kelanel

Hi guys, ive got a shorting front driver side turn signal. totally thought it was the wire leading through the body to the signal so i cut the wire from the harness & diverted the current to a spare wire to the signal assembly w/ the wheel & splashguard off, and no luck

passenger signals work fine and also rear drivers (blinks fast but blinks). its typically 3 ticks then the 8 amp fuse blows bulb never lights up, ground point for signal infront of radiator has been cleaned and bulb inside assembly has been confirmed to be functioning. hazard lights blow it just like a left turn.

Im guessing its a fault in the control cluster or wiring between it and the relay board. any recomendations on how to troubleshoot if its a part vs wiring?

Thanks,
Jonathan.

WICruiser

Unplugg the bulb sensor unit and see if it still blows, it may help narrow the search. Assuming it does not blow check continuity between the rt. fr. light pin and ground to confirm if it is in the wire or internal to the bulb sensor unit.

Mrmerlin

I would reconnect your harness to factory spec then do simple trouble shooting by using the volt meter to see if you have 12v to the correct pin on the connector,
its possible that the wires are swapped,
also make sure you have the correct ground wire connected to the ground point on the connector.

The common failure point for the wire to be damaged is just under the headlamp pivot where the wires come through the fenderwell just in front of the front tire,
there is a metal tab that secures the harness and over time the headlamp up and down motion flexes the harness and if it doesnt have enough room to flex the wires internal to the harness will shear.

Also the other common issue is,
the wires for the either the parking lights or the turn signals get swapped and plugged into the fog lamp/s this can cause the short.
Make sure to check the left front side marker light and the internal connections at the bulb,
as if this is grounded it will also cause a short

kelanel

Thanks for the suggestions sofar.

WICruiser, not sure where this bulb sensor is at. can you point it out?

Mmerlin, thanks for the response, i followed the wire diagram for the 84 spec US and was pointed to the n3 wire, when i checked what was connected to the turn signal, i found the wire to be color coded as a black wire with white stripe, finding the exact same on the "n" harness in this location:

12
34
56

when replacing the wire, i confirmed the other wire in the connection socket was indeed a brown grounding wire.

i think its placement is right unless im missinterpretting the diagram, i think ill try just unplugging the whole "n" harness and see if it blows next, should help rule out the outer wiring correct? I like what your getting at though with the socket potentially grounding, ill double check that as well by disconnecting the connector and trying it.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Alan

Ignore the bulb monoitoring unit - turn signals don't go through it.

Take the bulb out and check the socket internally

Take out the flasher unit and try again - does fuse still blow?

Disconnect the connector in the front fender behind the splash shield - does fuse still blow?
Alan

kelanel

Thanks for the tips guys, finally figured it out, after following alans tips, I localized the problem to the connection @ the socket. If I understand this right, the polarity was reversed (didnt know that could happen on lightbulbs )since I swapped power for ground and it started working!! mmerlin's call was right on the money!

Ive put the wire back to stock as prescribed, the harness @ the relay board now has a little connector (sealed) for the cut/crimped wire.

Is this due to polarity on the connectors? because if so..... now I need help to figure out if I should make claim against the body shop I went to last.... since they replaced my front bumper/reinforcement.


Backstory: went to body shop via AAA insurance as they were the nearest recommended body shop due to my accident for front bumper/passenger fender. i got the car back just before June and and my mechanic noticed the issue in early July during maintenance, he tried to change the bulb and still no luck, so he let me know. i gave the shop the benefit of the doubt after they said they found certain wires to be non-stock and it could be caused by that. i looked and all the harnesses looked stock, i traced it back and found no cracks, suspecting a wire fault as they replaced the fender/bumper. i cleaned grounds then ran the new wire just before i posted here.




This bothers me alot, the bulb is incandescent from what i can tell. doing the work myself seems like ill have little credibility if i file a complaint. any ideas? Ironically I'm also due to drop off my car at another shop for a full color change tomorrow, will that kill my case if its already in another shop?


Thanks again for getting me through this!
Jonathan

snoz

I had the same issue. The PO tried to fix it with increasingly larger fuses. Needless to say it didn't work.

kelanel

lol i tried that for a couple of seconds, realized everything else dimming was a bad sign and stopped :P I cant really tell but is one marked for ground vs the other?

snoz

I'm not sure if they tried all sizes in the same slot, but I pulled up two fist-fulls of blown fuses from above and under the carpet.

Mrmerlin

in the picture posted the black connector block is numbered
the trick is figuring out the wire numbers.
Glad you got things put right. and as always gotta go with what was fixed last .
this tidbit of info would have made a diagnosis easier
Its very common to have the wires swapped on that block.
I wouldnt worry about filing a claim you have things put right so move on.

Alan

On the Bulb the body is always ground & the tip connectors power the filaments - ground wires are always brown. Arent the turn signals dual filaments? - you must wire these correctly...

Alan