Front Passenger Turn Signal Not flashing

[jpilcher]

Hi Guys

I've got a strange one for you. I have owned the car for a month.

I am having a problem with fuses blowing for passenger side parking/turn signals.
Took front passenger side turn signal assembly apart. Previous owner had wires arranged incorrectly. I checked driver side assembly.

I corrected as per drivers side. Parking lights work both sides without blowing.
Passenger side rear flashes quickly, passenger side front stays on solid, but does not flash. Fuse does not blow.

Going to check leads with volt meter, next.

Any help would appreciated.

John

[mreid]

You didn't say what year or type of bulb, but it sounds like a bad ground in the front passenger side. When a dual filament bulb lacks a ground, the two filaments then short across the parking light and turn signal lines.

[mreid]

Also, fast flashing when using a mechanical flasher unit (like your Porsche probably has) is caused by too much current draw through the flasher. Again, this sounds like a ground issue in the front passenger side. Good luck!

[jpilcher]

Thanks Mark

Car is a 88 930 Targa.

I double check all the connections. I took the light assembly apart and sanded all the connection points. Reassembled still no turn signal.

I checked the wires with a voltmeter. Grey-Wire Red Stripe pulses .2, .3, 4. Volts and repeats with signal on. Black White Stripe read 0 Volts with signal on.

Parking Lights on Greywire Red Stripe 11.9 Volts. Black Wire White Stripe 0 Volts

Going to double check Driver side to see what voltage values are.

Not sure what Black White Stripe does. Is it a ground wire?

I'll take a picture tomorrow. Any others leads would be appreciated.

Regards

John

[dshepp806]

Make sure you've the correct bulb....!

Get the Bentley on order.....will look for your pics tomorrow..do verify those grounds (as noted)...

Best!

Doyle

[jpilcher]

Bulbs are correct. It is a double filament bulb. I even tried bulb from driver's side.
Did not work. I have the 930 Workshop manual. I have doubled checked the wiring diagram. Looks like ground wire goes to headlight assembly and then back to Turn Signal Flasher. Should I try running a bypass ground to battery to see if that works?

Thanks Guys

John

[dshepp806]

Any ground bypass test could prove productive,..should one not ohm out the paths on the present ground integrity.


BEST!

Doyle

[jpilcher]

Will check ohm resistance on ground wires tomorrow.

Just as a sidenote. Checked different lighting combinations.
Noticed passenger front does not work when hazard lights on.

Will also double check rear passenger bulb. I replaced this about 3 weeks ago.


Thanks for info.

John

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by jpilcher

I have the 930 Workshop manual. I have doubled checked the wiring diagram.

I am looking at the Bentley manual for the 88-89 (911) lights. It shows the black/white wire going to the side marker - piggy backing off the grey/red wire.

You have not mentioned a black/green wire. That is for the turn signals I am pretty sure and it is fed from fuse 10. Are you seeing that one?

The rear blinker light picks up juice just upstream of fuse 10. If the rear blinker is working and the front is not, check the juice from fuse ten to the front blinker socket.

Also, when the right rear blinks do BOTH filaments in the front right bulb glow when the lights are on? I don't see how both the front blinker and driving (parking) lights can be solid on when the rear is flashing given the flasher unit is upstream of both front and rear blinkers lights.

Edit - PM me your e-mail and I will send you the diagram I am looking at if you think it would help.

[jpilcher]

Hi Bob

Thanks for the heads up on the blinker fuse 10, I double checked the fuse and it had a hair line split. Replaced the fuse, passenger front blinker now works.
Only problem is when I turn on the head lights front passenger light does not blink. It stays solid. Blinker works with fog lights turned on both sides.
Lights front and back are blinking fast on passenger side, driver side is normal.
Front side marker lights are not working, but I think it is the bulbs. I will replace these tomorrow. Backs are working.

I performed the Ohm Resistance test on each of the wires passenger side.
All wires zeroed out except for the black with white stripe.
It showed 1, meaning bad ground.

I performed Ohm Resistance test on drivers side all wires zeroed out.

From what I have read in other threads this goes back to the headlight bucket.
What is best way to fix this? Open up headlight and check ground connection?
Or run new ground wire?

