GEN 1 Electrical Issue with Upfitter

[jondle]

Hoping someone can help because I'm at a loss. I have A-piller pods that have been working for a long time. Last time off-road, they just quit. My other three lights are still working.

Here are the troubleshooting steps I've taken thus far:
- I verified the fuse in the cab to the switches is good, which makes sense since the other lights are working.
- I verified the fuse under the hood specifically for #3 is good.
- I swapped two of the relays, one that worked with the one that is not. The light that was working remained working and the broken one is still broken. This means the relays are good.
- With the relay pulled, I measured 12V on the constant, high-amp line, grounding to the negative terminal of the battery.
- With the relay pulled, I measured 12V on the switched, low-amp line, grounding to the negative at the relay.
- I then removed the butt connectors under the hood and started testing the lights and my custom wiring (as opposed to the factory wiring):

- I measure 0V on the factory line with the upfitter switch off, as expected, grounding on the negative terminal of the battery:


- Turning the switch on, I got 12V:


- I then pinched the positive line going to the lights with the factory line I measure 12V on, but the lights don't come on. This is using a ground bolted to the frame under the hood:


- Finally, I connected the positive line from the lights directly to the battery, via an alligator clip to extend it. The negative still being the one bolted to the frame as above, not the negative alligator clip. As you can see, it lights up with my arm blocking most of the light to try not to blow out the picture:


I'm a little lost. If I have 12V on the factory line connected to the switch and the ground the lights is connecting, as proven when the light comes on, what am I missing? Is there a ground line not making connection somewhere around the relay? Anyone have ideas on what else I can check?

 

[jondle]

I just did a couple more tests:

- I did the same test as the second image, the factory positive with the switch on, but I grounded to the frame where the lights actually ground and am still getting 12V.
- I then measured the voltage where I pinched the light wire to the factory hot wire and it drops to ~1.5V when connected.

 

[MTF]

Did you connect the wires in the dash?



All the info you need:

https://www.fordraptorforum.com/threads/wire-raptor-aux-upfitter-switches.20335/

 

[HORN HIGH ACES]

Sorry if I missed this in your troubleshooting, but does the light illuminate on the toggle switch? Mine had two that were broken inside of the switch causing a phantom issue.

 

[jondle]

Did you connect the wires in the dash?

Yes. These lights have been working for years and I'm getting 12V on a multimeter under the hood. I guess I can check the high-amp out of the relay and confirm I have continuity to the end under the hood to double check; I don't see how I would have voltage without continuity, but I'm not sure what to check next so I'll give it a whirl.

Sorry if I missed this in your troubleshooting, but does the light illuminate on the toggle switch? Mine had two that were broken inside of the switch causing a phantom issue.

I did not indicate, but the light on the switch is coming on. I also used a multimeter to measure at both the relay and where the high-amp line terminates on the passenger side to confirm 0V when switch is off and 12V when on.

 

[MTF]

Sorry I didn't see that you stated they working for a while.
I'm assuming you directly connected the pillar lights to the battery to make sure they work?
Are you tying the two ground wires from the lights together
and connecting to a good ground source like the battery ground on the passenger fender?
Are you using the up lifter switch as a trigger for a relay or just relaying on the switch to power the pillar lights?
And which up lifter switch are you using 1 or 2?

Best config
1 and 2 for direct power from up lifter switch.
3 and 4 up lifter switch for a trigger for a relay.

And there has been posts that even if the up lifter switch lights up, it can still be defective.

 

[jondle]

I'm assuming you directly connected the pillar lights to the battery to make sure they work?
Are you tying the two ground wires from the lights together
and connecting to a good ground source like the battery ground on the passenger fender?
Are you using the up lifter switch as a trigger for a relay or just relaying on the switch to power the pillar lights?
And which up lifter switch are you using 1 or 2?

Best config
1 and 2 for direct power from up lifter switch.
3 and 4 up lifter switch for a trigger for a relay.

And there has been posts that even if the up lifter switch lights up, it can still be defective.

Lights work when connected to battery and I just tested on upfitter #1 and they worked.
I haven't moved the ground at all in this troubleshooting, but since they work when connecting the hot, I don't think I'm failing to get ground on the lights. It is possible the high-amp line off the factory relay isn't grounding correctly, but that doesn't seem likely since the other three are.
I'm trying to get the lights to work on #3, which is rated for 15amps. These are 4.7" Vision-X Light Cannons, which are rated at 3.33 amps each. That coupled with the fact they've worked for years without blowing any fuses makes me think there shouldn't be an issue, but obviously there is so I'll try the extra relay.
Measuring voltage with the switch off and on shows 0V and 12V, so the existing switch and relay are working.

I'm on my way to the store to buy a relay and see if I can wire it direct to the battery and get the upfitter to trigger the relay. If that doesn't work, I'm going to merge these lights with my 40" bar on switch #1.

 

[B E N]

Try running continuity from the switch to the light on the power side (relay energized). If you have continuity there you know that isn't your problem and you can test from switch to battery, if that checks good try the ground side. You can keep breaking whatever circuit fails in half again and if necessary again until you find the failed circuit. This will be much faster than doing voltage tests on every component, and once you find the circuit that has failed you can just keep testing at closer and closer locations to your alligator clip so your only fiddling with one end. You will also see if you have some crazy amount of resistance in one of the circuits which will help you determine if you have a compromised wire, relay or switch. If you can't get continuity to pass with the relay in pull the relay and use the connectors there to run your test.

 

[jondle]

I couldn't find a relay without a manufacturers part number at O'Reily's so I ended up ordering some from Amazon. I finally got around to putting it in today and the lights are now working. Not sure why the extra relay was required, but as long as it works I'm good. Thanks for the help.

 

[No Brakes]

Sorry if I missed this in your troubleshooting, but does the light illuminate on the toggle switch? Mine had two that were broken inside of the switch causing a phantom issue.

I'm curious what your solution was to fix the broken switches in the cab. I have two aux switches (3 & 4) that are not lighting up when toggled on. I'm afraid I'm going to find dead wires behind the glove box =(