The No-Blink-Blues

[VonsF100]

the search function got me a number of "close but not quite" answers.

Here's my goose/geese I've been chasing on my 69 F100 truck:

REAR LIGHTS as follows:

Ignition OFF, turn signal lever to OFF = left rear blinker ON, bright as day.
Ignition ON, turn sig. lever to OFF = left rear blinker ON, very very very dim.
Ign. ON, turn sig. lever to RIGHT pos. = slight dim to the bulb, no blink.
Ign ON, TSL to LEFT pos = no light on drivers side. at all.
Ign. OFF, TSL to OFF pos. = 6.5 volts HOT on the driver's side ( still no light bulbs lit up)
Ign. OFF, TSL to OFF pos. = 7.2 volts HOT on the passenger side (but the passenger bulb IS lit, as noted above)

If I turn on the headlights, I loose all voltage to the rear, an nothing lighs up back there.

---shouldn't there be NO power to the lights if the Ign. is off, and the TSL is set to "OFF" as well? where is the voltage coming from? ( yes, the HAzards are off)
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FRONT LIGHTS as follows:

Headlights check out fine, Hi beams are in tact and work. Lowbeams on the driver side are fine. Passenger side has a low=beam filament out, so no low beams on the psgr. side. ( I know--simple headlight change...planing to do that so I have that licked)

Ign. ON, TSL to left pos. = left front blinker Lights up nice and bright.
Ign. ON, TSL to right pos. = right front blinker Lights up nice and bright.
Ign. OFF, TSL in either pos. = no blinkers up front --as expected and normal.
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When I flip the toggle in the glove box for the hazard flashers, the front blinkers light up, and stay lit. They do not flash. The rear lights remain dead, and do not flash.
FLipping the TSL to left or right with the hazards on does nothing to the rear lights, they stay dead. The Front lights do nothing but stay on if the Hazards are ON.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

From my tests and my multimeter, I can verify that there is at least 6v. at the rear lights. All blinker bulbs are new, and not burnt out. I think 6v may not be enogh juice to fire the rear lights. For some reason I was expecting closer to 12 volts....but I may be wrong. Maybe 6 should be enough??

I do not suspect the TSS/ TSL assembly to be at fault, since moving the lever manually DOES turn the front blinkers on and off.

I have pulled the rear tailight harness apart and found many many shorts. I created a new harness from new-same-gauge wiring as the orginal. I even installed new connectors as the originals were rather rotted and proved faulty. (continuity checks done and done triple time to verify my new harness not only matches the orig. but is intact and should work.)

I suspect perhaps, that the wiring harness that runs from the cab/firewall and down the length of the frame to the pigtail harness for the rear lights, may have a short in it. However, I'm not certain. I get the correct continuity from the rear harness when I operate the TSL & hazard switches. I just dont get lights to blink back there.

Niether the hazard flasher, nor the blinker flasher make any sound when activated. ( the sound of blink- blink- blink- etc)

Would dead flasher units give me THIS much of a headache? Or is my problem in the harnesses?

[fordman]

the search function got me a number of "close but not quite" answers.

Here's my goose/geese I've been chasing on my 69 F100 truck:

REAR LIGHTS as follows:

Ignition OFF, turn signal lever to OFF = left rear blinker ON, bright as day. unplug the brake light switch and see what happens.
Ignition ON, turn sig. lever to OFF = left rear blinker ON, very very very dim.try the same as above.
Ign. ON, turn sig. lever to RIGHT pos. = slight dim to the bulb, no blink.
Ign ON, TSL to LEFT pos = no light on drivers side. at all.
Ign. OFF, TSL to OFF pos. = 6.5 volts HOT on the driver's side ( still no light bulbs lit up)
Ign. OFF, TSL to OFF pos. = 7.2 volts HOT on the passenger side (but the passenger bulb IS lit, as noted above)

If I turn on the headlights, I loose all voltage to the rear, an nothing lighs up back there.

