The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Head scratcher on my turn signals

I have a 58 chevy 3200 235 3 on the tree.

Bone stock - no fuse box, no radio aftermarket heater etc.

The original wire harness is still intact and entirely unmolested - I really cant believe how clean the wires are.

But I have this one problem. The factory turn signals. I just put in a new flasher. 3 prong - powered not thermal (because I run LED's).

When I lift on the lever to indicate I am turning right. The left tail light comes on and I get no flashing.

When I push down on the lever to indicate I'm turning left - the right tail light comes on and again no flashing.

This happens with or without the flasher plugged in.

any thoughts?

Loose ground somewhere? Was everything fine before you changed to LEDs?

Everything worked the same before I switched to LED's and there was no flasher in the truck when I brought it home.

I'll go through the grounds this weekend.

Anyone know where the factory grounds are located? I assume there should be one on each tail light. Where else?

There are no factory ground wires. You need to make shure the studs & nuts are clean that hold the lights on & the brackets that bolt to the bed. Also you should put a ground wire from the frame to the bed.

I am going to guess that the leds don't draw enough current to trigger the flasher. It seems like I read somewhere that you should use a 100 ohm resistor per side. Don't quote me on that I am about 85% sure but best wait for confirmation.

He is using an electronic flasher. It doesn't work off resistance.

I agree it's the grounds. The signal is finding a path to ground through the taillight filaments. Follow Wrenchbender's advice.

Is it possible that they are wired backwards at the switch ?
Sounds like a ground issue also.

Grounding issue sounds like ? I had a similar problem on my '58. You have to remove paint from brackets and body to get a good ground ? I played with it just using a wire and looking for grounding areas until it all worked ,then made the install. Good luck.

Say Midget Farmer, does your handle have to do with your anatomy or the size of your farm? George

Size of the farm - I have 2.5 acres just outside of town. In the midget farms subdivision. I was so tickled by the sub division name (50 years old) that I christened myself the Midget Farmer. I even bought a 1949 Farmall Cub to mow my grass!


As far as the lights go - Tomorrow I'll get out there & play around with ground wires until I can get them working. The bolts are pretty rough - Hope this works!

It almost seems that you are putting power to the brake light switch lead on the signal switch if the opposet tail light comes on. Could you possibly have plugged the wrong wires into the flasher?

The reason the opposite light glows is because the electricity is going from the source through the brakelight filament, finding no ground there it travels across the tail light filament, through the tail light wire to the other side where it travels through the other tail light filament.

I installed a clean ground wire on both tail lights. I used the dremmel to clean off a spot on the frame & used a stainless steel bolt with di-electric grease.

This did not correct the issue.

In addition - while I was backing my truck into the garage where it was a little darker & easier to see the lights I noticed I had no brake lights.

I started playing around & found out that with the turn signal switch centered I have no brake lights. With it kind of activated (enough to turn on one light but not all the way on) both brake lights work normally. With the switch all the way activated I only get brake lights on the side that is lit (opposite of switch).

I'm about to replace the entire wire harness just because I don't like mysteries.

Sounds like a problem in the turn switch. The brake lights go through the turn switch so the side that is on is flashed. Dont give up on this electrical stuff. With a test light & a little logic you can solve any problem.

Sounds like maybe just some crossed wires but you said the wiring was unmolested. Bad switch maybe? Keep us posted on your progress.
Jeff

I'm thinking the key is how the 3 prong flasher is wired in. One lead on the old 2 prong should be acc power and the other to the load (signal switch). Where did you pick up the 3'rd wire and how are they plugged into the flasher?

The extra wire on a 3 term. flasher is for a dash indicater light, if you use one light for both sides. I think it is marked L. You don't have to use it.

I have both a 2 prong and a 3 prong flasher I could use. I first thought it was a two prong as I only saw 2 wires with plugs on them. But as I crawled under to plug it in I found the third. They are all right next to each other. I just assumed they are all for the flashers.

I used the test light to find the hot wire & have it correct. The other two are anyone's guess.

I'm not going to mess with it for a while - I have brake lights when I need them at the moment & don't plan to drive for a while.

I just received my new intake gasket so that will be be my project for the weekend.

The 3 prong is marked "+" for voltage in, "L" for load, and "P" for pilot light.