Electrical Issues HELP!!!

[dallas71]

Trying to get my taillights working for safety inspection and they are kicking my BUTT!!! I can get one side to work real bright but then the other side will blink also very dimly....Let me explain....left turn signal on (both lights blink) right turn signal works fine....Now i know that the 1st thing that y'all will say is ground...so let me ask a question do you chase it back to the block or do you add ground strap/connections at the rear taillights....HELP PLEASE!!!

[Demmit_Hemmit's 65]

Had The Same Problem Myself................it Turned Out To Be A Ground Problem....................try Grounding Both Of Your Lights To The Body And See If That Cures Your Problem..................with My Suburban I Experienced The Same Thing.............i Ran A Ground Wire From The Socket To The Body And Cured The Problem...........

[jasonrmorrow]

I had a problem like that as well, turned out it was in the signal switch in the column. The contacts were dirty and causing a interesting path for the electricity depending on if i signalled left or right or hit the brakes, I just took my wheel off, pulled the two little brass connectors out and cleaned/scuffed the black crap off the surface and put em back in.

[Woogeroo]

You can just make up a wire with alligator clips on each end - clip one to the light socket, the other end to the body - if they work better afterwards, then the ground was probably it.

When I put my stock type repop stepside tail lights on, I had an issue with bad ground, cuz everything back there was painted... so I had to knock some rust out of the bolt holes for good connection. I haven't had any more problems with the ground issue. I pondered solderin' a wire to the tail light socket - then runnin' it to the body, but so far I havent' needed to do it.

Another issue I had with my tail lights before that - that made my tail lights do all sorts of weird things was a short in a wire that was behind my fuse block. Somewhere along the line it got overloaded and was almost burnt through... I replaced the toasted section and crimped in some new wire and it's worked great since then. This probably isn't your problem, but it was a oddball issue I ran into and it was driving me nuts for months, so I just thought I'd mention it.

-W

[zenish]

take a wire and run it from the frame to the bed.the bolts that hold on the bed get loose when the bed wood rots.

[dallas71]

ok....now i am really pi@@ed...checked all the grounds and created new straps...tried to ground the bucket itself.....all to no avail.. I check the turning signal switch but nothing obvious there....is there anything that i am missing?? Is my next step to disconnect the front lamps harness and start from there.....This is frustrating!! and the worst of it is that i feel like a idiot.!!

[bpmcgee]

Dallas,

I weird problems that I eventually tracked down to a faulty turn signal switch! Remember that all your indicator lights, including your brakelights, run through their (hazards!)

Brian

[Demmit_Hemmit's 65]

Try A New Headlight Swith..................maybe You Have A Problem There,.....................do Your Turn Signals And Your Brake Lights Work???......................hemmit

[6066gmcguy]

OK I see you having some problems, I have a section on my website that mite help, ~~~> Start Here <~~~, then goto the table of link near the bottom of the page to find the Trouble Shooting page for all the lighting systems. this is for GMC so you will find some of the switches & wiring is not as shown but you can stilluse most of the steps to TS a Chevy as well.

Hope that helps.

[Hilandr451]

Originally Posted by dallas71

Trying to get my taillights working for safety inspection and they are kicking my BUTT!!! I can get one side to work real bright but then the other side will blink also very dimly....Let me explain....left turn signal on (both lights blink) right turn signal works fine....Now i know that the 1st thing that y'all will say is ground...so let me ask a question do you chase it back to the block or do you add ground strap/connections at the rear taillights....HELP PLEASE!!!

Dallas, calm down buddy, have a beer, go get your head on, it's not as complicated as you think. The first thing about troubleshooting electrical demonds is that you need to think linear. By that I mean, start at the begining and check everything one wire at a time so you elliminate possibilities one at a time. If you start in the middle, you'll never know which end is messing you up.

First off, My name is Greg and I'm an electrical designer originally from Texas who's stuck out here in California. I'd like to help you with your problem.

If you don't have one already, you need to buy a 12V test light. A voltage/ohm meter (VOM) would be nice too, but I think we can work with the test light for now.

First, make sure there are fuses in the appropriate holders in the fuse block under the dash.


Make sure you clamp the test light clip to bare metal, no paint & no rust. pull the light bulb out of the socket and check for voltage at the little contacts at the bottom of the socket. One is for brakes & turn signals & the other one comes on when you turn on the headlights. If you're getting a bright light in your tester there than you need to establish a better ground at the socket to bucket and then bucket to body.

In our year of trucks, the turn signal and the brake use the same wire & filament in the light bulb, so if the light works nice & bright when you put on the brakes, but not when you use the turn signal, then your wiring to the tail light is fine, your problem is in the turn signal switch.

Sometimes in these old trucks the wiring gets shorted out and the contacts in the turn signal switch get red hot & warp the plastic body of the switch inner works. This causes the contacts of the switch to fail intermittently.

If you wind up needing to replace the turn signal switch, here's a page I put together that might help you: Hilander's '66 Chevy Truck Turn Signal Replacement Page

I hope this helps.

Greg Smith a.k.a. "The Highlander"
1966 C20 "Custom Camper", 1965 26' Airstream Overlander

[Hilandr451]

Zenish, Jason, Woogeroo, Mr. Goodfellow What's up??

[Woogeroo]

Hilandr451,



-W

[jasonrmorrow]

Good to see another guy wander over, this board is a little more "loosely moderated" and chopped crossmembers and mixed parts swaps are plenty normal.

Welcome Highlander.

[Woogeroo]

jason,
I visit all the forums. Ya never know who will know what yer trying to find out.



-W

[dallas71]

Hey finally resolved the issue..!!! Took the taillight harnes apart (since it was butchered by po) and redid all the wiring and it took care of the problem....THANK GOD !!! I think i have a truning signal switch problem in the works but I will tackle that one once I get the $$