Odd live wire..

-
grassy

grassy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 20, 2009
Messages
5,352
Reaction score
86
Location
Nova Scotia
Just about finished my wiring.,,but I am having a bizarre problem with my blinkers.

For the lights up front, I have grounded the wire at the same place where my neg battery cable connects with the car. Could this be a problem ?



Problem still happens with my other blinker when I moved it over to the driver's side so problem is the wiring..not the unit.


There seems to be a constant 5V from the blinker wire (green w/trace)... and the blinkers will not work.

For fun, if I connect my fender blinker (which is grounded to a separate ground to the car) to that wire, it goes solid as well but I can hear the electronic flashers going off in the car..like wise, if I test for resistance, it does the same thing...which points back to ground. no ?



There shouldn't be a constant current..only when I turn a blinker on.. ??

As always, any help is appreciated...

ian.
 
[ame]http://youtu.be/tb95jqsYTm0[/ame]


Connect that ring terminal to a point up front, had the same problem.
 
Start disconnecting things one at a time and see if / when it goes away. At the very least

Make absolutely certain the hazard switch is off. Turn it on/ off a couple of times as there may be a loose contact broken in the switch, you may get lucky and separate it

Same with signals. Work the lever left / center / right a few times, then back to center.

Pull the signal flasher and see if it stops

Pull the hazard flasher and see if it stops.

During this time make CERTAIN the headlight switch is completely "off."

If none of the above shows a drop in that 5v, then pull the column connector loose which feeds the signal switch.

Other than that, I don't know. You seem to have a terrible mess with your wiring.

You don't have the "fuel pacer" thing, do ya?

Look here:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=221091
 
Has the signal switch ender the steering wheel been changed?
When I put a new switch in my car the frikin flasher clicked steadily.
Nothing was flashing just, click click click, like it was in the signal position and I had to adjust (tweak) the contacts to get it to work right.
 
I had similar weird problems with my blinkers n flashers, I found out you can connect the flasher switch upside down. this solved my problem! its a 67 bcuda...
 
Nope, no "fuel pacer". I have made the wiring into pre '75 only using what I need.

Terrible mess ? If you are referring to my absolute ignorance about wiring and the difficulty of reading wiring diagrams, the po pouring tar over the wiring harness and the difficulty of wading through a ton of useless pollution control wiring, I have to agree. I wouldn't recommend what I have done to anyone. When you say wiring, most (if not all) listeners will run to the hills..

The ideal would have been to buy a new engine bay harness..if you could. ..or go with an aftermarket like Painless but the money (and expertise) just isn't there..so I have to deal with what I have.

I don't think simplicity was in Ma Chrysler's mind when they designed the wiring harness.

I shall go through the above and hope I can find the culprit.

Thee should be continuous power to this wire...

Thanks
Ian.
 
grjammer said:
I had similar weird problems with my blinkers n flashers, I found out you can connect the flasher switch upside down. this solved my problem! its a 67 bcuda...
Click to expand...

Oh....i just put in new flashers...
 
TrailBeast said:
Has the signal switch ender the steering wheel been changed?
When I put a new switch in my car the frikin flasher clicked steadily.
Nothing was flashing just, click click click, like it was in the signal position and I had to adjust (tweak) the contacts to get it to work right.
Click to expand...

I removed the column shifter over the winter but was careful not to change anything.

I cannot remember if I can just pull the plastic bits off to take a look. My steering wheel is still off..

man, a lot of good suggestions..
 
grassy said:
Terrible mess ? If you are referring to my absolute ignorance about wiring and the difficulty of reading wiring diagrams,

I don't think simplicity was in Ma Chrysler's mind when they designed the wiring harness. .
Click to expand...

No I was referring to your ongoing difficulties. Seems to me you've posted some photos, or maybe someone else? that showed your wiring had been somewhat chopped up.

As far as simplicity, there are few more simple than these old Mopars. "Other brands" and later madel = more and more complicated Try working on a Caddy or Linc sometime "with every option known to man" LOL

The thing is if you have the correct year harness, you should not be having this kind of trouble. So as I see it the possibilities are

Part or all of the harness is wrong year

Harness has suffered a bad enough short (heat) that two or more wires are welded somewhere inside the harness, or abrasion damage has bared some conductors and crossed them

You have a broken signal or hazard switch

Or someone has chopped into the harness and "done something."

