Signals OUT Again!!!!!!!!

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pastortom1

pastortom1

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So help me, I'm gonna swap this A-Body for a (fill in the blank) pretty soon............

The turn signals went out again, after working perfectly for months now.......blew 2 fuses in 2 days on the horn/tail link, and the turns went out......new fuse again, OK.

Then, it wouldn't start....totally dead....screwed with the shifter on the column, and then it started (real demons I guess....)........Just changed the neutral safety switch to be safe....I'll change the starter relay too while I'm at it I suppose...........

Went down the road to the Post Office......OK. Came out, started the car, turned the corner, and WHITE SMOKE from under the dash.......seemed like it was near the middle.....frantic now, SCREAMED down the street to the house.....smoke stopped as I pulled in.......horn started to blow intermittently....then it stuck ON..........I disconnected the battery, and immediately pulled the lower dash apart.....radio out, ashtray, a/c vents, etc...........pulled the harness down, and found NOTHING.

NO HOT areas........NO BURNS. I pulled the a/c relay.....no odor or appearance of heat. I pulled the horn relay.......same....no signs at all......checked the flashers.......no sign of heat......I have now checked the harness almost completely...unwrapped suspect areas.....no signs of heat, (Can you say "Twilight Zone"?) EXCEPT for ONE........

There is a PINK wire and a RED wire coming out of the column harness......in about a 6"area, they seem to be STUCK together like super glue.......

BUT, no sign of burning or blackened wire.......no stiffness from overheating......... One wire goes to the E.Flasher, and the other to the Turn Flasher (according to my diagram)........coincidence?

I suppose I'll have to tear the column apart now and check it all again.........Had a BIG show tomorrow too.......need to be there by 1:pM for registration........

Don't know......just don't know.........
 
is it possible that you might have a loose red wire at the back of your amp meter?

did the white smoke smell like 1970 plastic?

cerwin
 
Got to hate those kind of car days....I would start first under the dash. Any smoke of any kind is not a good thing. A "wire" short of course. I wouldn't waste any more money trying to fix by replacement of parts until you have traced the works. When my car stopped dead on the road once, I found that I had first shorted out my ignition which toast other wires in the run. Perhaps you problem is the other way. Something in your horn/tail has grounded out and shorted your ingnition run.
Are you now getting anything with the ignition to on only? battery power or Acc.

Kinda late now....when a fuse blows (often)...somethings not quite right
 
Being horn and signal wires run inside the column and you said that this started to happen when you turned a corner I would suspect like you say there is something messed up in the column.

Chuck
 
I now have E.Flashers, Tails, Brakes, but no signals. When I test the wire to the flasher, I get erratic behavior.......a good positive on the black side, but when I plug in the flasher, I get a dim positive on the red side.....turn on the flasher, and it tries to work, but poops out on the second or third try...then loses it's hot connection..........

The car starts OK, runs OK........As I said, I changed the neutral safety switch after the problem started.......it doubles as the back up light switch......that circuit is tied together with the turns on down the line.......If the switch isn't the problem, it seems it would have to be a wire coming INTO the power block on the firewall, or going OUT of the same into the car......be that as it may, I cannot find a THING that has burned in there.......

I'll check the amp guage connection in a bit here.....don't know if it's in the same circuit.....the smoke was kinda putrid.......

Just bugs me that there is no sign of heat anywhere..................
 
pull the + side of the battery term and hook a test light from the batt to the + terminal. If it lights up you have a grounding issue. Then dissconnect each block through your firewall until you find the culprit. Electrical issues are a real bugger, but nothing a case o beer and some patience cant fix. Do you have a wiring diagram? if not you can surely get one from someone on this site and you'll be able to figure it out.
 
I had a few electrical issues with my 72. I bought a wiring schematic from classiccarwiring.com and got everything straightened out. Those full color sheets are fantastic!

Greg
 
Got her fixed :tool: That is some good new's :)
why to go :blob:
 
Remember I said the smoke came from under the dash over by the passenger, near the center........well apparently that's the only place it could actually get out first, and really threw us off the trail.

I just hooked up the battery and tried everything again.......all but turns worked. I jiggled the wiring harness up in by the fuse box, and the HORN stuck on again...................Bingo................least now I knew where to go next.

I dropped the column and pulled the cluster, and as I stuck my nose closer to the opening by the upper left corner, I smelled the culprit..........I proceeded to pull the harness down from the steel dash frame, and lo and behold, the big harness was burned at the uppermost left hand corner, EXACTLY where it passes around the SCREW that holds the uppermost left hand part of the plastic cluster housing......................................

This baby has been driving me nuts for MONTHS......... So guys, next time you pull your cluster, INSPECT YOUR HARNESS FOR VIBRATION WEAR AT THIS POINT............The SCREW was the culprit.............

And as they might have said in the prison yard years ago, "You Lousy Screw!" (and no, I haven't been there.......saw it in a movie).

By the way, I missed the show registration...........BUT I won the battle.
 
i am glad you traced it correctly and found it. no show is worth a smokin' demon. if its the threads of the screw that were the culprit, put a tiny rubber cap on them to avoid the chaffing of wires again.
 
The screw was actually welded to the copper of the wires that melted....the copper formed a bead over the end of the screw, making it impossible to remove.......I had to "sink" the screw through the plastic panel, and then saw it in half with a hacksaw...............Incredible.

Finished it up in a little over an hour and a half.........took her back down the road, and the little Demon is in full submission once again.

It's good to be the King. (in a Mopar).
 
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