help electrical problem!

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mopar951

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hi i have a 1970 duster evrytime i go to turn on the turn signal they both flash on the left and right side weird and when i turn on my headlights i have no hazards! but on my instrument cluster when i turn on the running lights the right arrow is lit up any suggestions on this? also my lights in the back are really dull too when i have my running lights on
 
Go here and download yourself a shop manual:

http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?p=1970088617

Check socket grounds

Check all bulbs in park and tail sockets. Make sure they are the right part number and do not have an internal short

Do you have any reason to suspect the harness has been hacked up, or pinched or melted somewhere? (previous short, etc?)

When you say "no hazards" do you mean that all four EXTERNAL laps flash as normal and stop when the headlights are on? what happens if only the park lights are on?
 
Yea I have no hazards at all outside of the car as soon as I turn off my headlights they work
 
The Flashers , running lights and headlights operate with the key off. it may be that your turn signal switch is grounding in the column when you operate the lever.( During the following test, always walk around the car to verify all lights are working, if they aren't, look for a bad bulb.) Leave the key off, put on the flashers. if they work ok, (all four corners) then turn on the running lights. if they work ok ,turn on the headlights. if they work ok, turn on the key, turn off the flashers(the two won't work at the same time)and turn on the right turn signal. if the flashers flash both left and right, you have solved your problem.
Remember, ON a mopar, everything attached to the dash is hot and the body is a ground. Also, The hot on a mopar runs through the turn signal switch all the time, even on the late 60's and 70' cars.


Another thing, frequently the four way or turn signal relays under the dash may make contact with the dash frame, and This can cause a fault, causing even more problems. They can also be defective, or the wrong size, and really mess with the operation. Turn signal and flasher relays don't have the same resistance, so if they have too much resistance, or not enough, then everything is out of wack. Your flasher should be steady, not too fast. same with the turn signal. too fast or too slow indicates a voltage problem.
I hope this helps,,,,,
 
oldmopardude said:
The Flashers , running lights and headlights operate with the key off. it may be that your turn signal switch is grounding in the column when you operate the lever.( During the following test, always walk around the car to verify all lights are working, if they aren't, look for a bad bulb.) Leave the key off, put on the flashers. if they work ok, then turn on the running lights. if they work ok ,turn on the headlights. if they work ok, turn on the key, turn off the flashers(the two won't work at the same time)and turn on the right turn signal. if the flashers flash both left and right, you have solved your problem.
Remember, ON a mopar, everything attached to the dash is hot and the body is a ground. Also, The hot on a mopar runs through the turn signal switch all the time, even on the late 60's cars.
I hope this helps.
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Here's the thing

If the TS switch is "grounding" it should be either blowing fuses or melting wiring

The head/ park lights SHOULD not have one thing to do with signals except for

grounds

a wiring fault

I have NO idea what you mean by saying "the hot runs through the turn signal switch"

The ONLY "hot" wire to the TS switch

in pre 70 models is the OUTPUT (switched) side of the brake light switch

In 70 and later, the 4x hazard flasher power is "hot" to the switch.

(By the way guy using the word "flashers" is misleading. Are "we" referring to HAZARDS (4 way) or turn signals or both?

On cars built before 70, the hazard flasher and switch IF EQUIPPED was a separate dash mounted switch.
 
wrong. The second you turn on a flasher on a 69', there is power to the turn signal switch. I've wired a bunch of them, and they are all the same. The fact that the switch is on the dash means nothing. That is why if you turn on the flasher, then the turn signal handle, things change. My 70' duster and my 69' dart are a copy of each other, the switches are just in a different place. Buy the way, GUY, if you had any real experience obviously, you would know in 1970 a flasher and a hazard is the same thing. Also, an experienced electrician knows that a switch can have a grounding issue, but only show up when you actually actuate the switch, without blowing a fuse or melting anything at all.
 
oldmopardude said:
wrong. The second you turn on a flasher on a 69', there is power to the turn signal switch. I've wired a bunch of them, and they are all the same. The fact that the switch is on the dash means nothing. That is why if you turn on the flasher, then the turn signal handle, things change. My 70' duster and my 69' dart are a copy of each other, the switches are just in a different place. Buy the way, GUY, if you had any real experience obviously, you would know in 1970 a flasher and a hazard is the same thing. Also, an experienced electrician knows that a switch can have a grounding issue, but only show up when you actually actuate the switch, without blowing a fuse or melting anything at all.
Click to expand...

What the hell are you talking about?

"Flasher" is a word you made up. You will not find that term anywhere in a Mopar publication referring to the HAZARD or WARNING flashers. Using the word 'flasher' can mean any damn thing. Are you talking about signal "flashers" or hazard "flashers" or the ho's along the sidewalk?

