1989 Ford Escord - Bizarre Rapid Turn Signal

Assuming (also) that this problem is more likely the type that would happen on turn signal systems that share one bulb circuit for both turn and brake duty per side, I will guess you have an Escort of that era. Your problem is likely a faulty turn signal switch assembly in the steering column. It seems like there is a voltage drop to an inappropriate circuit depending on what position the switch is in. Brake light current goes through the switch on the Escort as well, explaining how brake operation could effect your problem.

Toyota MDT in MO

"Comboverfish" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@e64g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:

"fixed2fly" is in Italy. (NNTP Posting Host: 213.209.179.124)

Thanks, I wasn't sure due to the gmail address. I guess I don't know what a 1.3l Escort looks like. Sounds like the worst of both worlds.

Toyota MDT in MO

Usually these problems are caused by a bad ground connection at the lights. On many American autos the light is assumed to ground at the mounting screws. This ground can fail over time as the screws corrode or rust. The turn signal then grounds itself through the brake or light wires. When the brakes are used or the lights turned on the wires the turn signals are using for ground change from negative to positive and the turn signals can not work. The solution is to change or clean the mounting screws for the light body. Better to run a wire from the light to a ground on the chassis. This may be attached at the mounting screw making sure there is good connection at the light assembly. If there already is a ground wire clean the connections at both ends. Chuk

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote:

Thanks for the good advice. I did at first check the connections in the rear tail-light assembly and what I found there led me to fixing the problem.

I first of all found that one of the rear break light bulbs had not been put in either at the factory or during a replacement of the right hand tail-light assembly. There was a piece of plastic over the place where the bulb would enter. I broke off the piece of plastic and added a bulb.

Secondly, it seems that some sort of short occured during the car's life as the plastic around one of the connectors was melted and the connector itself was bent out of shape with black plastic melted to it. I bent the connector back into it's proper shape, cleaned both sides of the connector and voila! everything was working great again.

Thanks for the suggestions folks. It helped me solve the problem!

Mike