Turn signal indicator glow [message #193052] |
Sun, 16 December 2012 03:12 |
jtblank
Messages: 237 Registered: June 2007 Location: Tulare, CA
Karma: 1
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I just noticed(driving at night)that when I turn on the headlights the right turn signal indicator on the dash glows dimly. All the lights on the outside are lit and if the turn signal is activated the turn signal lights flash as well as the aforementioned indicator. In short every thing operates as is should other than the right indicator glows very dimly when the headlights are turned on. On a side note I recently upgraded the headlights to the H4 system with relay harness from LMC Truck.
Any ideas on what's the cause or what to check?
Thanks!
John Blankenship
'76 Palm Beach
Tulare, CA
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Re: [GMCnet] Turn signal indicator glow [message #193055 is a reply to message #193053] |
Sun, 16 December 2012 06:03 |
tphipps
Messages: 3005 Registered: August 2004 Location: Spanish Fort, AL
Karma: 9
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Speaking of the LMC truck light harness. I installed one last week and it did not function. The 2 grounds are attached to know good grounds on the firewall, and the power leads are attached directly to the battery post. Fuses are good, headlights are good.
Remove the harness, reconnect everything and lights function as designed.
Any ideas?
Tom, MS II
2012 Phoenix Cruiser model 2552
KA4CSG
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Re: Turn signal indicator glow [message #193058 is a reply to message #193052] |
Sun, 16 December 2012 08:20 |
JohnL455
Messages: 4447 Registered: October 2006 Location: Woodstock, IL
Karma: 12
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Can also be caused by a bad 1157 lamp. The parking lamp filament can be touching the turn/brake filament and feeding lowered voltage back to the circuit. You'd see that at the dash.
John Lebetski
Woodstock, IL
77 Eleganza II
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Re: Turn signal indicator glow [message #193130 is a reply to message #193052] |
Mon, 17 December 2012 02:31 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030 Registered: January 2004 Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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jtblank wrote on Sun, 16 December 2012 03:12 | I just noticed(driving at night)that when I turn on the headlights the right turn signal indicator on the dash glows dimly. All the lights on the outside are lit and if the turn signal is activated the turn signal lights flash as well as the aforementioned indicator. In short every thing operates as is should other than the right indicator glows very dimly when the headlights are turned on. On a side note I recently upgraded the headlights to the H4 system with relay harness from LMC Truck.
Any ideas on what's the cause or what to check?
Thanks!
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Mine has been doing that for over a year. I never seem to remember to go look for the problem. Oh well, some day I'll do it.
Let me know what you find and I'll look there first. It is probably a shorted bulb in one of right side sockets. It also could be a bad ground in one of the right side sockets.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Re: Turn signal indicator glow [message #193137 is a reply to message #193052] |
Mon, 17 December 2012 09:03 |
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Matt Colie
Messages: 8547 Registered: March 2007 Location: S.E. Michigan
Karma: 7
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jtblank wrote on Sun, 16 December 2012 04:12 | I just noticed(driving at night)that when I turn on the headlights the right turn signal indicator on the dash glows dimly. All the lights on the outside are lit and if the turn signal is activated the turn signal lights flash as well as the aforementioned indicator. In short every thing operates as is should other than the right indicator glows very dimly when the headlights are turned on. On a side note I recently upgraded the headlights to the H4 system with relay harness from LMC Truck.
Any ideas on what's the cause or what to check?
Thanks!
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John,
I had this same issue thrice. Because both front markers required re-work.
Easy check: Pull on the marker lights and then start the 4-way. Now go look at the lights on all four corners. If one is out of phase, it has a bad ground.
The bad ground in the front marker lights is a deficiency of both the design of the light and the OE installation. The lamp socket is crimped into the reflector for its ground and it will get loose with years of thermal cycling. The assembly is grounded through one on the fasteners that hold it in the plastic body panel. Between the two the chance of long term survival is almost non-existent.
The first was a visibly loose socket at the reflector. I soldered that and it worked for a while. Then other failed similarly, but the socket was not loose. I solder the socket to the reflector anyway and it worked correctly after it was installed. When the first side failed again, I did a more careful diagnosis and found the bad connection at the fastener. By now, I was quite tired of the game. So, I removed both markers and added a pigtail with a ring terminal to both so the ground wire at the fastener could be against the new lamp ground. It has been that way for several years now.
