Turn signal problem.....short somewhere

[SWINGSAX68]

Only my drivers side turn signal works. Head lights work.....parking lights do not work, brake lights do not work, dash lights dont work, dome lights out. I have a breaker fuse on the fuse box for them.
well now that the fuse is blown or whatever, I have one (drivers side) turn signal....these are on a different fuse, so they should still work when the stop lamp/dome fuse goes out. BUT when I switch on my passenger turn signal, I get a very quick sound from the flasher fuse, but no green arrow from the dash nor does the pass. tail light flash. The drivers turn signal works fine...but when I switch on the hazards neither little green arrows light up and no flashers....very quick clicking sound. ALso when I use my Left turn signal or hazards my cd player and oil light flash with the clicking?!?!WTF. My guess is its the turn signal switch...but that doesn't explain the CD player or oil light..any other guesses????? My dash lights are off the same fuse as the dome light right????
Thanks guys...I gotta go to work....with out break lights or turn signals....HELP!!!!!

[zeeklu]

Check all your grounds. A quick way to check is to take a jumper wire or cable and hook it to the negative post of the battery and hook the other end to the cab on a nice clean bare metal spot and see what happens. Chris

[cdowns]

first place i'd check would be the harness running to the back along the drivers side frame rail especially where it clips to the frame

[WRMZ71]

swingsax68 I had the same problem with the flashing lights inside on my 71. I though I was gonna go nuts trying to find out what was causing it because i had put in a new headlight switch turnsignal switch actually taken off the wiring harness in the rear and couldn't find one darn thing wrong with it. The problem that I had was in the front the turn signals in the bumper were not grounding out properly. The socket inside the bracket that the bulb goes in would turn a little bit and it was allowing the flashing voltage to go through the ground and back through the headlight harness, thus the flashing dashlights. You said you had no dashlights though so i would make sure you got the little clip behind the gauge cluster that attaches itself to the metal portion of the dash. It took me about a fricking week or so to figure out my lighting problems i was having. My idea to you would be to get a wiring diagram off the web (I've seen em posted on this site you can search the forums) and it'll give you what each color wire is. To see if one light of yours is particularly doing it just unplug the connector for the front turnsignals thats in the rad support. I unplugged the one and all my troubles went away so thats how I found my problem. Good luck with it and if you got any more questions let me know

[SWINGSAX68]

Thanks......I did alot of unplugin with all the stuff that is on the same fuse....I unplugged the dome light and it fused...i unplugged the stop lamp switch and it fused. I ran a toggle switch to the stop lamp switch, and whn I did that with the "brake lights on" it fused....so it is def a prob with the lights somewhere....THANKS!!!!!

[jef5150]

My idea to you would be to get a wiring diagram off the web (I've seen em posted on this site you can search the forums) and it'll give you what each color wire is.

http://www.geocities.com/chevroletc1070/wiringdias.html jeff

[SWINGSAX68]

Damn....even with both passenger turn lamps unplugged I still get a blown fuse. The fuse occurs on the dome/tail stop fuse. it is not the dome lamp. It only fused when I tap the brake pedal, the switch is not the problem either, I ran a toggle switch to the wires that plug into the brake light switch and I got a blown fuse. So there is def a prob in the rear lamp wireing...gotta trouble shoot some more.......so is there any way to not waste so many fuses when doing this???? I went through a lot of fuses. and my Breaker Fuse is shot. so my truck is parked for a bit.
Also my flasher fuse and signal fuse go crazy with the clicking when I use my hazards or pass signal. AND the fuse doesn't blow, its just the little relay things the ones that look like little buckets....I think they are called relays....any ways the ones that click, well they click loud and fast. but when I have the drivers turn signal on the relay acts normally, so I am still thingking it is the turn signal switch.....RRRAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!
Thanks guys.....any more help would be greatly appreciated
-Roger

[jef5150]

do you have alot of play in the turn signal lever ? if you move the lever foward and back (not enough to actually engage turn signals) with the key in the "on" position do your relays "click"?