The thing is, the wiring to the front turn circuits SHOULD all be on the "dead side" of all switches. This means that if there is voltage on one of them, it can only come from so many sources.

If the headlights are in "park" or "head" AND if the bulbs are in place AND if the socket grounds are bad, that will feed power through the bulb filaments and into the turn buss on one or both sides of the car.

Otherwise, unless the harness had been damaged, there simply is no path for "backfeed."
 
67Dart273 said:
No I was referring to your ongoing difficulties. Seems to me you've posted some photos, or maybe someone else? that showed your wiring had been somewhat chopped up.
Click to expand...

Probably was me. I was appalled at what the po did..found out that it came from the factory that way.

As far as simplicity, there are few more simple than these old Mopars. "Other brands" and later madel = more and more complicated Try working on a Caddy or Linc sometime "with every option known to man" LOL
Click to expand...
:) My experience has been with mx bikes and older British cars. Minimalistic and when maintained, tough as nails.

The thing is if you have the correct year harness, you should not be having this kind of trouble. So as I see it the possibilities are...
Click to expand...
Much of my adult career was in troubleshooting ...but not electrical wiring.

You raise some really great suggestions..many which I hope weren't true.

I followed what you suggested (thanks !) and had zero luck. I was thinking that I botched up the column work I had done or something had happened to it while we were de tarring the thing.. so just out of curiosity I flipped the connection under the steering wheel and plugged it in. Didn't realize that these connections didn't have a "right" way and a "wrong" way.

This fixed the problem. But not all the way.

When I hit the turn signal, the blinker will go off but it will not go off and on.

Could I have cooked my two new electronic flasher units ?
 
Fixing wiring often requires much attention to details. When a couple things are wrong it becomes more difficult. Figuring out ways to to test each component helps. Then test again as wires are connected. Turn signal bulbs have two filaments, one for lights the other for turn signal. I have found broken filaments, that dropped, and then shorted together, or bulb inserted incorrectly in socket, resulting in problems. I have also found European bulbs, while similar may results in shorts, because the contacts are different.

Grounding of the bulb happens at the case pins, one short and long at the base. Our cars are old enough that the plating has some corrosion on socket contacts. Cleaning both bulb and sockets with a stainless steel brush helps. Always insure power is removed, before cleaning. When a bulb is inserted with correct orientation, pressing and turning, then when pins are engaged, wiggle and gently pull back, to insure ground pins contact.
 
Maybe, but doubt it. You can easily find out. Pull both flashers, and simply "simulate" a flasher by first checking "if" the problem went away with the flasher out, and then in right or left turn, just jumper across the two flasher connector terminals. This should of course result in a steady lamp, front / rear, on which ever side is selected.

Is it possible the new flashers need to be grounded? (The old ones did not)

Are they two or three terminal?
 
Kit, I moved to led lights (but hadn't cleaned the sockets ) so I shall tomorrow. BTW, I have family in Friendship....not sure where you live..

67dart. They are 2 terminal. The old ones were not grounded. I still have them but with the leds, not sure if they would work. I shall try your suggestions tomorrow.

Thanks
ian.
 
If you switched to LED lights you will need electronic flashers. The originals will not work with LED bulbs and will give the symptoms you describe.
 
Boog,

Yup..put them in last week...no joy yet... but I have an idea..
 
I talked to a bunch of bike guys...they said that when they converted to led with an electronic blinker, that they had to put a resistor in place to make it work.

I happen to have a 180 ohm and a 480 ohm so I wired it in..no joy.

The passenger's side socket doesn't like the led light but it should not have an effect on the driver's side circuit.

I am still getting a steady on rather than flashing.

I think I will buy another flasher..it is the only part in the circuit that doesn't seem to be working.

Thoughts ?
 
On this "remote control" troubleshooting, I'm about out of ideas on this one. You might even pull the LEDs (temporarily) and use standard bulbs until you determine if this is a problem
 
I had wondered that if an "electronic" flasher was the same as a "led bulb" flasher.

I am thinking along the same lines. get it back to a baseline that I know, then modify..

Thanks
 
So, i bought new "normal" bulbs...left the electronic flasher unit in and it works.

I forgot the most basic of trouble shooting rules..establish a base line and work from there..

So, normal bulbs work with electronic flasher but LED bulbs do not..even with resistors.

I have no idea why.

Dropped my gauge cluster and broke the plastic...see my wanted add..

cannot believe the bad luck we are having...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top