Turn signals

[Wray-Wray]

a buddy of mine has a 1988 town car his turn signals don't work.....nor do the reverse lights......we have changed all the bulbs...checked all the sockets there getting power....we've changed the turn signal switch in the steering column the flasher unit and the fuses....i don't kno what else to try any ideas?

[cld783]

ground?

[Dereck]

Hi Wray-Wray

Check for power on fuse 5 it supplies both the turn signals and back-up lights, fuse 5 is powered from the ignition switch Grey/Yellow wire.

Regards

Dereck

[Wray-Wray]

Hi Wray-Wray

Check for power on fuse 5 it supplies both the turn signals and back-up lights, fuse 5 is powered from the ignition switch Grey/Yellow wire.

Regards

Dereck

the fuse is a #15 right?

[91waggin]

a buddy of mine has a 1988 town car his turn signals don't work.....nor do the reverse lights......we have changed all the bulbs...checked all the sockets there getting power....we've changed the turn signal switch in the steering column the flasher unit and the fuses....i don't kno what else to try any ideas?

When you say that the sockets have power do you mean you put a test light on the hot sides of the sockets while the blinker switch was on, and your test light flashed?

Do the brake lights work?

Do the front blinkers work?

Make sure that you have +12v at every affected socket. Make sure the ground is good.

Then work backwards from there.

[Wray-Wray]

When you say that the sockets have power do you mean you put a test light on the hot sides of the sockets while the blinker switch was on, and your test light flashed?

Do the brake lights work?

Do the front blinkers work?

Make sure that you have +12v at every affected socket. Make sure the ground is good.

Then work backwards from there.

the front signals don't work either.....the brake lights work...but if you hold the brake down and turn...say the left blinker on hate left tail light turns off......it gets power but no flash??...

[gadget73]

the fuse is a #15 right?

15 amp, yes.

[Wray-Wray]

15 amp, yes.

k thanx

[1987cp]

the front signals don't work either.....the brake lights work...but if you hold the brake down and turn...say the left blinker on hate left tail light turns off......it gets power but no flash??...

I must be reading that wrong ... that sounds like just a burned-out light bulb.

Re the reverse lights, is there power at the little 4-prong connector that goes to the neutral safety switch?

[Wray-Wray]

I must be reading that wrong ... that sounds like just a burned-out light bulb.

Re the reverse lights, is there power at the little 4-prong connector that goes to the neutral safety switch?

naw i replaced all the bulbs

[Mercmarquis]

Pull out the trunk covering by the tail lights and inspect the grounds. Take them off and clean them. Rust likes to form around the ground and cause all kinds of wacky shit.

This sounds like a ground issue, I'd also check the grounds up front by the header panel.

[87_crown_vic]

these cars act weird with bad grounds... my brake lights wouldnt work and when i used the turn signals, the 3rd brake light would flash instead... the grounds are attached behind the carpet in trunk by where you install the lights... cant miss it since it is a wire that is screwed into the body right there... i added length to my ground wires and attached them to the striker that holds the trunk down instead of dealing with the rust and crap that the screws cause going into body.

[1987cp]

That reminds me, is there normally some sort of diode isolating the brake-light circuit? Just thought of that, since I have a third brake light that flashes with the hazard flashers ... I have been assuming it was an intentional modification by a previous owner, but I suppose it could just as easily be a malfunction. I like having the extra attention-getting-ness with the hazards on, but they quit flashing when I apply the brake.

[87_crown_vic]

That reminds me, is there normally some sort of diode isolating the brake-light circuit? Just thought of that, since I have a third brake light that flashes with the hazard flashers ... I have been assuming it was an intentional modification by a previous owner, but I suppose it could just as easily be a malfunction. I like having the extra attention-getting-ness with the hazards on, but they quit flashing when I apply the brake.

check your ground wires mang... i used my flashers the other day pulling a car.. with brakes applied, hazards still worked and 3rd light not really supposed to flash either unless you are making it flash by the use of brake pedal

[1987cp]

Now, I *had* assumed that a bad ground *ought* to just lead to one or another light simply not working .... there *should* be nothing connected to the ground side of any bulb other than its ground wire .... and supposing a ground was bad and a theoretical joint ground wire were trying to apply voltage to the wrong side of another socket, it shouldn't do anything because the other side of said other socket shouldn't be attached to anything when the circuit is open ..............