glowing blinker indicater
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
glowing blinker indicater
I got the car (78) back together and everything works fine. only problem is when i turn the parking lights or head lights on the left blinker indicater glows. Blinkers and parking lights work fine. Any idea what would cause this? Anywhere to look?
Thanks Mike S
Thanks Mike S
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,577
Likes: 2
From: Long Island New York
I had this problem on mine, it turned out to be the forward parking lamp harness was bad. There was a bad wire connection in the lamp socket that caused it to work off and on when you jiggled the wire on the back of the socket. I replaced the harness and it works perfectly now. I ordered both sides from Zip for about $27.00 plus shipping and replaced them both. It's very easy to do, just unplug the connector and remove the old wire, then plug in the new one, install the bulb and plug it back into the parking/turn signal lamp, piece of cake. You can switch the one on the right hand side to the left in order to make sure this is the problem first before buying the new pieces.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2005
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I already went through the conectors. They were real bad so I cut them out and soldered and heat shrinked the wires. Now blinkers work. Like I said every thing works fine. Just this light glows. It is not the instrement lights. The bulbs plug into the back of the cluster. Plus when you dim the lights down the only thing left is this dam indicater light.
Mike S
Mike S
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 339
Likes: 1
From: San Diego CA
On my car, the blinker wire runs from the indicator bulb to the steering column's blinker harness where it meets the front turn signal indicator's wire (left for left, right for right).
My money is on a bad connection inside that harness. It's kind of a pain to get to, and probably more of a pain to debug., but it's the source for that bulb's voltage.
I just realized that if what I just said is true, then your front blinker light should also be glowing a little.
That's what I'd check out next...
My money is on a bad connection inside that harness. It's kind of a pain to get to, and probably more of a pain to debug., but it's the source for that bulb's voltage.
I just realized that if what I just said is true, then your front blinker light should also be glowing a little.
That's what I'd check out next...
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Brett Foote
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 339
Likes: 1
From: San Diego CA
I just had another thought. Doesn't your car have a printed circuit for it's wiring on the back of the instrument panel? If so, it's also possible that one or more of the traces have touched. An ohm meter will tell you right away.
Good luck...
Good luck...
Pro
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 570
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From: glace bay nova scotia
i have the identical problem with mine, i am not going to invest in it tho.too close to getting it on the road.
by any chance,did you have the speedometer apart??i did and i was wondering if i frigged it up.
by any chance,did you have the speedometer apart??i did and i was wondering if i frigged it up.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 29
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blinker or parking lights on the out side don't glow. it only happens when they are on. I never had the speedometer apart but i did have the cluster out to change the bulbs. Going to try and debug it this weekend, Seems like there is never enough time during the week. I kind of think it is back feeding from one of the parkinging lights. I will check the steering coulume conector.
Mike
Mike
Pro
Joined: Dec 2004
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From: glace bay nova scotia
i had mine out for general cleanup too,all lights are working normally with no exceptions.
my thought is that maybe light is getting in around the fixture somehow therefore just letting it appear to glow i never put a meter on the lead or pulled it back out to check for voltage cause it's too hard to access
my thought is that maybe light is getting in around the fixture somehow therefore just letting it appear to glow i never put a meter on the lead or pulled it back out to check for voltage cause it's too hard to access
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,804
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From: Standing still with all my might Texas
Cruise-In X Veteran
St. Jude Donor '09-'11
It may be a longshot, but check the 1157 bulb in the taillight. If it has been forced in backward the contacts could be creating an open circuit to the blinker indicator.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 11,874
Likes: 263
From: Arlington Va Current ride 04 vert, previous vettes: 69 vert, 77 resto mod
Originally Posted by Perfomer
Check your grounds You are feeding back through the turn signal.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Apr 2005
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Found the problem. Found 3.5 volts on the positive to the indicater only when the parking lights where on. Checked everywhere. It was the simplest thing. Had the wrong bulb to high wattage in the side marker light. Some how it was back feeding a little voltage to the blinker circit. Put a smaller bulb in and evrything is fine. I think the tuffest part of cars is figuring out there circits. And I'm an electrican, Give me ac anytime.
Mike
Mike
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 142
Likes: 15
From: Austin TX
Corvette Central sold me a poster-sized wiring diagram for my '79 a few years back. It's made figuring out funky electrical problems MUCH easier than using the multi-page, poorly reproduced diagrams in the Chilton's I've got ...
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 29,745
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From: Exiled to Richmond, VA - Finally sold my house in Murfreesboro, TN ?? Corner of "Bumf*&k and 'You've got a purdy mouth'."
CI 6-7-8 Veteran
CI-VIII Burnout Champ
St. Jude Donor '06-'10, '13
Glad you found the problem.
Now I can post the answer I was going to give and not feel like a jerk for doing so.
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It's glowing because you are low on blinker fluid.
High Quality Synthetic Blinker Fluid-
Are you blinkers sluggish? Do they make an annoying ticking noise? Do they not flash fast enough? Here's your solution. Little do people know, blinker fluid should be changed every 150,000 blinks! KaleCo high quality synthetic blinker fluid meets the highest D.O.T. standards! KaleCo blinker fluid provides you with thousands of hours of reliable blinking without the wear and tear on the flash-synchro's that the other blinker fluids cause! KaleCo blinker fluid will not lose its viscosity, even in the most extreme situations! Why buy that old dino-blinker fluid, when you can get our unique patented synthetic formula? Satisfaction guaranteed!! For use in any car."
http://www.kalecoauto.com/
Now I can post the answer I was going to give and not feel like a jerk for doing so.
---------------------------------------------
It's glowing because you are low on blinker fluid.
High Quality Synthetic Blinker Fluid-
Are you blinkers sluggish? Do they make an annoying ticking noise? Do they not flash fast enough? Here's your solution. Little do people know, blinker fluid should be changed every 150,000 blinks! KaleCo high quality synthetic blinker fluid meets the highest D.O.T. standards! KaleCo blinker fluid provides you with thousands of hours of reliable blinking without the wear and tear on the flash-synchro's that the other blinker fluids cause! KaleCo blinker fluid will not lose its viscosity, even in the most extreme situations! Why buy that old dino-blinker fluid, when you can get our unique patented synthetic formula? Satisfaction guaranteed!! For use in any car."
http://www.kalecoauto.com/
Last edited by BSeery; Jun 26, 2005 at 10:35 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 3,407
Likes: 2
From: Carmichael CA
The Chilton's electrical diagrams are crappy, but their vacuum routing diagrams for smog and stuff is excellent. On the other hand the Haynes manual has very detailed electical schematics and includes one for each year there was a change of any kind...it's a must buy for anyone working on their electrical system. The Haynes manual though has poor vacuum routing diagrams...I think they just have like three general system images.
Of course some of those books just use copies of the diagrams included in the Assembly and Installation Manual (AIM) and GM repair manuals for their year.
Oh, and I tried the Blinker Fluid, but it didn't taste as good as the dino stuff
Of course some of those books just use copies of the diagrams included in the Assembly and Installation Manual (AIM) and GM repair manuals for their year.
Oh, and I tried the Blinker Fluid, but it didn't taste as good as the dino stuff