Replaced factory cluster w aftermarket. Turn signal issues

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demon322

demon322

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71 Demon.

Replaced the stock (standard) cluster with auto meter gauges. Now I am having turn signal issues that were not present before.

With headlight switch off. Blinkers do work but are slooooowww. Indicator lights work at that same speed. Flashers and dash indicators work as they should.

With the headlight switch on, both indicator lights activate. No blinking function at all with either side turn signal. Indicator lights brighten along with tail light on the side that is activated though. Again, flashers seem to work as normal.

Anyone ran into this before? If so where should I start to track this down?

Thanks and Merry Christmas.
 
Did you use LED’s any where in your set up? The slow with the headlights off sounds to me like you have either exterior bulbs not operating or there is not enough current draw to cause the flasher unit (if it’s a thermal unit) to cycle correctly. LED’s used as indicators can play into the current load as well. The indicators coming on with the headlights on should indicate exterior bulbs that are not operating. Also grounding of the column, dash frame and cluster needs to be good. I’d start with grounds and work from there. If you are using LED’s you may have to use digital flasher units. What does the system do with hazards?
 
Dubob said:
Did you use LED’s any where in your set up? The slow with the headlights off sounds to me like you have either exterior bulbs not operating or there is not enough current draw to cause the flasher unit (if it’s a thermal unit) to cycle correctly. LED’s used as indicators can play into the current load as well. The indicators coming on with the headlights on should indicate exterior bulbs that are not operating. Also grounding of the column, dash frame and cluster needs to be good. I’d start with grounds and work from there. If you are using LED’s you may have to use digital flasher units. What does the system do with hazards?
Click to expand...
The gauges as well as the indicators all use LED lighting. The gauges are the American muscle series from Auto Meter and the turn signal indicators as well as high beam indicators are small LEDs that came with the kit. As far as the indicators coming on with the headlights - I think all the exterior bulbs are working but I will double check. I will check the grounds also. The cluster and column are both currently grounded to one of the studs that bolts the column to the frame.

The hazard lights seem to function as they should, at the right speed. Both with headlights on or off.

Thanks for the reply!
 
LEDs on our 67 cuda instrument panel are intermittent. Add some more grounds to it as well as check for led flashers.
 
When turn indicators come on with park lamps the fault is supposed to be lack of chassis ground out at the front park turn fixtures. Park circuit back feeds through the turn elements of those 1157 bulbs.
Can't happen through rear fixtures because turn signal switch interrupts the turn path from those fixtures for brake lights. Anyway...
I don't know of a way that something wired wrong inside the car can cause this condition but I aint seen it all. Good luck with it.
 
Running a classic dash with Auto meter incandescent gauges and led indicators ( turn park brake and high beam ) I Daisy chained the grounds on everything I installed and ran a self tapping screw through a ring terminal to the steering column support. I have no issues and everything blinks / illuminates as it should.


I say all that to say 12V systems with ground issues can manifest themselves in a variety of erratic symptoms. Check your ground and make absolutely sure it's good.
 
I'm with Redfish. Either you made a major mistake in wiring which never should have been disturbed in your conversion, or you have grounding problems with the front lamps

I forget "if all years" but some years the indicators are simply a branch of the front lamps feed right off the TS switch connector. They may be Y'd off at the bulkhead connector some years. So it is "just a wire." If the indicators don't work, they are not grounding, but that should NOT affect the flasher or outer lamps

Often a flasher will change speed dramatically between low or charged battery and or when running and charging
 
67Dart273 said:
I'm with Redfish. Either you made a major mistake in wiring which never should have been disturbed in your conversion, or you have grounding problems with the front lamps

Often a flasher will change speed dramatically between low or charged battery and or when running and charging
Click to expand...
Thanks all for the replies and helping me track this down. I didn’t change anything out front but I can check grounds there or add another if needed.

I did just check with the engine running and you are right. With the car running both indicators still come/stay on with the headlight switch on. But the signals do flash faster.

Which is odd because with engine off and light switch engaged no blink at all. Either with the indicators or the signals themselves.
 
DartGTDan said:
Is the headlamp switch grounded?
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That’s a good question. I didn’t change any of the wiring there but I should have mentioned the whole original cluster has been replaced with a plastic insert. So perhaps the grounding issues could be there? Classic dash supplies a grounding ring. They only sent one though. Currently I have it on the wiper switch. I could switch it to the headlight switch side and see if that helps?

