Is this my electrical short ?

[garyfish340]

I've had some really awesome people (nm9stheham, Tantibus-74, iw378, Thank you. ) trying to help me with an electrical short, but because I suck at communicating, I got off subject quick. So I'm starting over, with just the facts.
Is the photo below a good suspect for an electrical short. The socket is rusted, and missing a tang.
When I turn on my left side blinkers, I get a power surge, and blow the fuse. The light had the issue before I bought, and modified the car. The steering column, and everything inside is new. the relay, and obviously the fuses have been changed.
I'm hoping this is the problem, because I really screwed up the previous thread on the subject, and unduely confused everybody.

 

[Inertia]

It's hard to see,, but if that contact is touching the side,, that is your "short".. (not surge)

Those "pigtails", the round piece with the two contacts with wires attached,, are avail at most parts stores..

hope it helps

 

[garyfish340]

I have it writen down someplace, so don't take my word for what I am about to write. But, my neighbor told me to cut the ( if I remember ) - black/LT green wire, than replace the fuse, and try the blinker. He say's if the rear light blinks fast, but doesn't blow the fuse, than that's the short. He suggested this, because the socket is in bad condition, and needs replacing anyway. The only thing that bothers me is, where do you get the gasket for the socket ? that's what failed, and let the water in, in the 1st place right ?

 

[moparlover]

believe it or not, NAPA actually sells those sockets still. i have the part number jotted down at home that a lady looked up for me. it's in their catalog not online. i can get you the part number tonight, or you can call a local NAPA. they will have to look it up in the book.

i didnt need those, just reconditioned mine. but i was dumbfounded they even stocked the socket for my car lol. being it's a '74 plymouth

 

[68gtxman]

If you have a voltage-ohm meter, you can set it to ohms and probe both of the socket contacts with one side while grounding the meter's other wire. If you get a reading of 0 at either electric contact, then that's your failed side. Track it down by cutting the wire off of the socket and checking just the wire again. If you still get a reading of 0, then the wire is shorted somewhere between the socket and the fuse box.

Good luck!

 

[garyfish340]

If you have a voltage-ohm meter, you can set it to ohms and probe both of the socket contacts with one side while grounding the meter's other wire. If you get a reading of 0 at either electric contact, then that's your failed side. Track it down by cutting the wire off of the socket and checking just the wire again. If you still get a reading of 0, then the wire is shorted somewhere between the socket and the fuse box.

Good luck!

What great advice for the novice wiring person. Even I can do this, and I'm basically l:cheersst when it comes to how electricity functions. If FABO had a forum for tips, and tricks, advice like this would be priceless. Thanks.

 

[garyfish340]

believe it or not, NAPA actually sells those sockets still. i have the part number jotted down at home that a lady looked up for me. it's in their catalog not online. i can get you the part number tonight, or you can call a local NAPA. they will have to look it up in the book.

i didnt need those, just reconditioned mine. but i was dumbfounded they even stocked the socket for my car lol. being it's a '74 plymouth

I took moparlovers advice, and order a exact replacement from Napa. On the way home I passed Autozone, and stopped in, and they had a GM socket for cheap on the shelf. I thought, " It's cheap enough as a test tool, until the replacement arrives. Well it actually will screw right into the back of the housing, and it comes with a really thick compressible foam gasket. I'll try this with some wire barrels for temp, and if it doesn't work, GTXman had some good advice for searching for shorts. Very cool thanks everybody. I'll post whether it gets fixed, or not.

 

[68gtxman]

What great advice for the novice wiring person. Even I can do this, and I'm basically l:cheersst when it comes to how electricity functions. If FABO had a forum for tips, and tricks, advice like this would be priceless. Thanks.

You are very welcome Gary! We really appreciate and respect folks who try to fix their own cars. That's the best way to learn.

 

[garyfish340]

Just for the purpose of learning something new, I did what GTX man told me would work, and it was exactly as he explained. Than we replaced the socket, and now I have 4 good functioning directial signals, and parking lights.
I spent under 16 grand, used up what was left of my demolished Barracuda, installed my junkyard stroker hemi, a 4 link rear, the car is on 17" tires, and the suspension is lowered to the ground with good ground clearance, yet it is absolutely amazing how a stupid light bulb can throw a wrench in a well laid plan. Thank you to everybody.

 

[RustyRatRod]

Why not just leave that socket unplugged and see if it works then?

 

[moparlover]

the NAPA part number for reference: LS6476

 

[garyfish340]

Why not just leave that socket unplugged and see if it works then?

Mainly because when you don't know a ton about what it is you are doing with wiring, the process of decision making gets all askeew. You know like anything that a person doesn't feel totally confident with. Simple solutions are not usually the first ones, you kind of sweat bullets picturing the short being this broken wire between here, and the unforseen. What GTXman wrote about seemed like something worth learning, a good hands on experience.

 

[garyfish340]

So here we go again. I swear that the first time I started this Duster, it had no instrument cluster lighting, but somebody told me, " That mopar lite the cluster so poorly, that in the daylight it's not all that perceivable." and the speedometer was stuck at 25 mph, I had one gauge that worked - the fuel level. Well, the speedometer fix itself, the dash lighting is now working, and today the temperature gauge decided to join the band. I think I own Christine. Wacky ! I'll have to make a video when it decides to do it's own paint, and body work. All I can say to the other car guys is, " Please stay out of my way, the bus has left the station, but nobody is at the wheel." Totally insane.
Or the plastic snap that hold the engine side of the bulkhead connector, to the interior side, which is broken, needs a way of clamping tighter. Maybe I can take one of those plastic zips used for transmission coolers, shove it through a blank space in the connector, and pull it tight. If the blanks don't have metal spades inside it should work fine. I have the bulkhead connectors from my old barracuda, but cutting and soldering up to 6 wires seems like a bigger mess than the above idea. Regardless, the car gets better everyday, and I'm okay even with the tight budget. Thanks.

 

[moparlover]

speedo... someday when you have time, you have to unhook the cable, pull the center guts of the cable out ... clean it with something like WD40, then dry it off lube it with thin coat of vaseline. (vaseline wont freeze in cold like other stuff)

dash glitchies... probably grounding. especially make sure you have a ground strap from the head to firewall/wiper motor bolt. that one often gets forgotten.