Matt
Matt & Mary Colie - Chaumière -'73 Glacier 23 - Members GMCMI, GMCGL, GMCES
Electronically Controlled Quiet Engine Cooling Fan with OE Rear Drum Brakes with Applied Control Arms
SE Michigan - Near DTW - Twixt A2 and Detroit
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Re: [GMCnet] Turn signal indicator glow [message #193175 is a reply to message #193137] |
Mon, 17 December 2012 13:54 |
Ken Henderson
Messages: 8726 Registered: March 2004 Location: Americus, GA
Karma: 9
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I think y'all have identified my problem: A couple of weeks ago I replaced
the park/turn bulbs with LED's (the tail/stop lights have had LED's for
years). Lo & behold, the turn signals would not work, and both indicators
stayed on, when the parking lights were on. Mindlessly, I replaced the
flasher (would you believe I'd hidded that so well in the new dash that it
took hours to find it?) with a solid state one. No change. Replacing the
LED's with incandescent 1157's fixed the problem, and so it remains. I
kind of figured it was a grounding problem; y'all have confirmed that. If
it's warm enough this week I'll add some "real" grounds and try the LED's
again.
I might even get REAL carried away and install those halogen headlamps I've
had for 12+ months. Which leads to another discussion: There are two ways
that pop into my head for wiring those lamps:
One is a parallel approach, in which each pair (high and low) of
filaments is connected to a solid 12 VDC source via a SPST (or DPST) relay.
The dimmer switch's output causes ONE of the relays to close -- the relays
merely replace the original bulbs in the original circuit and provide
better power to the new bulbs. In other words, there are two
Supply/Selector Relays.
The second approach is to wire two relays in series: The first
connects to the solid 12 VDC source and is closed by the headlight switch.
The second, SPDT (or DPDT) relay is controlled by the dimmer switch, as in
the parallel circuit, but selects EITHER the high beam pair or the low beam
pair. In other words, there's a Supply Relay and a Selector Relay.
Either of those will work, but one is probably more reliable than the
other; I can't decide which. One might say the parallel version is
bestbecause the failure of either Supply/Selector Relay will disable
only one
pair of beams, while the failure of the series Supply Relay relay will kill
all lights. But that argument ignores the influences of the OLD fuse
holder, headlight switch, and dimmer switch, all of which seem to me more
likely to fail than the new relays.
What say ye??? Tire wars time again! :-)
Ken H.
P.S.: Another variant: In the Series circuit, let the Supply Relay be a
Supply Selector Relay: When closed, it connects to the solid 12 VDC
source; if it fails to close, it remains connected to the original supply
from the headlight switch. Now there's only the Selector Relay, which
merely selects high or low beams -- it can't (barring unlikely catastrophic
contact failure) prevent illumination (albeit perhaps at lower, OEM,
level). NOW, what say ye? KH :-)
On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 10:03 AM, Matt Colie wrote:
>
> ... So, I removed both markers and added a pigtail with a ring terminal to
> both so the ground wire at the fastener could be against the new lamp
> ground. It has been that way for several years now.
>
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Ken Henderson
Americus, GA
www.gmcwipersetc.com
Large Wiring Diagrams
76 X-Birchaven
76 X-Palm Beach
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Re: [GMCnet] Turn signal indicator glow [message #193180 is a reply to message #193175] |
Mon, 17 December 2012 14:51 |
shawnee
Messages: 422 Registered: February 2004 Location: NC
Karma: 0
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Ken,
I replaced my rear tail light and turn signals with LED lights as you know. They all worked without any modification. I think I remember your coach is a newer model than mine and possibly that could be a difference, or may be just blind luck.
Gene Dotson
74 Canyonlands
www.bdub.net/Motorhome_Enhancements New Windows and Aluminum Radiators
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Re: Turn signal indicator glow [message #193238 is a reply to message #193052] |
Mon, 17 December 2012 21:25 |
Wander Inn
Messages: 100 Registered: January 2010 Location: Phoenix Az.
Karma: 0
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Ken;
When I swithed to LED parking and tail light bulbs,
my lights would not blink. I fixed this by reversing
the wires on the flasher. Works fine now.
Mike
Mike & Chris Hughes
1977 Kingsley
Phoenix, Az.
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