OK - I saw a couple of threads about peoples' side turn signals staying lit. I have the same problem and from what I have read, a ground is the fault, but the thread did not list WHERE to find the bad ground. The wires disappear into the wiring loom, so I am trying to save time in searching.

My question is WHERE exactly can the ground be fixed?

Here is what mine is doing (and DodgeRuner, you seem to know your schematics very well from the other posts I've read, so I am hoping for your input):

-Driving (or headlights) on = no front side signal light
-Flasher = left side signal working normal
-all of the other three side lights turn on when they are supposed to

(key on):
-Left signal on = left side signal stays on along with the dash indicator arrow (right signal works normally)
-When right signal is flashing, adding the driving lights slows the flash considerably
-Any time I turn on the left signal, the electric water pump slows considerably
-I have no headlights in the car right now. I'm waiting on parts from previous owner
-All tail light bulbs are working fine

So, if a bad ground on the left side is causing this, where can I find the bad ground for that side? This is an 86GT.

Thanks for any help!

The majorty of the grounds for the exterior lighting are found in one location and thats attached to the chassie inside the passenger side rear inner fender well (possibly a bad ground).allso the small ground wire that comes off the battery could cause your lighting to become dim.But there could be other causes like a single filament bulb inserted in a duel filamet socket (causeing a bridge,at the base).Allso a bad filament in a duel filamet bulb,can cause one side to touch the other filament (another type of bridge)you may think the problem is in the front,but you should check the bulbs in the rear too,because some of those bulbs are duel filament too.Allso check the connections at the base of the wireing harness to the right rear of the battery,use a mirror.

[This message has been edited by James Bond 007 (edited 09-24-2006).]

Just wondering - are both the front and rear lights on? If a bulb is blown, won't the blinkers not blink to let you know a bulb is bad?

quote Originally posted by James Bond 007:The majorty of the grounds for the exterior lighting are found in one location and thats attached to the chassie inside the passenger side rear inner fender well (possibly a bad ground).allso the small ground wire that comes off the battery could cause your lighting to become dim.But there could be other causes like a single filament bulb inserted in a duel filamet socket (causeing a bridge,at the base).Allso a bad filament in a duel filamet bulb,can cause one side to touch the other filament (another type of bridge)you may think the problem is in the front,but you should check the bulbs in the rear too,because some of those bulbs are duel filament too.Allso check the connections at the base of the wireing harness to the right rear of the battery,use a mirror.

Good info. After all the trouble I had with getting the correct bulbs from Advance Auto, I should re-check every one of them. Maybe there is an 1186 or a 2056 (single filament bulbs) where it doesn't belong. Thanks for the great advice!

quote Originally posted by SCCA FIERO: Just wondering - are both the front and rear lights on? If a bulb is blown, won't the blinkers not blink to let you know a bulb is bad?

Not allways.It's hard to tell,what would happen when you have something like a bridged filament. one side may work and the other wont or it may stay on constantly with no blinking.The source of the problem,can cause unusual problems with the blinkers.

[This message has been edited by James Bond 007 (edited 09-24-2006).]

Ahh I'm blushing...!..

The same grounds are used for the headlights and the turn/marker lights. The grounds screw to the body on both the left and right side of the nose.

Look right behind the headlight buckets and there is a hole on each side where the side marker wires go thru a round hole into the inner fender. The grounds are right next to the holes on each side.
Clean them up and see if that helps your problem.

quote Originally posted by Dodgerunner:Ahh I'm blushing...!.. The same grounds are used for the headlights and the turn/marker lights. The grounds screw to the body on both the left and right side of the nose. Look right behind the headlight buckets and there is a hole on each side where the side marker wires go thru a round hole into the inner fender. The grounds are right next to the holes on each side. Clean them up and see if that helps your problem.

Will do! Between re-checking the bulbs and cleaning these grounds, I bet this one will be finished. I pulled the light socket back through that hole in the inner fender well and the only wires ran right into the small harness, but I wasn't looking much farther, so I'll check it out tomorrow. Thanks! I owe you more than a few beers!

Check the socket for the turn signal bulb for the problem.
Also add another chassis to engine block grond strap for the pump problem with signals on.

My left front one is broke and mine stays on too. I'd say the bulb.