---shouldn't there be NO power to the lights if the Ign. is off, and the TSL is set to "OFF" as well? where is the voltage coming from? ( yes, the HAzards are off)
____________________________________________________________________________________________


FRONT LIGHTS as follows:

Headlights check out fine, Hi beams are in tact and work. Lowbeams on the driver side are fine. Passenger side has a low=beam filament out, so no low beams on the psgr. side. ( I know--simple headlight change...planing to do that so I have that licked)

Ign. ON, TSL to left pos. = left front blinker Lights up nice and bright.
Ign. ON, TSL to right pos. = right front blinker Lights up nice and bright.
Ign. OFF, TSL in either pos. = no blinkers up front --as expected and normal.
________________________________________________________________________________

When I flip the toggle in the glove box for the hazard flashers, the front blinkers light up, and stay lit. They do not flash. The rear lights remain dead, and do not flash.
FLipping the TSL to left or right with the hazards on does nothing to the rear lights, they stay dead. The Front lights do nothing but stay on if the Hazards are ON.
_______________________________________________________________________________________

From my tests and my multimeter, I can verify that there is at least 6v. at the rear lights. All blinker bulbs are new, and not burnt out. I think 6v may not be enogh juice to fire the rear lights. For some reason I was expecting closer to 12 volts....but I may be wrong. Maybe 6 should be enough??

I do not suspect the TSS/ TSL assembly to be at fault, since moving the lever manually DOES turn the front blinkers on and off.

I have pulled the rear tailight harness apart and found many many shorts. I created a new harness from new-same-gauge wiring as the orginal. I even installed new connectors as the originals were rather rotted and proved faulty. (continuity checks done and done triple time to verify my new harness not only matches the orig. but is intact and should work.)

I suspect perhaps, that the wiring harness that runs from the cab/firewall and down the length of the frame to the pigtail harness for the rear lights, may have a short in it. However, I'm not certain. I get the correct continuity from the rear harness when I operate the TSL & hazard switches. I just dont get lights to blink back there.

Niether the hazard flasher, nor the blinker flasher make any sound when activated. ( the sound of blink- blink- blink- etc)

Would dead flasher units give me THIS much of a headache? Or is my problem in the harnesses?

i marked in red some suggestions. also i would replace the hazard flasher and or the turn flasher or swap them around. this is alot to think about for me right now. so i am going to go at this slowly. I'm sorry i didn't get to this earlier today.

[VonsF100]

pulled the connector off the brake switch--(found I need a new switch anyway)

Replaced the flasher unit

--front blinker lights now work with the Hazards on, rear blinker lights are still dead

--front blinker lights still turn on and off if I manually move the TSL. Rear are still dead

Hazards OFF, Ign. ON = ver very very faint rear blinker bulbs. If I move the TSL, the rears will turn on and off.

So, this is an improvement, but I still do not have running lights at the rear, and the binkers are really not birght enough to use durning the day. Beginning to wonder if the TSS might be at falt after all???

[Dragon]

TSL wiring harness has the Brake/Emergency flasher power wire that is hot all the time going up to the TSS. It is at Bat +. The entire electrical system should be at .5Vdc or less than Bat + The one real exception is the coil resistor wire. Hook a long wire to the tail light lens screw. It is a decent ground. Take the other end to Bat - and attach it then try the TSS.

[VonsF100]

well, I figured it out.

I had to replace the copmplete wiring harness, including connectors, from the dash to the rear lights. I was getting too much resistance in the original wires.

After running new wires, I still had some odd voltage drops at the rear lights. So I sat down, and started thinkin about the 6 or so other old Fords I've had rear light fun with. The common thing was always a bad ground. So I took the rear bulb fixtures out, and dipped them in CLR overnight to get rid of the years of goo and paint on em.

Turns out, a prev. owner had PAINTED both fixtures--ground contact plate included.

Well, DUH--no ground = no bright lights. Removed the funky paint, and "bing! lights!

Put it all back together, and it worked for about 2 days. So.... at least I know what the problem is. Once I get bored and fidgety again I'll work out some better ground contacts for each side.

The good news? I know the wire harnesses are new ( scratch those off the restore list) and the lights DO all work when the grounds are good.

...now to find a decent box...and tires...and.....