blinker issue worsens

[metalworker393]

Hello and how is everyone. Having major electrical problems with my deuce and could use some guidance.
Okay so i have been having an issue with my blinker on my truck and things have gone from bad to worse.
Yesterday i was working on my truck after work. A friend suggested that i change all of the bulbs that may help the problem.
So i ordered new bulbs and they came in yesterday.
Here is the problem. My blinker started giving me trouble. I checked all of my connections at the lights ( front and rear) made sure every thing was secure. The blinker would barely light and blink what seemed very fast. Thought it may be a bad ground. So i ran a 16 ga. Wire from the battery to the drivers side frame . Then up tothe flasher box. Problem still there. Put the bulbs in yesterday . Now, the blinker light goes on in a solid light but does not blink.
Alright, i check the voltage at the flasher box, and im getting 24.5 volts. So i bought a spare flasher too. I put that in. When i turned the flasher on it sounded like a short behind the dash panel. Now not only do i not have a blinker but my headlights no longer work. Think i may have ruined the front harness.
Does anyone know where i can get a new front harness?
Thanks metalworker393

 

[steelandcanvas]

Whoa Cowboy! Let's see if we can't figure this out before we throw fairly expensive parts at it.
(1) Be sure and go through every ground connection point; at the flasher, and every light housing.
(2) Inspect the interior of all the light housings; corrosion likes to build up inside and create problems.
(3) Thoroughly inspect under the dash where you heard the "short"; look for a pinched wire or anything else that looks out of place.
(4) I sincerely doubt you ruined the harness, I think with a little inspection you can locate your gremlin.
(5) Keep us informed on your findings.

 

[5ivepenny]

Agree w/ "steelandcanvas". I am no expert but have heard and seen many times that most electrical problems can be traced back to a bad ground or connection of some sort. Had a similarly sounding problem with directional on my new to me '86 M35A2C after two days of chasing connections with no manual or internet found a small ground wire on a solid state looking device on driver side fender well. Wire brush and new star washer all better.

 

[dmetalmiki]

Whoa Cowboy! Let's see if we can't figure this out before we throw fairly expensive parts at it.
(1) Be sure and go through every ground connection point; at the flasher, and every light housing.
(2) Inspect the interior of all the light housings; corrosion likes to build up inside and create problems.
(3) Thoroughly inspect under the dash where you heard the "short"; look for a pinched wire or anything else that looks out of place.
(4) I sincerely doubt you ruined the harness, I think with a little inspection you can locate your gremlin.
(5) Keep us informed on your findings.

All the above, And check the ground under (or near) you flasher relay. Check the bulbs you replaced on a battery. Bulbs good? then that was not the problem. If the flasher is blinking like crazy, you are not powering some of the bulbs. You need ALL the bulbs to function and their circuits to be good for a regular "flash". If you changed the flasher relay box, keep the old one, that was not the fault either. Let us know the result of these checks. We can (and will) give you some more to do. (like carefully putting direct 24 volts on the light bulb center terminals and seeing IF the corresponding lights front or rear from where you do it light up bright.) Avoid the bulb earth holders. only power the pins.

 

[gimpyrobb]

The click you heard was the circuit breaker in your 3 lever switch. Check your lights later, I bet they come on.

Start with basic trouble shooting. Check grounds etc. You seem to be playing the "jump to conclusion" game, it never works out well.

 

[metalworker393]

Hello all and how are you. Thanks everyone for your help. Today after work i tried my lights again . nothing, not even a pulse. So I had an extra 3 lever switch , so I figured why not. I installed the three lever switch and now i have my headlights and my instrument lights, still no blinker. So should I remove the instrument panel for better access?
Automotive electric is not my strong point. I have always struggled with it. I also wanted to ask, if I had a strong solid light with the old flasher, what is up with putting the new flasher in and it killing my 3 lever switch? is that the wrong flasher box? So the old flasher box is back in. Im getting 24.5 volts with the multimeter at the plug for the flasher. Still no blinker at all now.
Thanks metalworker393

 

[gimpyrobb]

Slow down and describe EXACTLY what the issue is.

In your first post you stated that:

" i have been having an issue with my blinker on my truck and things have gone from bad to worse.
Yesterday i was working on my truck after work. A friend suggested that i change all of the bulbs that may help the problem.
So i ordered new bulbs and they came in yesterday.
Here is the problem. My blinker started giving me trouble. I checked all of my connections at the lights ( front and rear) made sure every thing was secure."

This does not describe your issue.

Then you say:

"The blinker would barely light and blink what seemed very fast."

This leads me to believe you have a bad ground. Running a wire to any components will not help much in trouble shooting. You need to check the grounds at the components. Unscrew the ground at the flasher box and check for corrosion, Make sure the wires at your turn signal lever are not cracked or broken. Check the mounting bolts on the light buckets since that is the ground for the actual bulbs.

There is a trouble shooting guide in the TMs, have you looked through it?

 

[silverstate55]

What Gimp said...

It's common on these older vehicles to have rust buildup between the bolts/nuts/washers/contacts/frame. Disassemble each one, comletely clean the rust/paint/garbage off until you have bare metal contacts between all of these points, then reconnect & tighten down. Make sure that the frame/metal contact area is completely free of corrosion/rust/paint/etc so that you have all clean, bare metal contacts. Once it is all back together & tightened, you can spray paint over the bare metal to prevent any more rust.

