Pops Toy Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Hello everyone. My name is Chris from Orlando, Florida. I'm new to FGMC and am glad I found this site. I've been reading lots of posts before posting myself. All the people here really do seem to know their stuff and are friendly about sharing which is a rare thing to find. I will add some pics and descriptions later as I get more familiar with using the site. Looking forward to being part of this community. I have a 70 Monte Carlo with numbers matching block mostly restored with some modifications. I'm having a problem though with my front turn signals and flashers not working. Also, my dome light not working as well. My rear turn signals and flashers work fine and even the turn signal lights in the dash board work fine too. Does anyone know if the headlight switch could be the main problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VE3HZZ Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Hey and first Now on to the problem. So the rear turn signal and 4 way flashers work but the front turn signals and 4 ways do not. Do the front and rear parking lights work? If the rear do and the front don't could be a ground issue either THERE or up the chain and include checking the high/low dimmer switch on the floor. Dome light, well that could be the bulb even if it looks fine check it with re Ohm meter for continuity. If it does not work at all but the bulb is fine then go to the switch to check power for the interior light as it controls it as well as the door. The 2 could be the ground strap from the switch and may need to take off the dash cap to look and see. Report back what you find and we can maybe offer some other suggestions. Regards Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 start with checking your bulbs (always start with the easiest thing!) there are plugs near the core support for the front turn signals, you could unplug them and test with a test light or volt meter to make sure you are getting power to them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 With your indicators in the cluster working that eliminates the turn signal switch because they are wired to the front turn signal circuit. If the parking lights work in the front that eliminates the ground. Check the bulbs and check for power with the turn signal on at the connector by the core support on both sides. The right side is the dark blue wire and left is light blue. One tidbit of advice though. If you could use a new style headlight bulb in place of a regular test light, you'd be further off. Those little bulbs in a circuit tester only require very little voltage to light it up whereas a headlight bulb will draw more voltage. If it is dim then you know that circuit has high resistance. That could be a bad connection or a wire with corrosion inside the plastic covering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pops Toy Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 Wow, thanks for the quick response. Thought your picture was of mine lol only difference is my color which is Candy Apple Cranberry but I've always liked the Black Cherry. The front and rear parking lights do work and also the brake lights work fine. As for the dome light, there's no power to it and wanted to check about the other issues first because it all seemed to go out at the same time. Was hoping to save time before thoroughly checking each issue individually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pops Toy Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 Thanks Sam, I agree always check the easiest first. Replaced bulbs first and tried the relay as well and still the same result. Since both issues happened at the same time, I was trying to find out if they all get controlled by one of the other switches, etc. I feel they are 2 separate issues that I will have to dive into individually. I'll check those plugs but if one is bad would that make the other blinkers and flashers not work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pops Toy Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 Will do Scott but if one of those connectors are bad, would that control all the blinkers and flashers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 have you made sure ALL your fuses are good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pops Toy Posted June 7, 2013 Author Share Posted June 7, 2013 Yes. I've also put a test light on the relay to make sure juice was coming in and going out when blinkers or flashers were on. I'm going to dig onto it more tomorrow with everyone's suggestions. If anything else comes to mind please let me know. Thanks for the help so far. BTW your Monte sounds great and I enjoyed watching your burn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 thanks, but that engine doesn't exist anymore, it go boom! big time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 From the 71 wiring diagram they shouldn't be related. What have you found so far off of what we suggested? That may help to narrow this down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam (Bones) Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 by everything you've told us, I'd check to see if power is getting to the plug by the core support, if it is it is between there and the turn signals, if not it is from there back to the turn signal switch, since the rear ones are working (fronts and rears use the same flasher) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grease Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 Hello Chris and Welcome to the forum . On the dome light , have you tried to light it by turning the headlamp switch , I believe all the way counterclockwise .If no power when using the headlamp switch , the switch may be bad . If its not getting power when you open a door check right at the door switch . This push button switch provides the ground when the door is open . I have seen the swicth contact become corroded. The switch is screwed into the bulkhead /door hinge area . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted June 7, 2013 Share Posted June 7, 2013 I'm a little confused with what your turn signals are doing. From what I am reading here, your rear signals are working ok, and the dash indicators are working ok, but the bulbs up front aren't responding? And the same result when you turn on your 4-way flashers? I'm curious...at what rate do your working lamps flash? Are they blinking slow, or fast, maybe? Don't forget that your side marker lamps are involved in this too...they blink with the turn signals. The lights facing forward in your bumper have two filaments, (like a high and low beam), one for parking lights and the other for turn signal/hazard lamp. It's possible that the parking lights come on just fine, but the flash filament is bad. Another test is to turn on your parking lights, and turn on your hazard lamps. Now step on the brake. This should stop the flashing and have all 4 corners fully lit with all filaments...like all bulbs on high-beam. It's another way of checking. Of course everything goes through the turn signal switch. It's a scary looking thing made of plastic with multiple contacts buried in the steering column. It can go bad in a multitude of different ways, but I'd make sure everything else works before tearing into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pops Toy Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 All the lights stop flashing when I hit the brake pedal. The flashers seem to blink at a normal rate but I do have faint flashing of front blinkers (had to look at very closely). I replaced the headlight switch and the turn signal/flasher relay today but noticed the connector has 6 wires and the headlight switch has 7 terminals (which was also what I took out). Could this make a difference? I put a test light to all the terminals to check for power and noticed when I accidently touch the metal housing for the instrument panel, my light lit up. Another strange thing was, with the headlights on, turning the key to start the car I get idiot lights but no cranking. Turned the headlights off and the car starts fine. At this point I'm thinking I have a few problems going on in the dash and steering column. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stangeba Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Here is a picture of my 71 OEM H/L switch with 7 pins note two of the pins are "connected" by a metal strap. I believe someone once said their replacement H/L Switch didn't have the metal strap, but I may not be remembering that correctly. 1971 OEM 7 pin H/L switch My first thought for the ft T/S problem is a poor ground. Add a temp external ground wire with one end to the (-) batt terminal one to the ground wire screw for the T/S harness and see if it helps. good luck, Bruce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wallaby Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Ok, wow...it sounds like you have some backfeeding going on. It does sound like you might have a poor ground somewhere. Do you have a pigtail on your negative battery terminal going to the fender? This is where your body sheetmetal gets its ground signal from... otherwise the body can be isolated by all the rubber mounts it sits on. Another good place for an added ground is from the engine to the frame somewhere. I used a braided ground strap from one of my fuel pump bolts to a nearby bolt in the frame that holds the battery cable in place. The engine is probably already a good ground, as it has the negative battery cable going to it, but does that ground extend beyond the engine to the rest of the car? (The frame needs to be grounded too). The engine sits on rubber mounts and electricity has to try to ground through your driveshaft and rear end or something. Adding a good large-gauge ground from the engine to frame can be a big help. Here's a pic of '68 Corvette, and you can see all the braided ground straps connected to the valve cover bolts: The engine, frame, and body should all be connected to the battery negative terminal somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted June 8, 2013 Share Posted June 8, 2013 Try disconnecting the turn signal harness on both sides, remove the parking light and side marker bulbs and check for continuity between the wires at the connector. You could have a socket internally shorted causing both sides to go down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pops Toy Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 Ok everyone, here's what I found yesterday. You were all correct in different ways. I replaced the headlight switch, turn signal relay and all the bulbs because it was not expensive and easy to do. All had some corrosion and rust. It started working but still not quite right. Cleaned up all the grounds and put new connectors on them. I cleaned up the connectors under the hood that also had corrosion and rust. Went for a ride, then right turn signal was working intermittently. Lastly, it turns out that the corrosion and rust had made it's way down into the wiring beneath the wires coating but only in small sections. I had to poke through the coating with my test light to find how far apart the good and bad sections were in the wires. I made new connectors and rewired and all is working now. I want to thank everyone for the help. This is a great community and I'm glad to be a part of it. Hopefully, I can be helpful with my knowledge as well. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footballubet Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Corrosion inside the wires are sometimes very hard to find. That's why the headlight bulb trick is the best way to test circuits. I have one at work and one at home. It's all I use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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