Infuriating turn signal problem...long...

[Rick Lee]

After a wonderful drive with some Pelicanheads on Saturday, feeling great and having solved my hanging idle problem in under 2 minutes with a zip tie, my day and good mood were shattered when my right front turn signal short returned after 6 mos. of working correctly. I have had two pro wrenches stumped by this and fixed it myself in December by jiggling the contacts inside the signal assembly.

When I looked at the fuse box, sure enough, fuse (5A) number 10 was blown. Since these fuses are hard to come by and I have only two left, I went ahead and opened up the right front assembly before putting another fuse in. Sure enough, one connector was completely off. I reconnected it, threw in a new fuse and got on the road. This time the green signal indicator in the tachometer was so dim I could not see it blink with my sunglasses on. But it did blink at the proper speed. I got to my girlfriend's house and looked at the right front blinker, which was not blinking. Rear was very dim. I opened the trunk and the fuse was not blown. I open the right rear assembly and checked it out. All bulbs were fine and working correctly. I opened the right front assembly and ANOTHER connector had come off. This time I took them all off, squeezed them a little with needlenose pliers and put them all back on. I even swapped the fuse again, just in case.

When I tried it out, I got the real fast blinking, this time the green indicator was bright, the right front was not blinking at all and the right rear was blinking in double time. I am at a total loss here and this just drives me nuts. Nothing is more frustrating than electrical gremlins. Why is this not blowing the fuse and what do I try next? Please help. Thanks.

[jpachard]

Sounds to me like you need to replace your turn signal stalk assy. I had a similar problem with my high low beams and my turn signals. I replaced the stalk and all problems have vanished(so far).

Cheers, James

[Rick Lee]

I replaced my turn signal stalk less than a year ago! What the hell is this? I can't sleep at night - it's driving me nuts!

[mhackney]

I just went through a similar situation with my 70S this weekend. I needed to get all my lights/signals working for a MASS safety inspection. Everytime I would get some working, others would fail! I also noticed the dim/bright issue both on the dash and at the light itself and I noticed the increase/decrease in flash frequency.

Well, to make a long story short, I discovered that all of the terminal connectors were tarnished and the brass contacts for the bulbs were tarnished. I also learned that these contacts were not providing enough spring tension on the bulb to make good contact. In fact, in one of my rear reverse lights, the phenolic base the contact was mounted on was broken and the contact was just "floating"!

Here's what I did:

1) I replaced EVERY bulb with a new one - that way I knew I would have clean contacts on the bulb and consistant lighting. Cost $10.

2) I used a Dremel tool with a small bufer wheel and some copper poslish and polished the contacts inside each socket.

3) I had to completely remove the right rear indicator unit in order to get at the broken contact. While I was there I polished all of the contacts too. I fixed the broken phenolic base with epoxy and reinforced it with a small piece of 1/8" plexiglass glued on behind.

4) This was the "magic" step: I used a small screw driver and very carefully reached in to each socket and bent the brass contact forward so that it would provide better contact with the bulb base.

I checked everything before buttoning it up and all of the lights were equally bright. The turn signal flashes at a pleasing pace and is bright - and the same for left & right.

I finished up by putting on the lens covers and all seems to be well.

Michael

[PDACPA]

I too am having the intermitent working turn signals. Brand new bulbs and they work then I check them a few days later and they are not working.

My turn signals on my tach are bright and work normal. It appears to be just the side turn signals that I have the problem with.

I may just buy the scoups that replace those and add more cooling to solve the problem!

My license plate light constantly goes out...and seems to get hot when it does as the clear plastic looks foggy or melted. Anyone know whats up with that?


I will try the polishing contacts solution.

[Allan Broadribb]

One other thing to do is make sure the lights are properly grounded to the car.

[PDACPA]

Allen how do u check for the grounding?

You part of Suncoast PCA?

[mhackney]

The best way is with a volt meter. However, you can also check for ground with a 12v light bulb connected to 2 leads. Attach 1 lead to the '+' terminal on a socket (an aligator clip attached to the lead is handy for this) clip the other lead on to the taillight or front indicator light's metal housing (the part that s supposed ot be grounded). If you have a bad ground, the light will not light up. Move the ground wire around touching bare metal surfaces (screw heads and such) until you get a circuit.

One of my rear indicators had a broken ground wire (there is a ground wire in the wiring harness that is supposed to attach to the signal housing). Simply reattaching that wire made my dimming rear light problem dissapear. Even with a broken ground wire, things will sometimes work since the body is metal and there is usually some form of metal-to-metal contact to the signal housings. The problem is that these connections are subject to corrosion, moisture and even bumps in the road!

Don't ask me about the Lucas (prince of darkness) electrical system in my ex-MG!!!

Michael

[Allan Broadribb]

That will work - I just took a piece of wire and grounded it from the light frame to the chassis.

But Lucas instruments! - I always liked the way the speedometer waved back and forth between 35 and 50 mph - instrument was not exactly the word I'd use to describe it - instrument implies accuracy.

Old joke - why do the British drink warm beer - because the refrigerators are made by Lucas!

[targa911man]

Richard--

Don't overlook the indicator bulbs and sockets in the tach. Although I haven't had a similar problem to yours, I did notice some tarnishing in these contacts when I had my tach out over the weekend.

[724doorE]

Could be worse! The Prince of Darkness himself could have engineered the system!


LUCAS

[Jdub]

Are you absolutely SURE you are hooking the ground wire to the ground "terminal" that is formed directly on the side of the bulb holding assembly?

It is easy to miss since it does not look like a spade terminal. Simply put, all of your wires threading through the bucket into the recess should be connected to a terminal. If any single one is not hooked up, it is probably because it does not appear there is a place for the spade end, but there is...

Email me directly if you have any questions.

John

[Rick Lee]

Yes, I did make sure that was connected, though it had come off. I thought that was the problem until I reconnected it (after scrubbing with a wire brush) and still had the problem.