brake light flasher

Yeah this just went a bit to much for my paygrade... I might have to punch out on the whole project and just leave it attached to the third brakelight and call 'er done. Thank you for your help however.

Don't you already have the flasher unit? It may just be - and probably is - a relay and a few diodes that are required, and a resistor for any alarms/lamp-alerts.

Yes I do have the flasher installed and working flawlwssly on the 3rd brake light. It just seems to be getting a bit much for what was to be a very quick easy install. Basically supposed to be splice and play. I dont know if the juice is worth the squeeze anymore. I will try to take a little break for a few days and regroup. I dont want to give up prematurley.

http://www.wiringdiagrams21.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ToyotaFJCruiserstoplightswitchWiringSchematic_thumb.jpg This is the schematic I was talking about, maybe it will help. I am confident that you'll be able to make more sense of it then I can.

LOL - the first thing I was going to do this morning was PM you to say I too should take a brake, I mean break. I realised that yet again I have evolved solutions based on what was originally a question, hence skipping all-important basics. Anyhow, your link/diagram solved that. Or at least in part... It shows a brake switch that can be used to power/control your brake flasher. (Trailer extensions for the FJ seem to be done from the switch and not the light end.) It seems the ECM merely checks the switch for correct operation and had nothing to do with PWM etc. (There is no connection from the ECU to the lights.) The only complications I see are the skid control module can override the brake switch and "break" the lights, and it seems to be a dedicated stop light circuit. The skid control is easy - your controller should come after its relay (ie, between its pin #3 and the lights) instead of the brake switch, unless you don't want it to flash when under skid control. But as to the lamps... Are you sure the stops are LEDs? The diagrams infer bulbs. If bulbs, that could account for the behavior you described. And the 3rd or high brake lights normally being LEDs would behave as expected unless perhaps the other stop bulbs were also connected. Also, are you sure the bulbs else LEDs are a combined stop & tail? If so, there is nothing on your link diagram to show how they are controlled. Hence are your stop/tails OEM or an aftermarket fitting? You may have answered the above conclusively already - just like you had with my last reply's stupid question if you already had the flasher (d'oh!). But yeah - let's regroup, my first-in-the-morning sessions aren't my best. I'll get back to (confirming of) the dedicated stops and LEDs after a re-read, and additional FJ searching. Yum - coffee time! Oh, and breakfast.

I have a tacoma, and now see that might be the wrong diagram.. arrrrggggg The tail lights are stock and definitely are the same LED for tail and stop... they must be pwm somewhere. I was under the impression that I had the right diagram. I have a 2010 Tacoma crew cab...

I might try to cut in at the switch later this week when I get a chance. I found a +12 in the kick panel where it was easier to work. Same color and showed +12 onky upon break pedal depression so I didnt see a problem. Maybe where I cut was before or after where I should have. Doesnt make sense to me, but thats why im here to begin with LOL Either way, I appreciate your help.

It doesn't have to be PWM, it could be resistive as I wrote. (Current limiting can also be used, but generally not for parallel strings. Besides, PWM is cheaper with a guaranteed constant drop in dimness.) But then, you know for sure that the stop/tail only has ONE wire to it - ie, it's variable +12V feed (plus the GND being the 2nd wire that we usually don't count). I've googled various Tacoma wiring images but have yet to download them (as well as replace my own car's steering-column combo switch... today?).

Well either way I still have to get back in there and satisfy my need to figure this out. I will see if you come up with any advice after seeing a schematic. I defer to your expertise as I said its over my head. I am going to pull a tail light and check the wires and confirm wire colors. Should be blue for brake and green for tails white for ground. I still feel that I tied into the blue wire in the wrong spot. Somehow it seems that might play into why it was back feeding the circuit. Again thanks for trudging through with me.

Hang on,now you're saying it's a 2-wire - ie, blue for brake and green for tails (& white = GND). In that case the 2 are separate... Well... it may be the same LEDs, but it means the blue (brakes) override the (dim) tails. That is probably done with the extra tail resistor method that I mentioned - the brake supplies +12V after the tail resistor, or IOW "bypasses" the dimming tail resistor. (I really should include the simple diagram that shows it all...) That can explain the behavior - if the flasher is flashing the LEDs on & off, there is also the "dimmed" +12V tail feed when the flasher is off between flashes. (And that feed may be effecting the flasher circuit.) The thing is, that is NOT an issue of tapping the blue at the wrong spot, it's simply that the tail feed must be isolated when flashing - ie, a changeover relay. NOTE that the above just off the cuff - I haven't re-read the behavior you described in your OP. And there are many ways such combo LEDs can be set up, but being 2-wire, I doubt it is PWM.    If it's 2 wire, then a changeover relay should do the trick... I reckon simple tests should help... See if both blue & green supply +12V with brake and tails on respectively, and when both brakes and tails are on. (I think the meaning of that is expressed well enough wrt English.) Although this next may be too complex and NOT required, maybe you could also connect a grounded 12V LED (string) - maybe the 3rd brake LED - to confirm that neither blue nor green dim at any time - they are either fully on else off. That may also be possible using the DC range of the DMM (it may drop if "dimmed"). If it's PWM, the DC voltage may also drop (but not for certain), and usually the AC range would be used - ie, a changed (and maybe higher??) AC reading when dimming occurs. [ FYI (only) - you'd expect no = 0V AC on a car's 12V DC system. But with the alternator charging, significant AC readings are usual (eg, 6VAC - 30VAC). When not charging, there should be no AC except for noise (maybe mVAC or a few VAC), but loads can induce AC - especially motors (fans) and ECUs. What we are looking for is a change compared to the background or ambient AC voltage on each of the blue and green with the IGN on (assuming you need IGN for the brake lights) when each or both are on. But as I said, I really doubt that any PWM is involved. If so, more wires and more complex wiring up front (at the switches) would be required - ie it can be done with over 1 wire, but otherwise you need generally need 3 wires to the LEDs, not 2. Yeah - I reckon scrap that thought. I really should delete all this crap about DMM AC testing for PWM! ] Yeah, I think I need to clear my head by installing a modern flasher & wiper combo switch to my 1965 steering column...   Ah, cool - it's even cooler than today's predicted 29°C (which is much lower than the mid-30's °C we have been having). Maybe I will be refreshed by tonite?