Turn signal issue

[jordansinthesky]

Hello,

Ever since I purchased the penguin I've had an interesting problem with the turn signals.  They work correctly in the front, but in the back they just flash.  My Dad and I have done a little wire chasing, and everything from the bulb to the flasher to the wiring that heads up to the front seems to be correct.  Are there any sages out there that have heard of this and know the path?

[gus]

They're supposed to flash?? I don't really understand the question?

[demodriver]

I think he meant that they just do one flash and stop.

[fe2_o3]

Check the ground connections...Cable

[Dave5Cs]

Are you sure someone didn't put in 12 volt bulbs and they should be 24 volt? Or could be a relay, or ground that needs cleaning and reconnection.

Dave

[gus]

When a turn signal bulb only lights without flashing it usually means one of the bulbs is burned out or making poor contact in the bulb socket.

Often all you have to do is remove the bulb and replace it a couple of times to make new contact through the corrosion (which is not always visible). However, since the front flashes this is probably not the problem.

In a 4104 the rear RH electrical panel has a bunch of terminals, one of which is for turn signals. Try removing these connections, check the wiring, nuts and terminal connector for corrosion. I think the terminal is #21 but you need to check the manual to find out for sure.

Also, this happened on my 4104 once and I found the + and - turn signal wires reversed!!

[jordansinthesky]

Hey guys, sorry for the bad wording.  I meant to say that they both flash at the same time like I have my hazards on.

[gus]

That is a hoss of a different color!!

If they both flash no matter which way the turn signal is set they are somehow both connected together at the rear, probably in the RH rear elect box.

The only other possibility I can think of is they are both connected together at the turn signal switch. However, if this were so I think the fronts would do the same thing.

The rear elect box has a different terminal number for each side turn signal so they may somehow be connected together or it could just be that the wires are bare and touching along the route from the box to the lights. This wiring is so old and the insulation so brittle that there are bare wires all over the place. This is a constant problem with our older jewels.

Look to see if the wire bends when the engine cover is raised and lowered. These wires are very often misrouted, They should be routed so there is no bending or at least very little.

At least they flash!!

Once my tail lights were so messed up that when I hit the brake the engine would die!! That was a real mess. Once I got that fixed the turn signals wouldn't work.

[Lin]

What Gus said, but also check grounds as Dave mentioned.  Another thing is to check the flasher itself to see if anything is touching.  By "purchasing the penquin" do you mean installing an AC? 

When I first got this bus, it had very creative directional wiring and the dash light did not work right.  If I got the dash light to work, then both sides flashed.  I guess the dash light wiring became a point of crossover.  Some cheap diodes solve the problem though.

[Dave5Cs]

Jordan;
Go from the back side of the light sockets. You will have 2 wires coming out. 1 will be your positive and 1 will be the negative. Negatives should be grounded or connected to either something metal or to the ground  bar in the box if you have one or they could be connected to each other which for a ground is fine. The positives should be the same but see if yours are connected together and then back to a positive source whereas they should go back separately.

Dave

[Jriddle]

I had a trailer do this one time and it turned out that mice had chewed through the wires and they came in to contacted with each other. Not sure if your wires run together back there but it is worth a look.

John

[jordansinthesky]

What Gus said, but also check grounds as Dave mentioned.  Another thing is to check the flasher itself to see if anything is touching.  By "purchasing the penquin" do you mean installing an AC?  

When I first got this bus, it had very creative directional wiring and the dash light did not work right.  If I got the dash light to work, then both sides flashed.  I guess the dash light wiring became a point of crossover.  Some cheap diodes solve the problem though.

[Lin]

What is the penguin?  There is an AC unit called penguin which is what I was wondering if you were referring to.

[jordansinthesky]

Ahh, that's funny.  The penguin is the name of my 4104 

[Lin]

Sorry for the density.  Now I understand.