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Right side turn signal problem

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Luke_Healey

Luke_Healey

Jedi Trainee
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My '66 Sprite has an issue with the turn signal circuit on the passenger (righthand) side. When you flip the turn signal lever up, the lamp on the dash breifly illuminates once and then does not illuminate any longer. The front and rear signals both blink, but you don't get that reassuring click-click from the blinker under the hood.

Then, when the parking lights are turned on, the turn lights no longer blink, but they do illuminate solid.

I started by taking apart the turn signal switch on the steering column and verified that it's working properly (I flip-floped the wires to the left and right side to verify this.) Then I pulled the rear right signal lens off to verify that the bulb socket was clean and the whole tail lamp housing was getting a good ground, which it is. Then I pulled the front turn signal/parking lamp housing to do the same.

Since the blinking stops when you turn the parking lights on, I thought maybe the parking lamp and signal lamp were wired backwards or something, so I pulled off the grille and got into the wiring up under the nose of the car. Everything is wired correctly, I think.

This is where my main question comes in... Are the parking lamp and turn signal circuits completely isolated? And since mine both affect the other, where might I look for shorts or miswiring? The wires that come out of the front parking lamp housing are a red one and a green/white one.

Thanks for any help.
 
possible a bad earth
do a bit of trial and error before you start ripping things appart
try without any globes try swapping globes
etc
havnt got access to my manual at the moment but im sure some one will tell you how the circiuts are run
youll just have to work your way through the system
even check with park lights diconnected
hope this helps
 
With the front parking lights disconnected, the turn signals do not work. This was the confusing part to me.

So it's sort of like it's pulling a ground from somewhere it shouldn't be (ie: through the other filiment or something like that...)

However, the parking lamp and turn signal would share the same ground (the body of the car) via the lamp housing.
 
Sounds like classic poor grounding. Clean the fasteners at all four corners and the bulb bases/sockets. Something to keep in mind is: all the assemblies are made of several different metals and corrosion can occur between the studs and housing, the socket and housing, too. A VOM to check for good ground continuity is a real help.
 
Might also be a bad flasher. Are the lights full brightness? If so, it's probably not a bad ground or other connection. If not, it probably is.
 
My guess is a bad flasher unit. Any 3 prong flasher will work.
The flasher is what sends the power to the lamp. If it's weak or has a bad connection, not enough juice goes to the lamp.
Also double check those grounds. The lamps ground to the body, paint, undercoat, rust, all that has to be cleaned to bare metal where the lamps bolt on. Or run a new ground to the lamp bolt and see if that helps.
The front main grounds are at the flasher unit (mounting screw) and on the right hand inner fender.
 
May as well put a new flasher unit in. You can get them at Walmart automotive section for like $3...standard 3 prong. Since the left side works fine, makes me start thinking about bad ground. I had a hard time getting good grounds for my front and rear flashers so I actually made ground wires that I bolt with the flasher studs/screws. Quick check is to run a lead directly to the battery. Good luck...
 
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