When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Greetings everyone! The white cornering lights below the amber turn signal flashers have stopped working on both sides on my C3. They worked fine up until about a week ago. I pulled the bulbs and they look fine, but just as an extra check I installed other bulbs that I know work and they did not come on when the turn signals were activated. All signal flashers on the front and rear work fine when activated with the hazard switch, however when using the turn signal stalk, they do come on but flash rapidly. That tells me the current is higher causing the rapid flashing because the car thinks those cornering light bulbs are burned out, but they are not. If the fuse was blown I would expect none of the turn signals to work, so I don't believe that is the issue. Is there another relay or part that regulates the cornering lights with the turn signals? I am thinking maybe the flasher unit or the flasher in the fuse box, but is it possible for either of those to malfunction to where the flashers work and the cornering lights do not come on? Thank you in advance for any guidance and suggestions.
So I gotta ask. Do you have any LEDs in your car? It's fine if you do, but there may be some extra steps to make them work .I have 100% LEDs in my 80, and the cornering lights still work.
If you didn't make any changes recently, I'd look at fuses, and then something in your steering column, or under the dash.
Originally Posted by Bikespace
Perhaps you've noticed, almost all cars on the road have daytime running lights. Where I live, it is unusual to see a car that does not, which renders cars without DRLs partially invisible. I've nearly had my car wrecked by someone who pulled out in front of my "invisible" car, and I took to driving around with my headlights up and on all the time. Unfortunately, the clean lines of a C3 are ruined by the headlights (they are super cool, though, I do not want FIA style, or any other recessed headlights). I tried running just the parking lights, but the stock, dim, corner lights are pretty poor.
Fortunately, in my 80, they are 1157 bulbs, the same as in the tail lights. I picked up a set of 1157 LED white/amber "switchback" bulbs, which are intended to be used as DRL/turn signal bulbs. I expected them NOT to work, and I was not disappointed. Due too the way the 80's lights are wired, they stayed amber all the time, and broke the turn signal function entirely.
But there's a fix! First off, I hadn't inserted them correctly. In my 80's very old sockets, I had to first remove some goop, and then I had to really jam the bulbs in there with a towel, and force them into the correct bayonet orientation. An important tip, but that didn't fix it. The problem is the corner marker lights.
It gets even better in 80, which adds cornering lights, so the diagram is even more convoluted. Fortunately, the cornering lights do not interfere, but the marker lights require current to flow in either direction at different times, and it provides a current path to amber side of the LED at all times. Not a problem for an incandescent 1157. @Richard454's solution is a CustomLED Blinker Genie. I have them on order, and I fully expect them to solve my problem. I also ordered some amber 194 LED bulbs to replace the marker lights, which should give me brighter turn signals. I'll post a video when all of these items arrive. In the meantime, my front DRL/turn signal switchbacks work just fine with the removal of the side marker bulbs.
Here's a brightness comparison. The big problem with the 80 is that the lenses are amber. I should 3D print some clear lenses to replace them, and the effect would be even more striking.
Stock on the left (starboard side of car), switchback 1157 in white mode on the right (port side of car).
Thanks for the 1980 wiring diagram, that is big help. The corner marker lights and the 1157 directional/parking lamps and wiring are pretty much the same as my 73 and probably most (if not all) C3's. Those cornering lights is where we part. Anyway, the cornering lights have their own circuit. The driver side feed is orange and the pass side feed is black/white wire. There is no other relay or other component for the cornering lights function, they are fed 12V directly from the directional switch. Now the cornering lamp switch in the steering column has its own 12V feed from the headlight switch via a brown wire. You can probably get to that connector along the steering column but I dont know 1980 C3's so someone more familiar with this car can tell you where to find that connector. One thing I cant tell from the diagram is if that brown wire feeds 12V to the cornering circuit when the headlight switch is on, off or both. I would start there, at that connector. Look for the brown, orange, black/white wires. The diagram is not clear on the switch function but I suspect the cornering lights come on only when the light switch is on. Knowing that would be helpful in going to the next steps.
The brown wire provides power to the cornering lamp switch, so the cornering circuit will only work when the parking lights (at least) are on. The cornering lamp switch is part of the turn signal switch in the steering column. A good first step would be to test for power in the harmonica connector. The cornering circuit shares the black ground with the front harness, and gets power from the black/white wire (Starboard) and orange wire (Port). Check those at the harmonica.
Since this suddenly changed, it is likely that your cornering lamp switch has failed, or it isn't getting power from the brown wire.
A 12V test probe is helpful for this. I use one that is sharp enough to pierce insulation, to test wires in service, without needing to strip insulation, or only test at a connector.
cornering lights have stopped working