Here is a picture of parking light assembly.

Thanks everyone for the help!

[gsxrken]

Sub'd. I have exact same issue. Hurry up and solve it.

[timmy2]

Open your headlight(s) and check all grounds.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by jpilcher

I performed the Ohm Resistance test on each of the wires passenger side.
All wires zeroed out except for the black with white stripe.
It showed 1, meaning bad ground.

I performed Ohm Resistance test on drivers side all wires zeroed out.

This is getting interesting.

My 81 is exactly like yours. The black white wire IS the blinker wire based on the 81 diagram and I checked it with a multi-meter when blinking to confirm. It connects on the top of the two filament bulb and is also fed from my Fuse 10. Does your B/W wire connect on the top?

What I did do is have the bulb pulled while running the blinker test and there was no difference in blinker frequency. FWIW.

I will check the resistance test on that blinker wire to see if it zero's out. Bet it does. May mean you have a short rather than a bad ground on the B/W wire. A short is a good ground in the wrong place, right?

Probably explain why Fuse ten pops.

[jpilcher]

My fuse 10 seems okay for the moment. Has not popped since replacing the fuse.
Black wire white stripe is on bottom terminal. Shouldn't make a difference I wouldn't think. I am going to replace the black wire white strip with a new ground
running from bottom terminal to neg battery terminal. I will do a test wire first to see if that works. I will keep you posted. Almost there!

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by jpilcher

Black wire white stripe is on bottom terminal. Shouldn't make a difference I wouldn't think.

Only difference I can think is the blinker filament glows more brightly than the running lights in normal operation.

Are we on the same page that the Black / white stripe wire is the blinker wire? Hey, I could be wrong but do you think it is a ground wire?

[donagain1]

I don't know if the '88 works the same way, but on my '85 there's a "feature" which lights the turn signal filament (front and rear) steadily when the stalk switch is thrown in whichever particular direction and the ignition switch is in the off position. It's purportedly for when you're temporarily stopped on the side of a road and want to have a steady lamp lit to show the outer boundary of the car. Given this, it's possible that you'd see an odd condition with your VOM when testing for what's on which lead IF you left the stalk switch to one side or another and were simply switching on and off the ignition to remove the battery source. Digital VOMs give a weird reading if you have it in the ohms position to look for a ground and you place it ontp a 12V source. The old analog meters would peg the needle one way or another with authority if you did this, but the digi's are somewhat different.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by donagain1

I don't know if the '88 works the same way, but on my '85 there's a "feature" which lights the turn signal filament (front and rear) steadily when the stalk switch is thrown in whichever particular direction.

I had no idea what that function was for on my 81. Thanks and see para below for a surprise.

I have been getting way more deep into this than I should be and have been scoping which filament burns when whatever is engaged. That said, when you turn the key off and push the blinker in one direction or another it is the parking/driving light elements that light up and not the blinker element - (front and rear). The side marker comes on, too.

[Bob Kontak]

One more post than I promise I will shut up.

The black white feeds the blinker.

The gray red feeds the driving lights.

One of the stub male plugs in the back of the housing feeds the side marker. The other stub takes the ground.

Is there any way the ground wire from the side of the reflector socket backside could be connected to the side marker stub vs the ground stub?

The right and left sides are wired different to facilitate the socket position. B/W on top on passenger side and the reverse on the driver's side. They are not wired the same - they are the same but different position. The tall filament is the driving light The short filament is the blinker. Blinker is much brighter.

The black green wire I spoke of is no where to be seen in my passenger side bucket and my diagram says it s/b black and green as well as the 88 diagram. I don't get that one.

[donagain1]

I'm with you, Bob... gotten in w-a-y too deep. I'm going crosseyed tracing my wiring diagram without a magnifying glass. Yes, you are correct... the stalk switch hots up tem #58 when thrown, and that traces to the side marker fuse #6. I'm going to go hit golf balls.

[jpilcher]

Well my headlights, parking lights, and signal lights are all fully functioning.
I switched the positions of the black white stripe wire and the gray red stripe wires. It made all the difference, passenger signal light blinks at normal speed now. Signal lights function correctly with head lights on.
I am very happy. Now I just have to get some new bulbs for the front side markers. Anybody have a part number?