Who has the aftermarket chrome clamp on turn signal housing?

[terd ferguson]

I've got a universal aftermarket chrome clamp on style turn signal housing just like Brothers and LMC sells. I have a question about it if you can help.

This unit has three lights on it, one red and two green. With the key off, no lights are on. With the key on, the red light is on. With the engine running, the red light is on. With the engine running and a turn signal being used, the appropriate green light flashes with a click.

That all sounds normal to me. Here's where it sounds strange and I'm not sure if this is normal. At idle, all is fine. When you drive or are on the throttle at all, the red light "clicks" and brightens like when the turn signals are flashing. All lights and signals still work as they should when the red light is clicking.

For some background, I just rewired the whole truck and did a complete ignition tune up. Just got it backed timed and running good again and found this. Don't know if it's an issue I should look into or not.

Thanks for the help and thanks for this great forum.

[steve53]

do you have a flasher module connected to it?

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by steve53

do you have a flasher module connected to it?

Yes, there's a flasher. I probably should've mentioned it's a factory style replacement harness. Just wondering if the red light deal is normal, it seems strange.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

Does it have the round knob on it directly under the signal lever? If that's the kind you have, the larger red light is the emergency flasher indicator. It flashes when you pull the round knob out. It shouldn't just stay on.

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

Does it have the round knob on it directly under the signal lever? If that's the kind you have, the larger red light is the emergency flasher indicator. It flashes when you pull the round knob out. It shouldn't just stay on.

Yes,it'slike you describe. The red light stays on whenever the key is on. When you're on the throttle, it "clicks" and gets brighter like the turn signal indicators. And yes, there's an inline fuse.


Any ideas?

[OrrieG]

I thought the after market ones had a flasher in the signal assembly? Maybe you have it wired thru the flasher on the fuse panel and the double flasher is causing the blink? Flashers are capacitor, putting them in series would just change the charge/discharge time if I remember my electric 101 right. Have you checked to see if your tail/brake lights are blinking at the same time?? Or is it just the indicator light. If its related to engine rpm then it might be some kind of feedback through the charging circuit? Is the charging signal light or guage wired to the same circuit as the turn/brake??

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

I thought the after market ones had a flasher in the signal assembly? Maybe you have it wired thru the flasher on the fuse panel and the double flasher is causing the blink? Flashers are capacitor, putting them in series would just change the charge/discharge time if I remember my electric 101 right. Have you checked to see if your tail/brake lights are blinking at the same time?? Or is it just the indicator light. If its related to engine rpm then it might be some kind of feedback through the charging circuit? Is the charging signal light or guage wired to the same circuit as the turn/brake??

The only thing abnormal about the turn signals and tail lamps is the red light on the turn signal lever housing flashing and clicking whenever there is more throttle than idle. Everything works as it should both with headlights on and off and brake lights on and off. The directions for the signal lever housing show it being wired to a flasher (which I did, and the harness has provisions for the flasher). I don't know, I'm kind of stumped. It didn't do it with the old housing light (I got a new one because the old one was nasty). If I remember right, the red light didn't come on with the old one.

[dwcsr]

Hook up the old one and see if its the same issue. It may be a defective unit. The red light should only come on when the 4 ways are used.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

One other thing. With this new unit, you do have 4-way flashers hooked up, right? You're using a 3-stud flasher? I'm thinking maybe check your ground on the turn signal itself. It could possibly be seeking ground back thru that red light. If it's clamped to a newly painted column, it may not be getting a good ground.

[terd ferguson]

Originally Posted by dwcsr

Hook up the old one and see if its the same issue. It may be a defective unit. The red light should only come on when the 4 ways are used.

The old one won't plug into the new harness. But I may try to hook it up anyway, just need some new terminals on the wires of the old unit.

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

One other thing. With this new unit, you do have 4-way flashers hooked up, right? You're using a 3-stud flasher? I'm thinking maybe check your ground on the turn signal itself. It could possibly be seeking ground back thru that red light. If it's clamped to a newly painted column, it may not be getting a good ground.

The new factory style replacement wiring harness I have has provisions for a 2 prong flasher, so that's what I used. The old one had a three prong flasher. The old one worked fine, it was just nasty and ugly. As for grounding the unit, it's clamped on the column in the same spot as the old one. The column is painted, but not freshly painted.

Forgive me, but I don't know the difference between the two prong and three prong flashers. The old harness was hacked up beyond belief, cut wires going nowhere, bare ended wires twisted together with no tape, no terminal rings on the ends of wires just bare ended wires twisted around connections, sometimes just a couple of strands of wire wrapped around a terminal. All this with no fuse box. So I'm not even sure where the third wire was going.

Now that I know the red light deal is not normal, if you can give me any hints as to what to try, I'd appreciate it. If I need to try a three prong flasher, let me know where the other wire should go to from the flasher's third prong. Should I sand to bare metal on the column where the turn signal unit is clamped?



Thanks again guys for the help and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

[OrrieG]

I was thinking ground too last night (couldn't sleep well, not Santa anxiety, too much chili!). You might try a temp ground under the clamp to a goo bare metal connection and see if that solves it. Two prong is for turn signal only, three prong is for turn plus four way. The three prongs are (X) = power, (L) = Load, (P) = Pilot (red light). Two prong does not have the P. Have you changed the flasher to see if that is the problem?

[lonelywanderer]

i have this switch on my truck and tried to see if mine was the same but none of my lights light up on the switch