Lights, turn sigs, and light frustrations

[MikesDeuce]

Hello again family, mentors, fellow newbs and other likeminded folks....

So if yall havent read my other theead about my mew aquisition... new-to-me 71 35a2 here.

The guy mysteriously (or in the haste of getting the $$$$...) got panicked and broke the light switch lockout right after i told him id buy it... its okay, honest mistske, he just got excited i guess. Oh well...

So i ordered a new light switch assembly from Boyce and put her in last night...
Well upon initial testing, i found that i had a couple BO bulbs out which im not too concerned about.
...everything else worked other than the turn signals though.

So all day at work today, i found myself scouring the forums and google looking at many posts about possible issues with the turn signals and also workarounds ans frankenstien solutions....

I get home today and finally sell mt soul to Garrity and get some insurance and then cut some grass... as it was getting dark and i already needed a shower, i figured id play with it to figure out whats wrong with the turn signals....
wellllll initially the “Parking Light’s” lit up which comforted me in knowing those are less bulbs to buy and the basics were there, probably a bad ground...
now today/tonight the parking lights didnt come on....

any ideass why?
I did take my daughter to the gas station to celebrate insurance aquirement with m&m’s and a mtn dew and top off the fuel and add some lucas (cruddy gas sucks)...


Im quite happy the headlights and tail/brakelights are ok but also kind of concerend that the parking lights were functioning but after 1 mile theyre inop now.

Im a mechanical engineer who works as an electrical engineer and am familiar and have tools and skills for testing an alien spaceship but i guess im asking for advice from the wiser family in regards to basic checks before i start dismantling the flux capacitors...

Thank you guys so much in advance!

Wife also wants to thank yall for me smelling like grease and diesel and she lovesssss to scratch my mosquito bites all night while i research 5,000 tires for my “stupid big toy” lol!

Thanks again team!

-michael from ga

 

[cattlerepairman]

Far away from giving an electrical engineer instructions on how to troubleshoot. "New" switches have been known to be defective. Grounds are a recurring issue and many have added a couple of extra grounds for headlights/turn signals because of that.

 

[VPed]

Agree that grounds are the place to start. Only one of the two bolts that secure the front turn signal/parking lights and the tail light housings is actually connected to the bulb circuits within. Make sure that connection is good. ( some assume either bolt will do the job) The turn signal switch has several sets of contacts actuated by cams. The switch can be opened up to clean the contacts with sandpaper or a points file/contact burnisher. Do not assume that because one function of a light (i.e. tail light works) works, the ground is good.

 

[MikesDeuce]

Ahh thank you cattlerepairman vped! I will look into that. Wasn’t sure if there was an actual ground line going somewhere. I will check the bolts on the actual lights and switches.
Now that I really think about it, the first night when I installed the new switch, it was really humid. Like condensation-humid so that may explain why/what was helping out a crappy ground....

Right now it’s so hot outside that i started sweating just looking at that 15,000lb iron oven lol!

My daughter was hair and face was dripping wet just going around the block lol only spot was 2 big circles on either side of her head from her peltors Lol!!
Tempted to be a real redneck and hang a window unit on the back hahaahhaa (I’m kidding, I’m not thattttt crazy)

 

[MikesDeuce]

If one ground is bad on a light, would that affect the others?