Josh

quote Originally posted by ly41181:My left front one is broke and mine stays on too. I'd say the bulb.Josh

Thanks guys. I put two different bulbs in, so I'm sure the bulb is good (since it does come on). The engine (SBC) has two heavy ground straps already, but I will check the connections to be sure. Thanks!

Well, I pulled the ground next to the side signal, sanded the tips and put them back on. I did not sand through the paint on the inner fender, but maybe I need to because it did not help. I'll make sure the teeth on the tips dig in through the paint tomorrow.

I checked the bulbs all the way around and they match what I have in the right side, which works fine. So - back to square one. Any other suggestions? Maybe one of my bulbs is defective - I don't know. I guess I'll replace each bulb, one by one to see if that helps. I'm stumped!

Allso inspect the bulb socket,once in a great while I've seen a green corrosion like buildup in there.

I had the same problem. I kinda chuckled at & my friends did too. Mine just kinda went away.

quote Originally posted by James Bond 007:Allso inspect the bulb socket,once in a great while I've seen a green corrosion like buildup in there.

I'll clean it, but it does work when the 4-way flashers are on...

I've been staring at the diagram now for a bit. the side marker light gets it's ground thru the front bulb. if the turn works, but slow, then there is a high resistance in there. check the socket on the front main turn lamp. remove the bulb and see what the side marker does then. if is is still lit, then you have a short somewhere. there is no path to ground for the side marker with the front bulb out.

I have to revisit the library and get a better shot of this page.

Well, I went back to the bulbs to check them and they are all correct - but first, I checked the working side and found a bulb there was wrong! Putting the correct bulb in didn't make a difference in the other side, though.

So, I pulled and checked all the non-working side tail light bulbs. For some reason, after pulling them all and putting them back in, the signals worked! Granted - they flashed much slower than the other side, but they did blink. I will go get another flasher tomorrow to see if that helps the speed, but at least it is working somewhat.

I'll pull the front light like you said to see if anything changes. It will probably go back to not working again

I'll report my progress tomorrow. Thanks!!

quote Originally posted by tjm4fun: I've been staring at the diagram now for a bit. the side marker light gets it's ground thru the turn signal bulb. If the turn works, but slow, then there is a high resistance in there. check the socket on the front main turn lamp. remove the bulb and see what the side marker does then. if is is still lit, then you have a short somewhere. there is no path to ground for the side marker with the front bulb out. I have to revisit the library and get a better shot of this page.

If you notice that with the headlights off the sidemarker will flash with the turn signal; then put the park (or headlights) on and turn the flasher on. Now the sidemarker will alternately flash with the turn signal. Same for front or back.

Anyway, you do have a bad connection (I know duh...) If I were you, I would go through all of the remote grounds and also do as others have mentioned - clean up the sockets for all of the bulbs. These cars are old and these items are rarely addressed if ever.

Keep us posted on your progress.

P.S. From my posts it looks like I curse alot... In reality I use ZL firewall and have privacy protection on and it is restricting my first name. Can anyone guess my first name from the blankouts? ;-)

[This message has been edited by 87GTZ34 (edited 09-29-2006).]

Take a test lite and see if the wire is carrying power. If it is, then splice a pigtail on the other wire (ground) and fasten it directly to the frame anywhere. You cant have too many grounds.

If there is a speed difference between the sides it's not the flasher, it means there is a difference in the electrical load between the side.
Has to be a blub out, incorrect blub or blub not getting enough current due to a bad connection etc.

quote Originally posted by 87GTZ34: If I were you, I would go through all of the remote grounds and also do as others have mentioned - clean up the sockets for all of the bulbs. These cars are old and these items are rarely addressed if ever.

Ditto---I went threw the entire system , the 10mm ground on the rear wiring tail lamp harness was rusted threw. The sockets and everything else was a disaster--after mounting a new place for the ground, and cleaning everything else up--it works great--including removing all that goop thats been in there for 20 years now.

Just fixed a similar problem on mine, the front drivers turn light would not come or flash. When turned the left directional on the bulb would go come on very weak and the side marker would go out, also the directional light on the dash would stay on all the time. It turned out to be the ground in the turn signal socket itself, I did a continuity test on the ground and got no beep so I just followed ground wire at the harness up to the socket. The short was inside the socket where you can't see it, the metal part that leads from the wire connection in the socket to the bulb was so corroded that it no longer looked like metal just lots of white powder. I just bought another one at the store and spliced it in and works just fine now. Check your socket but you may not be able to see it so use a meter.

