FJ40 turn signal troubleshooting (1 Viewer)

[Reeve Kook]

Hello, I have a 1973 FJ40, the problem I have is specifically the left side turn signals, both front, and rear. The right side works fine, but the left side blinks bright once then it makes another clack noise, and stays lit a little dimmer than the first blink, with the "clack" of the relay ceasing. I have a feeling it could be mix-matched wires, or possibly even the flasher relay. It is especially tricky because the PO did a half-assed paint job, and all the wires in the car are blue so it is hard to track which wires go where. Any thoughts on the subject is appreciated, thanks!

 

[Pighead]

you have a bad ground somewhere on the left side...

EDIT: Just a guess of course...

 

[Rock_Hugger]

Like mentioned above, bad ground or one of the bulbs are bad. What you describe is normal, don't over think it.

 

[Reeve Kook]

I just did some testing, the fender wasn’t grounded well to the car, I am going to try to sand the area down to bare metal. It’s funny because the relay doesn’t do anything now even on the right side. Could it be a bad ground to the relay?

 

[Pighead]

do your emergency flashers work?

 

[Reeve Kook]

Yes

 

[Reeve Kook]

but all other functions that use the directional are dead

 

[Pighead]

Yes

Then your flasher is good. Look at your turn signal stalk and the steering column, and the wiring between the stalk and the flasher...

 

[Curt]

You can always run a temp ground wire for trouble shooting. The front the rear fixtures ground through the hardware mounting it to the body. Dont forget to check ou the rears to.

 

[Reeve Kook]

I have the left side fender off right now, I am trying to remove the turn signal assembly, but it is rust welded to the fender big time, that probably is the problem. my turn signals don't work at all anymore, except for the emergency flashers, I think that is because of nothing being connected to the left front turn circuit. I heard somewhere there has to be some sort of current draw in order for the flasher relay to function. I forgot to mention, I don't know if this is important or not, but when the emergency flashers are on, on the gauge cluster, the left turn indicator seems to be dimmer than the right turn indicator. This could just be a simple case of the wrong bulb in the gauge cluster or frosted plastic covering the bulb though.