I have a 95 full-sized Bronco, both turn signals stopped working. When the brakes are applied and the signal activated, the corresponding brake light goes out.
I checked the fuse and that seems fine. I tried the hazard lights and nothing there either. I believe they have their own flasher separate from the signals, so that seems to rule out the flasher as the problem.
Anything else reasonably easy to check before I take it into the shop? I suppose it could be two bulbs.
Brian
On Wed, 28 Mar 2007 19:41:32 -0700, Default User rearranged some electrons to form:
TS switch?
What do you mean? The actuator on the steering column?
Brian
The Turn Signal Switch itself can cause the brake lights to not come on. But, my guess is the simple stuff, yoiu have broken brake lamp bulbs.
I take that back. You said the brake lights work, and the turn signals work. You did not say what happens if the lights are on while operating the brakes and turn signals. IF the symptom set changes as the lights are switched on and off, THEN I'd suspect bad bulbs.
Yes.
The electricity from the brake pedal to the brake lights passes thru the turn signal switch. When the brakes are applied AND a turn is indicated, the brake light is disabled and the turn indicator takes over. The same filiment in the bulb does both jobs, so the trouble spot is in the turn signal switch. Having said that, it seems to me that the turn signals would not operate at any time, regardless of the status of the brake light circuit.
I'll go over what I know.
I did not think to check the parking lights to see if they come on. I don't know whether the front bulbs use a two-filament or single- filament for signal/parking lights.
You say that the same filament is used for brake/turn in the rear, so that seems to eliminate those bulbs.
Brian
So, the blinkers NEVER work, and the brake lights stop working if the blinker is selected? That tells me the turn signal switch is the fault.
Yes, the same filiment is used for turning and braking. Since the filiment lights in one mode but not the other, the bulb is good. The bulb would be the suspect if the indicators worked properly when the Running Lights were OFF, but then stopped working when the Running Lights were switched ON.
The front also use two-filiment bulbs. One filiment for Running Lights and the other for Turn Indicators. The bulb type is 1157 for both front and rear applications.
Back in the days of old, if a turn indicator filiment was out (either front or rear), the blink would stop working. The brake lights would still light -- although the affected bulb would never light except for running lights -- if the filiment was broken. Since you said that you have both brake lights, but neither turn indicator works on the back, it would be a good idea to check and see if the front turn indicators come on when they are selected. If they do not come on, then might play a role in not allowing the rear turn lamps to come on.
You have two things to check, the front turn lights and the turn signal switch itself.
If the front turn lights failed AND they played a role in not allowing the rear lights to blink, then the rear lights would likely go out if the Brakes were applied and a turn indication was being attempted.
Test the front turn indicators by selecting the Emergency Flashers. All four corners of your car (truck) should flash brightly as the blinkers turn on and off. If the running lights are also on, you should see the bulbs change from dim to bright. If the running lights are off, then the flashers should change from off to on. If the running lights are on, and any of the lights change from on to off, then the affected bulb has a burned out filiment, and/or a poor ground.
Try this , spray a bit of wd40 at the base of the 4 way hazard switch on the steering column and work it about 4 dozen times.
What's this checking?
Brian
It checks to see if the WD40 can is empty.
I think his point is that the Emergency Flasher Switch might be playing a role in your symptom set. If the hazard lights are flashing, the other lights will be disabled -- that's other lighing systems that use the same filiment on the bulbs we are addressing.
There is a remote chance that manipulating the emergency flasher switch can affect the operation of the other lights. It's worth a try ...
I was going to check the front bulbs, but I can't figure out how to get to them. There's a trim piece that surrounds the headlight and has the side (transparent) parking light cover as part of it. There are two screws at the top, but when they are removed the pieced is still held to the body down lower. I can't see any other screws at all.
The Chilton's guide is no help at all.
Brian
you did even try this FIX did you?
>
Yep, not a thing.
Brian
On Fri, 30 Mar 2007 09:00:32 -0700, Default User rearranged some electrons to form:
Then replace the turn signal switch.
I'll turn it over the pros at this point. Thanks to all for the input.
Brian
Why not wait until night time and turn the lights on in the dark and see what happens? Or, put the truck in the shade and try the lights there ...
You should be able to see the lights on in daylight, but I think you need to eliminate the sun's glare from the equation.
I'm not following your point. The front bulbs, like the rear, are two- filament ones. I can tell perfectly well that the parking lights come on, but that doesn't tell me whether the turn signal filaments have burned out. The signals don't work, period, as we established before.
I certainly never mentioned sunlight, and in fact have been doing all my work in the garage. As I said, I can't figure out how to get the cover off to check the bulbs.
Brian
Sorry, I wasn't getting the trouble.
The front turn signal/running lamp bulbs come out from the inside. The right one is found by reaching down between the lamp assembly and the battery, the left one looks like it requires removal of the wiper fluid/radiator recovery reservior. You do not replace these bulbs by taking the lenses off.
I'm not certain, but it occurs to me that the Emergency Flashers should make the rear lights flash even if the front lights are burned out. My theory is that the left side will go completely out (turn signal function) if either the front or rear bulb is toast, but the Emergency Flashers will make the still operational bulb flash. The idea is that if a bulb is out and the turn signals do not work, this is your clue to look for a failed bulb. But if you are having an emergency, the rest of us would like to know, regardless of the status of a bulb at the other end of your truck.
Any testing that I would do at this point would include a Wiggle Test of the turn signal stalk and the emergency flasher switch. Of course, this would come after an inspection of the bulbs.
No problem.
Ah. The Chilton's manual I have is for a range of model years, and the instructions are pretty sparse. In fact the same as in the Autozone troubleshooting:
Doubtlessly would be better if one had a model-year-specific Ford manual.
You're probably right. I'll try to give a look at one of the bulbs anyway.
I did those already, with no results.
Thanks for the additional info.
Brian
No problem.
You will be able to get the bulbs out without much trouble. They fit into sockets that twist into the back of the lamp housings. On my '95 Bronco, I can easily get to the right side bulb by putting my hand between the lamp housing and the battery. The left side looks like the washer tank is in the way ...
You tried the Wiggle Test by attempting very slight movements of the respective switches, right?
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