to now
Car-Part.com - Used Auto Parts Market (http://www.car-part.com/mobile/)
Carl, Check here I had luck some years ago replacing my tail light assembly.
I have one. Do you need the whole thing or just the bulb piece.
I need the black panel that has the ribbon circuit and sockets connected. As the numbers show, it's a LEFT light off of the isuzu that goes upside down on the right side of the coach. I'm leaving for work and may be in a remote area for a while. If you know it's in good working condition , let me know what you want for it and I'll get you paid. Thanks so much.
Carl the ribbon in the extra one I have is torn. Something fell across it in the shed. I found quite a few for sale here
http://www.car-part.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi
search for a 83 Isuzu impulse. 83through I think 87 are the same, the search will pull the years that will fit. You need the left side for your right.
Try a local wrecking yard. Most collisions are front-enders so you have a good chance of finding a used one.
Here's an example in Mt. Vernon, NY;
83 84 85 86 87 Isuzu Impulse L Tail Light | eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/83-84-85-86-87-ISUZU-IMPULSE-L-TAIL-LIGHT-/130468092465)
I'm the guy that bought a new light assembly a nearly two years ago from the factory. Yes, the ribbon "pc board" stuff died. I still have the old one in the basement, and one of these days maybe I'll take time to go through with a meter and see if I can find what the problem is and maybe fix it.
Another possible source of pieces/parts is colaw rv Colaw RV - New & Used RVs (http://colawrv.com/)
Thank you all for the suggestions, I will do what ever I can to source the products. I like the idea of checking into having 2 just in case.
I'd like to throw this out there and see what your thoughts may be. I do not want to do anything "temporary" that may cause a problem, so let me know if this is a bad idea. I'm wondering it I were to connect an equally thick ( same as the wire on the harness ) wire to the hot spot on the harness that actually has blinking power to it and spot solder it to the socket for the light? Could this cause a fire or other damage? I'm just thinking that with time passing as fast as it is....in the event I have to do something temporary what your thoughts may be as to the safety.
Davi
d, nee
David, need another? Brad at TN RV told me not to throw it away as it can be rebuilt. They found a new one for me and reality is, I won't get around to the rebuild. If you'd like a donor light to experiment with, send me your address and I'll send it to you.
Carl, before I was able to locate replacements a friend DID solder the break in my original driver's side printed circuit. It was "touchy" doing it.
Why cant the whole circuit board be replaced with wires soldered at each end?
seems fairly easy, but maybe I'm wrong. have never seen one in person.
I had a taillight go and rather than be smart and replace the whe backplate plastic ribbon assy, I got stupid and broke out the soldering iron and jumpered the busted conductors. Took about 20 minutes and my jury rig still holds up a couple years later.
It's just a tail light.. Get out the soldering gun and some wire! If you want to be a proper "Rube Goldberg" put some silicone on your masterpiece.....
Here are some better photos of the item under discussion. These photos are part of a "Tail Light Refurbishment" project I am working on, but not quite ready to publish.
In addition to the printed circuit and the bulb sockets, there is also a small (rigid) circuit board containing some electronic doohickies. I can't tell what it does... You can see the printed circuit provides the POS (+) contacts in the bulb sockets, unlike the "normal" setup where they are part of a spring-loaded piece in the base of the socket.
I would imagine a skilled solder gun expert could replace this entire printed circuit with actual wires, but it is above my pay grade.
Have you checked the circuit back there with a test light? Unplug the plug and test for power there,Then follow that terminal pin through the ribbon and find where current stops. switched bulbs etc.
Consider taking the circuit board to an electronics place for soldering repair.
And, if the circuit board needs repair, but in the area where soldering is not appropriate, there are liquid repair kits that allow you to electrically connect over the break. Been there, done that.
Looking closely at the flexible circuit in my lights, it appears the individual conductors might not be "printed" but rather are very thin twisted copper wires imbedded (sandwiched) in plastic. Or maybe what I am looking at (the "raised" areas) is the non-conductive material in between the conductive portions? Hard to tell... Perhaps some kind of early "hybrid" flexible circuit construction? This might make them easier to repair, if one was attempting to use wire & solder to bridge gaps in the circuit. Like I said, though, way above my soldering skill level.
Just be sure it's not acid cure silicone (caulk). Check the label and also if it smells at all like vinegar don't use it around electronics.
Couldn't one just drill some holes and install new bulb sockets? Take it apart with a hot knife and epoxy LED lamp (round, oblong) assemblies inside?
I've been think pretty much the same thing. That's the approach I believe I would use.
I actually found another tail light in my shop today. Wish it was the correct one but it's a right and not a left. I've checked the bulbs and tried many different ones. I checked the closest salvage yard today that is a high tech set up with everything on computer. They had nothing so I think I'm just going to get some fine solder tomorrow and wire it up. As far as tracking the connection I lost it at the main connection of the harness at the light. I didn't want to poke holes in the ribbon so I stopped there. I will just solder it. I didn't mean for this to be a long post I just wanted to see itf there was a quick place to source a part that was readily available or if it would be safe and fire free to solder it. Soldering is not my forte but this seems simple enough...anything I need to know...do's or don't do's? I was just going to get finer solder than I currently have and cut wire, strip it, clean surfaces and get er done.
Feel like I've shredded all the top muscles in my left thigh from climbing a ladder multiple times to reline a chimney the day before yesterday. Can't imagine that happened after 27 years and I can just barely walk on it. But, this to shall pass and I'll be back on the coach tomorrow and back under the Jeep. Ah yes, the Jeep! Will have to share that story one day...very interesting indeed. Think some of you will find humor in it.
Ya'll are much appreciated. Thanks as always.
This forum is a great place. There are many days I may be available and months where I'm not....but coming back is always like being reunited with an old friend and it feels like a day was never missed.
Hi Carl,
Great seeing you back.
Raymond
3 pages of them at Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market (http://www.car-part.com)
Be careful about the amount of heat and time you use when soldering the PCB. You don't want any more molten solder
than is absolutely necessary. You may even want to consider using a heat -sink (ie; hemostats) depending on where you're working on the board.
Good luck with it.