Left side lights always on

[Necromancer]

What does it mean when you left side indicators, front and rear, stay on when the car is on or key turn to auxiliary?

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

If they do it regardless of the key position, it means you left your turn signal on. The "parking light" feature confuses lots of people.

If they only do it with the key in "on", it probably means you have some wiring messed up somewhere. If it didn't do that before some work (like replacing a light bulb, or anything at all done by a body shop) that work is the most immediate suspect.

--DD

[Necromancer]

Thanks, DD.

I did have some work done on the car, recently - valve adjustment, new points, etc.

That's the only change (other than washing it) before noticing the problem with the left side running lights or static blinkers...

Another interesting issue is that the tach is dead, also. It worked while on the way back from the shop, so I doesn't seem to be associated with any work done there.

One other note: the curb lights do not work - interesting.

I pulled the relays, too. Left side light still remain lit when the key is turned to accessory for the car is running. 9 fuse is good, btw. Everything else works...

Sigh...where do I begin?

NEC

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

You may not have hooked up the tach signal wire after replacing the points. There's a black/purple wire (black with purple stripe) that connects to the (-) side of the coil, the same one that the green points wire connects to, that carries the signal to the tach. The purple can fade after many years and almost look black.

Don't confuse it with the black/red wire that gets hooked to the (+) terminal of the coil; that's the one that powers the coil. It is thicker than the tach signal wire.

I can't think of anything you might mess with in the engine bay that would cause the lights to stay on, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were something. Double-check everything you touched.

Look at the light bulbs on the left side of the car, both front and rear. Look inside the sockets; check for corrosion, and make sure that you have dual-filament bulbs in sockets with two prongs down in the bottom, and single-filament bulbs in sockets with only one prong down inside the bottom of the socket.

--DD

[Necromancer]

Just wanted to report back in case this helps someone else...

So, the tach was dead. Sent to Hartmut at Palo Alto Speedo...great work, all fixed.

Left side light issue was just a loose connection at the headlight switch...just a wiggle and problem solved.

Now i just need to figure out how to make the curb lights work consistently. I suspect a loose connection somewhere as they DO function occasionally, but where to start...? Relay, switch?

Thanks all for the help. I'd be lost without this wonderful place.

NEC