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Take the emergency flasher switch off & see what happens. Part of the switch can be shorted. Spent a lot of time chasing that once.
 
And the hazard switch has 4 pins, that can actually hook up incorrectly and cause issues. Been there too.

**edit** ours was 67 so hazard switch was in bezel not in the column like yours would be.
Mike69cuda said:
Take the emergency flasher switch off & see what happens. Part of the switch can be shorted. Spent a lot of time chasing that once.
Click to expand...
 
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4spdragtop said:
And the hazard switch has 4 pins, that can actually hook up incorrectly and cause issues. Been there too.

**edit** ours was 67 so hazard switch was in bezel not in the column like yours would be.
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Yes my flasher switch is a button in the column and is part of the turn signal switch wiring. The hazards seem to be functioning as normal.
 
I just checked my headlight switch, and it has a ground blade terminal on the bottom back side of the switch. It pivots under if not used. You might have one you can use to ground the switch
 
67Dart273 said:
HL switch does not need to be grounded except to activate "twist the knob" for the dome lamp
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Thanks Del

That function is currently not working either but that’s not a big deal in of itself.

So where would you start? The grounds at the front signal lights?

Thanks again.
 
When you "change stuff" makes it harder to draw that diagram in the brain, for sure. That is as good a place as any. The thing is, "stuff happens" especially with older girls, that defies logic. "It just might be" that while you were under that dash wiring things up, the ground wire out under the hood finished rusting away LOL

An easy way to start is to figure a way to connect to the front lamp shells if you can access them. string a light wattage test lamp / or your meter from the lamp ground shell to the battery negative. Turn on the park lamps then the turn signals and see if the test lamp shows any color or the meter any voltage "In general" don't discount weird stuff like bulbs screwed up..........such as the filaments inter-connected so that turning on the park lights sends power to one side of the turn signal or vice versa. Stuff "similar."

Another "gotcha" is mis wired, or some odd cross wiring caused by things like abraided harness wires, OR PREVIOUS SHORTS from "melt" damage.

Sometimes, all it takes is one little wandering strand of wire.........you lost track of
 
6AM!!! Off to work!!! No holiday for me!!!! Wed-Thu-Fri. At least there's no snow........yet!!
 
If you can’t figure out what it is, sometimes you can figure out what it isn’t. Divide and conquer. I usually jump around troubleshooting, looking for the easy fix to start with. If I don’t find it, then I start over and very methodically check things, working from a starting point. Write down results as you go.

I have a fondness for troubleshooting with light bulbs rather than meters. Meters pull so little current to operate, they can lie to you. An old 1157 tail light bulb in a socket with some long wires attached to it works great. Since the 1157 is the same or similar to the ones you are troubleshooting, it pulls similar current which is good to see if the wiring works under load.
 
The leds may be part of your issue here.
The load isnt enough to make flaser cycle properly.
And it will be a couple ground issues too. Seperate grounds for signal indicators to prove the curcuit isnt bad.
 
67Dart273 said:
When you "change stuff" makes it harder to draw that diagram in the brain, for sure. That is as good a place as any. The thing is, "stuff happens" especially with older girls, that defies logic. "It just might be" that while you were under that dash wiring things up, the ground wire out under the hood finished rusting away LOL

An easy way to start is to figure a way to connect to the front lamp shells if you can access them. string a light wattage test lamp / or your meter from the lamp ground shell to the battery negative. Turn on the park lamps then the turn signals and see if the test lamp shows any color or the meter any voltage "In general" don't discount weird stuff like bulbs screwed up..........such as the filaments inter-connected so that turning on the park lights sends power to one side of the turn signal or vice versa. Stuff "similar."

Another "gotcha" is mis wired, or some odd cross wiring caused by things like abraided harness wires, OR PREVIOUS SHORTS from "melt" damage.

Sometimes, all it takes is one little wandering strand of wire.........you lost track of
Click to expand...
Thanks again. I will start out front and check grounds there and then bulbs. Wish me luck ha.
 
Tooljunkie said:
The leds may be part of your issue here.
The load isnt enough to make flaser cycle properly.
And it will be a couple ground issues too. Seperate grounds for signal indicators to prove the curcuit isnt bad.
Click to expand...
Would switching to an electronic/LED flasher be something to try?
 
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