Blinker on solid on one side no matter what I do.... (1 Viewer)

[emac]

My 77 FJ40 has been pretty flawless electrically since the restoration. I went through the entire harness replacing every connector that looked bad.

Today, I left the car idling and when I came back the driver side blinkers were on. Not flashing, just on. Dash light was solid on as well. I moved the blinker lever a few times back and forth. Nothing helped. I messed with the hazard switch and the problem went away. I figured it was something in the hazard switch. Parked it and came back and the right side blinkers were on solid. Car is off.

I played with the hazard again and nothing would make them turn off. I unplugged the flasher, the hazard switch. Still on. I started pulling fuses. Still on. The only thing that will turn them off is to disconnect the battery.

The only thing I can think of is corrosion in a harness connector. I am going to try checking them next. I checked the grounds on the fenders and frame. Maybe water got into a connector??

Any thoughts?

 

[emac]

Well, thanks for listening. After further investigation I think it is the Hazard switch or a bad connection in the brown connectors coming out of the firewall on the passenger side. The panic feeling of something really crazy is gone.

What do people who dont work on cars do for excitement? What a boring life they must live.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

IIRC The rear harness is grounded to the frame, on the passenger side, around the rear of the tcase.

You might check/clean that ground point.

When I received my new rear harness, there were two connectors swapped, in the 6-pin, at the firewall....

One wire was the ground, I mentioned, above, the other wire was the tail light wire...

These swapped connectors resulted in the frame being energized, thru the ground point, above, when the tail lights were on.

Everything worked fine, except the turn signals... One or the other was always solid... Not blinking.

It took me a bit of troubleshooting to find and fix the culprit.

So, I guess what I'm saying is... It's possible your frame is being energized... Perhaps by a bare wire touching the frame...

 

[emac]

Thanks, that confirms what I think. . I think the connector at the firewall was the issue. Cleaned it real good and everything is working again. The ground at the tranny is good. Thanks again for the info.

 

[thebigredrocker]

I'll be. I was thinking it had to be switch related. How was it getting power with the switch off?

 

[emac]

Heck if I know. I had the hazard switch unplugged, the relay out and was taking all the fuses out and the blinker was still on. It wasnt until I unplugged the brown harness connecoters that things started to get better. Crazy, I guess something was grounding with a constant.

Seems fine now, but I am not certain this story is over!

 

[mrboatman]

Electrical problems can be a pain in the a, rear,
Good Luck
JP

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

Sounds like a bad ground or bad blinker relay. Did u swap to led bulbs or have bulbs burned out? That will also mess with a stock relay. I swapped to an electronic relay off amazon that has a built in ground. Will flash with led bulbs. I would get one new relay and test. From my recollection there are 2 relays, one for blinkers and one for hazards. I may be wrong.

 

[emac]

As best I can tell on my 77 there is only one relay. I am using regular bulbs. I really think it was a bad connection in the wire harness, or possibly the hazard switch. Seems to be fine now. Thanks.

 

[emac]

Just thought I would update this thread in case someone else has this same issue. I think the final fix was removing the hazard switch, taking it apart and cleaning all the internal contacts. I haven't had the problem since.

 

[Humpst]

Just thought I would update this thread in case someone else has this same issue. I think the final fix was removing the hazard switch, taking it apart and cleaning all the internal contacts. I haven't had the problem since.

Hey EMAC
I've been trying to read all the threads on my blinker issue and not having any luck.
The right rear blinker won't work.
Left side works fine, both blinker and hazard.
Right front comes on and blinks once and stays on.
All other lights on right side work.(driving, reverse and brake)
I have checked ground at right rear taillight and midway back frame on passenger side. I also rebuilt hazard switch last night and everything still the same.
Looking for other options? Could it be flasher? Could it be blinker switch on column?
I'm going crazy trying to find issue!
Thanks for any assistance from anyone.

 

[emac]

Could be the flasher, tap on it and see if it starts to click. I would check the ground on the front blinker as well as the socket and bulb. Turn the right blinker on and check for power at front and rear. Jiggle wires and see what you come up with. Post where you have power.

