Multiple electrical issues
 

It's been a while

The truck has been parked for a few years in rainy Washington and now I am resurrecting it. It starts and runs fine. All the problems seem to be gauge/electrical.

Speedometer doesn't work until you hit 45 or 50 then it works but shuts off when you drop below 45.

Brake and ABS warning dash lights never turn off.

Intermittent wipers work not in a normal fashion but they work on full.

Headlights won't come on either high or low beam

A friend suggested it might be a ground issue.


Suggestions?

The headlights work on High Beam (now) but not low beam

Fixed the ABS/Brake/Speedometer problem by replacing the ABS/Speed sensor on the rear end......$30 at O'Reilly's

Trying to figure out what kind of screws are holding the steering column plastic covers on. The ones that are on the bottom side.

It is a safety torx. A tox bit with a hole drilled in the tip. Most places with a good tool selection will have them.
You might pull and reseat all the fuses and relays under the hood.

Greg, make sure and read up on running down the power before messing around the airbags.

IIRC unhook batteries and let sit for a half hour or better.....search it though, please.

Got the steering column apart and took off the magic box that has the turn signals and every other thing in it.

Looking in the holes on the back side I could see the deadly blue of corrosion inside.
I had a can of de-ox so I sprayed that in where I could get it and blew in and around with compressed air. Repeat Repeat Repeat.

Hooked it back up and the lights worked fine.

The only thing wrong now (of the original problems) is the intermittent on the windshield wipers doesn't work right.
I was tempted to take the magic box apart and get in there and clean but I can just imagine a million springs and parts flying out when I opened it.
I can put up with the windshield wiper malfunction.

What's that magic box cost if you can still get them?

Have seen lots of those wiper issues actually caused by the wiper motor itself. Not saying it's your problem, but it's a place to look. The park switch internal to the motor stops working. As a result, the wipers won't park properly at the bottom of the glass when you shut them off, and it interferes with the intermittent function as well.

Mine parks ok it just doesn't work in the intermittent range right.
Normally going from a slower frequency to faster and finally full on.

It will do some intermittent but not in order and not at the right speed all the time.