I'm well aware of the "trick" where you turn on the HAZARD switch and this feeds into the turn signals when either left or right is selected YOU CAN NOT DO THAT on a properly working '70 or later because there is a MECHANICAL INTERLOCK in the switch, IE the HAZARD switch is part of the turn signal switch.

Short to ground.??? What the hell are you talking about?

There is only TWO results of shorting power to ground. ONLY two

1....blown fuses

2...burned up wiring.

"any real experience?"

Please do not make assumptions about which you do not know squat
 
Was looking at the pix of the '68 Valiant 200 for sale.... the pix of the original factory dash shows the hazard switch with the factory label of "FLASHER".... So it is appears that these are 2 commonly interchangeable terms even at the Mopar factories...Or maybe Dodge had "Hazards" and Plymouths had "Flashers"...LOL
 
I'm betting your wiring is all fused together under the dash, from the bulkhead bypass you didn't do.
 
Hi update I have my 4 way flashers now just replaced the flasher but when I turn on my running lights or my head lights my hazards don't work or my turn signals when the lights are off the hazards work but my turn signals work but flash on both sides of the car if I turn it on to go right the green arrow is bright but when going left it's dim on the right arrow weird!!! I don't get it
 
mopar951 said:
Hi update I have my 4 way flashers now just replaced the flasher but when I turn on my running lights or my head lights my hazards don't work or my turn signals when the lights are off the hazards work but my turn signals work but flash on both sides of the car if I turn it on to go right the green arrow is bright but when going left it's dim on the right arrow weird!!! I don't get it
Click to expand...

You are going to have to learn to type in complete sentences.

If the 4 way flashers work with park lights off

and if the 4 way flashers work with the headlights off

BUT the 4 way flashers do not work with either park or headlights on, you most likely have a grounding problem at the sockets.

Check your lamp bulbs that they are the correct part numbers.

There should be NO interconnect, electrically, between the park / head and the signal and hazard flashers
 
Now when u say grounding problem at the sockets are u meaning the ones in the trunk bcoz those have the metal ones that push into side marker lights and rear tail lights
 
67Dart273 said:
Yes, socket grounding.
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It sounds similar to a problem I was having in my 70 Dart. My signal, running and brake lamps were all mixed up when turned on and I had no emergency flashers at all. Some were dim some were bright some flashed dim some flashed bright some not at all. Everything seemed to be completely out of whack.

One of the taillight sockets had lost it's ground to the metal housing. The sockets have no ground wire, they rely on making contact with the housing for their ground. The problem could also be the point where the housing is attached to the bumper. The sockets are pressed onto the housing. I lifted the edge of the socket and cleaned it up and pressed it back down and it worked for awhile and went out again. I fixed it and then the other side had the same problem. I soldered a ground wire to the outside surface of both sockets and grounded each socket straight to the bumper mounts. The wires are up under the bumper and invisible. I haven't had any trouble for over a year and it's my daily driver.

Here's what I did to check them, very simple: Take the lenses off the housings. Take a jumper wire or even just the tip of a slotted screwdriver. Make contact from the lip of the socket beside the bulb and then to the metal housing or use a jumper and go to a ground. If you see any change in brightness with the bulbs you have a ground problem. You may have a problem with more than one too. As soon as I grounded mine again it was like flipping a switch and everything worked as it was supposed to.

Now, you may have a different problem but this is a very fast and easy way to check the sockets and either fix them or eliminate them as the problem.

Oh wait, I'm sorry- 70 Duster. Lights in the tail panel. I'd still check all your grounds to those sockets. You'll just have to adjust the procedure.
 
Ok I will try that they are kinda rusty on the socket side where they press into the lens I'll clean them and try it again thanks
 
Good luck, it's like solving a puzzle and when you finally solve it, it's a good feeling. Grounds are funny things as the juice starts finding other routes to travel in.

I had a '79 Corolla when I was in college and several days after changing the clutch, the headlights started running dim and the gauges and idiot lights started acting up. I had forgotten the engine grounding strap when I bolted on the bell housing. Why it waited a several days I don't know but that's the funny thing about grounds. Maybe the strap was making contact and then fell away.
 
Robj said:
I had forgotten the engine grounding strap when I bolted on the bell housing. Why it waited a several days I don't know but that's the funny thing about grounds. Maybe the strap was making contact and then fell away.
Click to expand...

In this case,, the ground was prob being made thru a piece of linkage,, that would move when the engine torqued, making/breaking the circuit.. ask me how I know.. lol..
 
also make sure the brass "buttons" inside the sockets are setting correct. They have to be clocked right so bulbs don't set across the buttons and send power backwards through wiring. If a bulb is burnt out the filament can lay back across the good filament and cause problems as well.
 
Hi ok update I have turn signals on the left and the right but my side markers all blink if I turn left or right it's weird and they still don't work if I put my head lights on or my running lights
 
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