 

[thebigredrocker]

Even though both fronts and the rear left are working, you might try freshening up those grounds. In the front, make sure the fenders are well grounded to the frame and tub. Also clean up the ground where the front housings bolt to the fender.

Could also scuff up the bulb sockets and bulb bases.

you can also make or buy a tool to remove and scuff the spade connectors that attach rear harness to main harness near the blower motor.

Here’s a good explanation from coolerman

Be aware that the flasher is a CURRENT driven device. That means that it MUST have at least 1.3 amps of current flowing through it BEFORE it will flash. What this means to the end user is that at least TWO bulbs must be lit before there is enough current to cause the flasher to flash. That is why the Hazards almost always work as it turns on all four bulbs. The turn signal only flashes two bulbs.

So...
If your battery is low (below 12.5 volts)
Your harness has bad grounds at the lights (high resistance)
Your bulb sockets are corroded (high resistance)
Your bulbs are the wrong type (not enough current flow)
Your turn signal switch is dirty (high resistance)
Your connections between any of these are dirty (high resistance)
Your flasher relay is defective (very possible if OEM) CityRacer sells an NEW OEM replacement or you can order one of my LED flasher kits (you do not have to use LED bulbs if you don't want to. It will flash normal bulbs also)
Your flasher relay works but has dirty relay contacts (high resistance)

If any, all, or some of the above apply...Your turn signals will NOT flash!

These high resistances add up quickly. If there were no resistances in the turn signal circuit you would have battery voltage (+12.7 volts) AT THE LIGHTS! The voltage readings posted above show a lot of resistance in the circuit. Just think about the path the current must take to reach the rear turn bulb. The key switch contacts, the fuse block fuse contacts, the turn/hazard switch contacts, the flasher contacts and all the bullet connectors and wire it must pass through, then finally the bulb sockets contacts, and last the ground connection. If you would clean everyone of these areas properly, you should see that voltage go up.

Another thing about voltage: Incandescent bulbs are rated at battery voltage for their rated lumen output. The lower the voltage at the bulb, the dimmer the light. A bulb rated at 13.2 volts will be how much dimmer at 10 volts? This is why the headlight relay harnesses were invented: to get the voltage at the head lights as high as possible for the brightest lights.

OEM colors for turn signals
Green = Park
Green/Orange (early) or Green/Black (later) = LEFT Turn
Green/Yellow = Right Turn
Green/Blue = Turn switch to flasher (L) to bulbs
Green/White or Green/Red Flasher (B) +12V

 

[BeerM3]

Hey EMAC
I've been trying to read all the threads on my blinker issue and not having any luck.
The right rear blinker won't work.
Left side works fine, both blinker and hazard.
Right front comes on and blinks once and stays on.
All other lights on right side work.(driving, reverse and brake)
I have checked ground at right rear taillight and midway back frame on passenger side. I also rebuilt hazard switch last night and everything still the same.
Looking for other options? Could it be flasher? Could it be blinker switch on column?
I'm going crazy trying to find issue!
Thanks for any assistance from anyone.

Might be a dumb question (never stopped me before) but have you checked to see if you're using the same model bulb on both sides? I believe I've read about others having resistance issues with certain bulb numbers/manufacturers even though they fit. You've probably already read through it but there's good info in this thread.

What year is your '40? Mine is a '76 and like a lot of people my turn signal issues were at least partly related my hazard switch and corroded contacts inside it.

 

[Coolerman]

The hazard switch ALWAYS has power to it. That is why you can turn on the Hazards even with the key off.

HUMPST:

To figure this out:
Unplug the two firewall connectors that connect the rear chassis harness to the main cowl harness. Find the FEMALE connector that has a Green/Black (left turn) and a Green/Yellow (right turn) wire in it. Turn on the hazard lights and see if the Green/Yellow wire terminal has +12V on it. If it does not then the problem is the Hazard switch or the wire between the Hazard switch and the firewall connector.

If it DOES have +12V on it, plug that connector back up to the rear chassis harness, go to the rear right turn light and use your meter to see if the contact inside the bulb socket has +12V. If it does not then you have a broken wire in the rear chassis harness. If you do have +12V then you have a bad bulb or the light housing is not grounded.