Same thing for the headlight bucket mounts, as Gimp stated above.

New flasher units are known to fail rather quickly (last two I've installed instantly burned up with great plumes of smoke upon first use)...Clinto came up with a cheap, effective repair.

I've also noticed that new column-mounted turn signal levers have much smaller wires used inside, as compared to older versions...don't know if they are intended for LED bulbs only, or if the supplier is just getting cheap on us.

Post up your results, and good luck. Don't get discouraged, start with one thing at a time then move on to the next.

 

[HanksDeuce]

Good luck in sorting out your blinker problem based on the suggestions above.

I recommend bobbing your deuce. This will create a shorter path for the grounds to work with, hence solving your problem.

 

[DeucesWild11]

metalworker, sounds like you have the same issue I had. My old signal box flashed very fast or not at all. When I installed a new one it just shorted out the breaker, somewhere behind the dash, I think it was in the three lever switch. After a minute or so it resets, again the same thing as soon as I tried the turn signal. See my original post in this thread: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/showthread.php?36494-Deuce-flasher-box-troubles/page3

My fix was to take the ground away from the signal box and isolate the signal box so that it was not grounded. Somehow the signal box was getting "electrified" for lack of a better term and when trying to ground the box it then shorts out. I used a piece of wood in-between the box and the inner fender as I have shown in the other thread. Again not sure what caused it all but that has been working now for 6 months or so. Before you go through all that mounting and stuff just try it and see if it works first, put the box somewhere that it is not touching anything metal and then take the ground wire and ground it to a secure ground (i took a jumper cable and put it to the - on the battery to make sure it was a good ground) If that works then you know at least how to fix it so that it works.

 

[rustystud]

First, did you use 24 volt bulbs when you replaced all of them ? Second, have you checked all the light grounds ? I mean take apart the light and make sure that your on good metal . I use a synthetic grease on all my grounds to prevent rust issues from forming. Third, are all your fenders properly grounded ? Even though the light is properly grounded the fender itself is not grounded to the frame. The military used small jumper wires from fender to frame. Since the flasher unit is mounted on the left fender, if the fender is not properly grounded the flasher will not work either.

 

[metalworker393]

Hello and how are you all. I think i need to clarify my chain of events.
The blinkers were working fine
then i started having problems.
the blinker would stay on solid no blink
then it would barely light, and blink rapidly
so i took the packard connectins apart cleaned them and put them back together
Still have the problem.
thought maybe a bad ground.
i ran a 16 ga wire from the battery box to the drivers side frame. I also ran that wire up to the flasher box.
still have the problem.
A friend advised me to change the bulbs. I did. Now i have a strong solid light, no blink though.
Okay maybe a bad flasher so i changed that. (24.5 volts at the connector)
Put a brand new flasher box on and it shorted out the three lever switch, no head lights no dash lights.
I get home, try it again no lights nothing.
Put the old flasher box back in no change.
Replaced my 3 lever switch now i have dash and headlights back no blinker.
(At all doesnt blink doesnt come on)
Thanks metalworker393

 

[73m819]

I think you have a SHORT, this blew the 3 lever along with you flasher issue, you say it kept getting worse, this sounds like a bare wire rubbing some where, it could be anywhere. If the short is bad enough, it WILL cook the cb in the 3 lever, that is also why the indicator is staying lit and the lights dim.

 

[M543A2]

We kept burning up flashers in one deuce until we found a pinched wire going to one of the front lights. It was trapped between the retainer clip under the front fender.

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

 

[rustystud]

I think you have a SHORT, this blew the 3 lever along with you flasher issue, you say it kept getting worse, this sounds like a bare wire rubbing some where, it could be anywhere. If the short is bad enough, it WILL cook the cb in the 3 lever, that is also why the indicator is staying lit and the lights dim.

After reading your last post and the sequence of events I agree it's a direct short causing all the problems. Now comes the detective work ! Get out your " Volt-Ohm" meter and start checking wires.

 

[metalworker393]

Hello and how is everyone. i have been pretty busy at work overhauling a compressor for a few weeks so I finally had some help with my blinker issue.
My friend stopped by to take a look and see what he could find. He has a nack for automotive electric so I gave him the electrical diagrams to look over before he came over to work on it. We took all of the lenses out and with the 4 ways on the lights were very dim. He removed each bulb and checked the voltage at the lights. 2 1/2 volts at each one. so he removed the plug from the flasher 24 volts in , that looks good. He then shaved the wire back on the and measured the output voltage and it showed 2 1/2 volts out. so it looks like I have a bad flasher box. So I have a new one on order. Another problem we found was the light on the flasher switch was not lighting at all. So, he wiggled the wire harness and it started to blink, albeit lightly it blinked.
I am thinking there may be an exposed wire in that cannon connector. BEFORE I SCREW THIS UP, have any of you ever disassembled this connector? If so can you give me a few pointers as what to and what not to do? I was looking in one of the TM's and it didn't elaborate too much on this reair. Any guidance on taking one of these connectors apart/inspecting and reassembling would be appreciated.
On another note, my positive battery lead is looking somewhat questionable (Slight cracks in the insulation) so i am going to make a new on up too.
Thanks metalworker393

 

[frank8003]

This device exists to use.