turn signal

[lynx5653]

need help with rear turn signals on my 55 2nd, they are led and work just fine until I turn on the headlights then they stop flashing. Is the headlight switch wired wrong ?

Also have no idea how to remove headlight on my 1955 2nd , one is burnt out. Do I replace with a sealed beam or can I use halogen ?

[1project2many]

Some of the aftermarket LED's don't work as expected. I took some cheapie China ones apart and they had connected turn and tail circuits together inside the light using a resistor to dim the LED when tail was on. Those would short when the brake circuit was applied. The solution there was a diode.

With that said, what do the park lights do when the headlights are on? If they turn off then you may have the switch wired incorrectly.

I'd start with a battery and a couple of jumper wires. Connect the light to ground and apply wire to the brake circuit. If the light turns on, apply power to the tail circuit. If the light goes out or stops being bright then you need to figure out why the light doesn't work as expected.

Alternatively you could use a test light to look for power at the tail light with the headlamps on, then look for a flashing input from the turn signal. I wonder if the turn signal flasher won't heat up and cycle because there's power being applied to the turn circuit through the LED. A diode on the flasher line to prevent power from being applied from the light might help there.

[mr48chev]

Parts store halogens will bolt right in and work great but you might want to add relays with them so only the power to trigger the relay is running though the headlight and dimmer switch. Best move I ever made on my 71 GMC that was blowing dimmer switches every few months.

On the turn lights I am going to say check your grounds to the light sockets and think you will see that several times in the next few hours from others. Turn lights work good with head and tail lights off and don't work well with the head and tail lights on usually means that the turn/brake lights have been grounding back though the tail light circuit.

[Highsider]

For the quartz headlamps, I used this a few years ago and they have worked flawlessly.



It has been a while, so perhaps 48 can explain it.

[lynx5653]

1project, taillights stay on when headlights turn on, just the blinkers stop working.

[mr48chev]

Here is another one that is a bit more self explanatory but still pretty well the same thing.

Basically you find a spot close to the core support or on it in some cases to mount the relays, mount the relays and clip the high and low beam wires (one at at a time works better) and wire them to the correct in and out pins, wire up the hot feed from a hot all the time battery feed and wire the grounds for the relays. The hardest part is figuring out where you want to mount the relays where they are out of the way but still accessible and the head lights from the dimmer switch connect without much trouble.

[Coupeguy2001]

switch the wires at the tail lights. it sounds like you have the tail light wire going to the blinker/brakelight part of the tail light. It can't get any brighter, so you can't see if it is blinking(which it's not)
Should be dimmer if tail lights are on.

[dsraven]

could be what coupeguy says about the wires being crossed at the sockets. could also be mr48's theory on the bad ground issues (really the most common problem). I would check to see what is actually powering up on each socket to ensure you have things straight.
are the LED's a replacement bulb or a whole new light assembly? sometimes the light assembly wiring colors don't match the original colors for stuff. I have had offshore stuff where the red wire is ground.
where does the battery ground cable go? to the engine? to the engine and the frame? to the engine, the frame and a good clean body ground with a star washer? grounds are the most overlooked thing when it comes to wiring. sometimes the positive circuits are incredibly detailed and then the ground circuits look terrible.
a couple of pics would possibly help us diagnose the issues if you can't find the problem.
to remove the headlight, first remove the trim around the headlight, then remove the retaining ring that holds the seal beam into the bucket, then pull the sealed beam out to expose the connector on the back side. unplug the connector and you are done. installation is the reverse order. a little oil on the screws may help to keep things from siezing up over time.

[1project2many]

1project, taillights stay on when headlights turn on, just the blinkers stop working.

Got it. Well, as I said the ones I disassembled had clearly connected tail and turn wires at the LED. This was inside the LED unit so the connection can't be seen without taking the light apart. That can easily affect the turn signal flasher operation.

Just curious: Do both brake lights light with the tail lights on?

[lynx5653]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

Got it. Well, as I said the ones I disassembled had clearly connected tail and turn wires at the LED. This was inside the LED unit so the connection can't be seen without taking the light apart. That can easily affect the turn signal flasher operation.

Just curious: Do both brake lights light with the tail lights on?

brake lights are not in the led taillights they are in the end of bed little red lights. I need to get some real brake and taillights so people can see me when I brake atleast.

[1project2many]

brake lights are not in the led taillights

Ok, well that test doesn't work.

Final question. When the lights stop blinking are they lit bright, or dimmer like tail lights?

[lynx5653]

Originally Posted by 1project2many

Ok, well that test doesn't work.

Final question. When the lights stop blinking are they lit bright, or dimmer like tail lights?

when they stop blinking they are not lit at all. when I turn lights on blinkers don't work, but tail lights appear to be bright

[lynx5653]

Got my lights all fixed PO had the wires reversed on the tail lights, now I have park,brake and turns all in the same lights. Thanks for all the response they helped a lot.