[WRMZ71]

OK the key to this is attacking one electrical problem at a time. Lets start off with what you originally put. To begin with if I were you I'd get me a good 5 to 6 ft worth of jumper wire so you can jump and bypass you're rear wiring harness. A multimeter never hurts either. Originally you put that your CD player light, and oil gauge light flash as well. What power source do you have these hooked up to? Is it the terminal on the fuse box that is powered when you turn on your lights? If so they are flashing because you have a shorted ground probably in your left side lighting because you said it only does it when you put your turn signal in the left or hazard position. Disconnect your front left turnsignal plug and see what happens. If the problem still persists unplug the rear lighting harness connector at the firewall. If the problem still persists the problem is more than likely inside the cab. The flashing sound you're hearing is the flasher relay clicking. There is one seperate for the turn signals and one seperate for the fourways themselves. My guess all in all is your turnsignal switch tangs are probably either bent or corroded and thats why you are having those problems. The power for the turn signal switch comes from your brake light switch at the top of the brake pedal assembly. There is an orange and a white wire. I believe the white wire goes up to the turnsignal switch. From there it is disseminated to different wires and lights depending on the position of the turn signal switch. To bypass the turnsignal switch just unplug the connector underneath the dash. Take your jumper wire and plug one end into a hot and start touching the other end to the harness that was unplugged. By touching each tang you should be energizing certain circuits and therefore turning on lights. Just make sure you get a good wiring diagram and if you have a general knowledge of the flow of electricity you should be alright. Good luck and keep us posted on your findings and also if you have any more questions.

[SWINGSAX68]

Currently:
1. Passanger front and rear turn lamps are unplugged
2. BLown Fuse occurs on the dome/stop lamp fuse.
3. Hazard and only passenger turn signal go nuts.
4. I have yet to unplug drivers side turn lamps, and the short is still occuring. So it has to be on the left side as you described OR in the harness to the rear lights..if not in the cab somewhere.....I'll check when I have some more time and fuses.

WRMZ71
So if there is a short off of one of those tangs on the turn signal plug what will happen???? Blown fuse...what??? If I trace the wire what do I do. Do I need to have a fuse to find a short????

[SWINGSAX68]

Currently:
1. Passanger front and rear turn lamps are unplugged
2. BLown Fuse occurs on the dome/stop lamp fuse.
3. Hazard and only passenger turn signal go nuts.
4. I have yet to unplug drivers side turn lamps, and the short is still occuring. So it has to be on the left side as you described OR in the harness to the rear lights..if not in the cab somewhere.....I'll check when I have some more time and fuses.

WRMZ71
So if there is a short off of one of those tangs on the turn signal plug what will happen???? Blown fuse...what??? If I trace the wire what do I do. Do I need to have a fuse to find a short????

[WRMZ71]

If one of the tangs short all thats happening is probably a hot is touching ground somewhere and popping your fuse. Them tangs in the turn signal switch are pretty flimsy and well bend easily making it easy for them to hit something there not supposed to. As far as the fuse situation goes keeping on blowing em take out the fuse. Check which side of the fuse is hot and which is not. The one that is not hot should have continuity with the orange wire that goes up to the brake light switch. If I were you I would put some type of jumper wire in stead of the brake light switch because it could be bad and sending your hot juice straight to ground and popping the fuse. If you unhook the wires on the brake light switch and put the jumper in and send the juice through and no popped fuse you just found your problem

[SWINGSAX68]

Thanks guys, found the problem. The rear harness was snagged between the cab rails and chasis, also I had it hung off of one of the master cylinder nuts. A few months back the same thing happened to me and the wires were replaced by my dads mechanic who is an electrician as well. I should have guessed this was the same problem this time around. Well he used really heavy wires and they are awkward and super stiff, so some how that added to another spliced wire where I hung it up on the master cylinder bolt off of the fire wall. I'm just gonna save cash and get a brand newone. Form some where.....
thanks guys hopefully this will be all of my problems with my wireing. thanks guys
and Thanks WRMZ71!!!!

[WRMZ71]

Glad you could find the problem. Solving problems like those always make you feel good !!!

[SWINGSAX68]

Yeah they do, thanks!!!!!