OK - I'll check the rear grounds and clean the sockets. The goop inside is pretty nasty!

Everything you guys say makes sense. I do appreciate the help. I'll report back in...

So has what the lights do changed any or are they still the same as you orig. discribed? I was going to go thru the schmo again and reason what it's doing if it has not changed.

quote Originally posted by Dodgerunner:So has what the lights do changed any or are they still the same as you orig. discribed? I was going to go thru the schmo again and reason what it's doing if it has not changed.

The left side is just slow-blinking now. It got better after I took all the rear bulbs out and put them back in again. Perhaps cleaning the sockets will make all the difference. There is a lot of the gunk in there. I'll also pull the side signal again and check it. Of course, I can't find my meter to see what kind of juice is getting to it, but it flashes bright. If the clean sockets don't do it, I'll just splice in another socket and see if that helps.

If you look at the bad image above and look below the two blubs near the bottom middle the wires come off the bottom of the lamps, join together and then resplit to go to ground. Those are the two ground on each side of the front fender that I told you to check.
If the drawing is correct those two ground are tied together at a point called S103 which the book indicates is located in the harness located between the brake booster and the left inner fender.

If this junction was messed up you could have a poor ground point there. Might be worth a look. If the left side is just blinking slow now it has to be because the load is less on that side since the same flasher is used for both right and left.
The flasher is located in the power supply line located before the turn switch switch in the column.


Could even be a poor connection in the turn switch.

I'll let you know what happens. I went out to work on something else today and the signal just sticks on again like it did a few days ago. I'll clean out the sockets good.

After cleaning out the sockets tonight, I went back to the front because nothing changed. While fiddling with the front signal light, I noticed that the side signal started working normally. It turns out that an extra wire plugs into the side of the socket and that plug was loose. I wonder what that plug is for?

So - the turn signals work fine. Speed is good - as long as the driving/headlights are off. As soon as I turn on the driving lights, the signal slows down considerable.

I hit the ground wire with sandpaper again and even hit the inside of the side signal socket with sandpaper, too. No change. Still a slow signal with the lights on.

Any clues? I guess I need to look at Dodgerunner's suggestion of another ground point. What a pain this is turning out to be!

With the headlights on do both sides slow down or just the left?

If both then it's a supply problem back further. If just the left, well, have to think about that.

Yup - just the left. Right side is great. I'm not clear on the instructions about finding the ground between the master cylinder and the light itself. I did find the ground on the inner fender just beside the side signal light. Maybe I need to sand it down to the metal before I put the wires back on...

email sent with pics

Just a reminder from my earlier post, the problem with my turn signal was in the socket, when I say in the socket I mean the wire that's sealed in the plastic housing part that you can't see or touch unless you pull the wires out of the socket. Don't pull the wires out because they won't go back in the same way but what you could do is to cut the three wires coming from the socket halfway to the wire harness and touch the wire connections to the bulb directly to see if the socket is bad. One is the ground(blk), one for the turn, and one for the parking light. Of course make sure don't touch the wire ends to each other or you could blow a fuse, if the bulb and flasher work then you know it's the socket, if theres no change you can always splice the socket back on with electrical tape. Would be much easier to test with a meter though.

OK - I should be able to check these things out this weekend, Dodge and Kazew. I have to pull the intake first to get a new seal on - then it's back to this problem. At least I'll be able to drive her with the intake done. Maybe driving her around and shaking her up will do some good for her electronics...

The thread is a little old, but this is how I just fixed my turn signal problem.

I was having a problem with my left turn signal. The light on the dash would stay on all the time. When I used my left turn signal sometime it would brink very slowly and sometimes it would not blink at all.

I checked all the bulbs and all the grounds and everything was fine. I fixed it by taking the bulbs out of the left front turn signal. I used a dremel with the wire brush attachment and cleaned the three metal contacts inside the plug until they shinned. Everything works great now. The contacts didn’t look bad, just a little dull, but it was enough to affect the turn signal.