ok electrical guys

[dalefan88]

well except coldwater lol. i am just as bad with it as you. the new issue is my turnsignals. they dont work. brake, parking, and headlights all work. turn the hazzards on nothing but hear the flasher clicking. turnsignals nothing. if i hit the brake they will light but as soon as i hit the turnsignal ether way that way the one i turn to blacks out. as in if i put it on the left, the left blacks out. any clues.

 

[Petescj]

Bad ground? I just had mine off today in the grill. That turnsignal "bucket" needs to ground and mine was rusty. Cleaned it up with some sandpaper and got it to work. Obviously check the wiring especially where it goes through the grill and fender.

 

[Petescj]

Sorry read to quick. Still seems like a bad ground though. Id just start checking where the wires come through the tub. They also get brittle around the connector area. Where the tailight and wiring harness plug into each other.

 

[CJ]

You can hear the flasher click when the hazzards are on but the lights do not flash? That is strange as the flasher requires a completed circuit to work (the flasher heats up from the current draw and cycles).

Did they work before?

 

[mylittlecj5]

You can hear the flasher click when the hazzards are on but the lights do not flash? That is strange as the flasher requires a completed circuit to work (the flasher heats up from the current draw and cycles).

Did they work before?

If the flasher is the Heavy Duty model, it will not need a completed circuit to work. These are used mostly in towing applications.

 

[CJ]

If the flasher is the Heavy Duty model, it will not need a completed circuit to work.

The mechanical flasher requires a completed circuit to work. The flasher works by having dissimilar metals in the contact circuit that expand (contract) at different rates, there by bending the contact when it is heated (transferring amperage).

HowStuffWorks "How Turn Signals Work"

Are you talking about a solid state flasher?

 

[mylittlecj5]

I might be. Its been a while since I messed with them...

 

[dalefan88]

when the turnsignal is on i dont hear the flasher. if i turn my hazzards on then i hear the flasher but the lights dont flash. i always hear about bad grounds. my ? is here is all the grounds. if i knew this i could probally fix most of my electrical problems. thanks for all the ideas. keep them comin.

 

[CJ]

Did they work before... ?

 

[dalefan88]

ya they worked before. i noticed it before i went out muddin. then i forgot about it then mrsdalefan notice and said i want it fixed lol. i told her to use arm signals.

 

[rushpowersystems]

Do your brake lights work? Do the indicators in the dash work? Are any of the lights lighting up? If not it is unlikely that it is a ground more likely a power problem, if one was out I would say ground. Let start by checking the fuses, check the flashers one should have a wire that has power with the key off as well as on, this is the hazard flasher. The other flasher will only have power when the key is on that is your turn. BTW you are going to need a power probe, test light, or volt meter for this.

If I recall correctly the 79's (I assume that is the vehicle we are talking about) uses a GM based column, if that is the case locate the flat black plug attached to the column under the dash straight down from the key. This should have about 8 wires. If you look closely at the plug you will see letters A - P. Now the turn signal switch is the junction point for all lighting except headlights and dash lights. We want to check the wires at the K position which is probably brown and at the L position which is probably purple. Assuming the colors are correct brown is the hazards and should have voltage with the key off and purple is the turn power which will only have power when the key is on. Power flows through the hazards through the turn switch and out to the lights then to ground at each light. Also check the power P terminal this is the brake power input, be sure to check the with when pushing on the brake pedal.

My guess is you have a fuse issue or a bad wire to the plug at the steering column. If you have blown a fuse find out why, don’t just put in a larger fuse, that is the main reason cars come to my shop - a fuse blows, they put in a larger one and then the fry the wiring harness.
Let me know if you have any questions I will be happy to help.
Darren

 

[coldwater]

Do your brake lights work? Do the indicators in the dash work? Are any of the lights lighting up? If not it is unlikely that it is a ground more likely a power problem, if one was out I would say ground. Let start by checking the fuses, check the flashers one should have a wire that has power with the key off as well as on, this is the hazard flasher. The other flasher will only have power when the key is on that is your turn. BTW you are going to need a power probe, test light, or volt meter for this.

If I recall correctly the 79's (I assume that is the vehicle we are talking about) uses a GM based column, if that is the case locate the flat black plug attached to the column under the dash straight down from the key. This should have about 8 wires. If you look closely at the plug you will see letters A - P. Now the turn signal switch is the junction point for all lighting except headlights and dash lights. We want to check the wires at the K position which is probably brown and at the L position which is probably purple. Assuming the colors are correct brown is the hazards and should have voltage with the key off and purple is the turn power which will only have power when the key is on. Power flows through the hazards through the turn switch and out to the lights then to ground at each light. Also check the power P terminal this is the brake power input, be sure to check the with when pushing on the brake pedal.

My guess is you have a fuse issue or a bad wire to the plug at the steering column. If you have blown a fuse find out why, don’t just put in a larger fuse, that is the main reason cars come to my shop - a fuse blows, they put in a larger one and then the fry the wiring harness.
Let me know if you have any questions I will be happy to help.
Darren

OK...I can see right off that good old Darren is going to be my favorite person on this board.

 

[dalefan88]

thanks for the info darren. the brake lights do work on it. we had to put a new brake switch in it to drive it home when we first got it. just not the turn or hazzards. it is a gm column. when i changed the turnsignal switch it looked like all the ones i have changed in older gms i have owned.

 

[dalefan88]

OK...I can see right off that good old Darren is going to be my favorite person on this board.

me to lol. i have volt meters and test lights just need to figure out the wires part. i can wire a radio and that is about it. none of the lights in the dash have worked since i got the jeep last summer.

 

[dalefan88]

ok i feel dumb. it was a blown fuse. nothing is ever this easy on her. but since we are on the subject. my rear side turnsignals have never worked so i guess i need to find out what is wrong with them and it would be nice to have a gas gauge to. i have a aftermarket temp gauge so i aint worried about that one.

 

[CJ]

~~~ my rear side turnsignals have never worked ~~~

Are you talking about the red side markers? They don't blink...

 

[rushpowersystems]

Happy to help when I can, business can get quite crazy and I handle 95% of the phone calls so if you post a question for me and I don’t answer in a day or so send me an email at darren@rushps.com

now if the fuse blows again you will want to look at the light sockets sometimes the solder on the side of the bulb will come off and bounce around in the socket, if it works it’s way to the positive post you will have a direct short and that is why the fuse pops.

Fuel gauge is easy, it needs power and ground, make sure you have power going into it, you should show some resistance in the wire in the tank, usually 50 to 250 ohms depending on how much gas you have, best to test it with a full tank. If you are receiving a signal from the tank you have a bad gauge, if you do no have a signal you have a bad sending unit - which is the most common problem.

Dash lights are run off the headlight switch, one wire will control all dash lights then they ground at the lights. Normally this will be a GM switch, sometimes I am convinced that the CJ was a collaboration between GM, Ford, and NAPA. Anyway many times we will see an aftermarket light switch, the best way to check this is to back trace one of the dash lights to the switch, if it plugs in it is a factory switch if the wires bolt on it is an aftermarket. The wire should have voltage when the key is on and it should drop when you turn the dimmer, if not it is a bad switch, or that circuit in the switch is bad, since the headlights work.

Side markers are power off the running lights, they will have 2 wires one is hot and one is ground, trace both back, one should go to ground and the other should tap into the park light wire.

 

[dalefan88]

Are you talking about the red side markers? They don't blink...

ya they dont blink. i am getting power threw the cab but once i get to the back under the jeep someone at one time had a trailer plug in and the is wires running everywhere. if i turn the blinker on there is no power at the socket.