In my introduction post saved under "viewtopic.php?f=12&t=1778", I made a quick list of to do items for our 1995 Chinook new to us in late 2019. Among the list was the line "* Get taillights, reverse lights and lights at the front top (amber) and rear top (red) to work. The bulbs are OK; I suspect it's due to the Chinook wiring design blowing some unfound fuse (no alternate Chinook-only fuse box in the '95)." My mistress (please don't tell my wife) Serendipity visited me yesterday with a quick fix to my taillights, reverse lights and upper running lights (is there an official name for those?). Allow me to set the way back machine to August 2019.
When my wife and I first looked over this 1995 Concourse, I noticed a toggle switch mounted below the steering wheel at the bottom of the dash. Being the inquisitive guy that I am, I asked the prior owner for its significance hoping that it employed some kind of James Bond grappling hook or missile feature. Imagine my disappointment to learn that it simply turned on the rear running lights and the running lights along the top of the coach in front and back. Therefore, pulling the headlamp switch turned on only the headlights and front running lights. Running the taillights required that I flip the toggle. I'm not scared! I took it as a challenge. The brake lights worked flawlessly. Later, my wife noticed that the reverse lights did not work either. Reminder to self: don't drive backwards.
Searching around this forum, I learned through Blue-Go posts (many thanks Blue-Go!) that the taillights are powered oddly by the Ford trailer package wiring and that I'm probably just facing a blown fuse somewhere. All of the fuses under the dash were good. Note that the '95 did not have the Chinook-sourced fuse panel. Under the hood, I found one 50 amp (it's a big bugger!) fuse blown. Woo-hoo! That's it! So I thought. I replaced the 50 amp fuse and no love.
I rolled around under the Chinook poking and visually inspecting the wiring for a few hours and came away only with a pound of road grit in my eyes, nose and teeth. Only my baldness saved me from getting it in my hair. I found nothing awry but did learn about "schnozzles". Thanks Blue - it made sense when I found them.
OK. By now you're eager to hear about my tryst with Serendipity. I saw months ago a reference to a little bank of relays related to the trailer package but hadn't really put two and two together yet. Last night, I was exercising my curiosity and located the bank of relays under the hood behind the driver's headlight but inside the engine compartment. Ho hum. Yes, there are three relays. I guess I'm what is called "handsy" so I ran my fingers underneath the relays to see where the wires ran. THERE WERE NO WIRES CONNECTED TO THE RELAYS! I fished around for a couple of minutes and found two big lonely plugs that needed relays. Woo hoo! Running lights and reverse lights all work now.
- General Location of Relays
