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Thu Oct 01, 2009 12:31 pm

I'm at wits end here. Hope someone has an idea. All electrical works except for the left brake light which is half the intensity of the right side. Don't know if that has anything to do with this problem but thought I'd thrown that in just in case.

Now for the strange problem. If the head lights are on and the heater fan is on and the brake pedal is depressed, the turn signal stops blinking and is stays on. When you lift up off the brake pedal or turn off the lights or turn off the heater fan, then the turn signal works correctly.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thu Oct 01, 2009 1:36 pm

It's likely they are unrelated.
Check and clean all the grounds and socket contacts in the light housing and try another bulb for the brake light.

The stop blinking issue sounds like a weak relay quitting when the voltage drops too much, but it could be telling you your charging system is hurting, might want to try a volt meter on it.

Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:57 pm

I had a problem with brake lights and indicators, it was the earth connections, basically their was 35+ years of grime and oxidisation which was affecting the ability for the circuit to be good. When my lights were on if I indicated the rear lights dimmed, then the indicators sort of just stopped blinking.

I took off each terminal behind the light cluster on the rear and cleaned it up + used a bit of WD40 to clean it, I also wired up an extra earth from my -ve battery post to the back of each light housing for good measure. Also take out the bulbs and clean then up + the contacts behind them in the housing.

I used fine grit sand paper by the way. Take a while to work your way through but well worth it.

I also took out each fuse and cleaned them up + the fuse holder bits.

It made a ton of difference and my bus sort of came to life if you know what I mean. It was my first job and they are working properly now, later I intend to go through all the terminals and replace them with new when I set to work on the interior.

K

Thu Oct 01, 2009 4:04 pm

Whenever electrics act all weird the first thing to suspect is a bad ground.

Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:52 am

Quote: All electrical works except for the left brake light which is half the intensity of the right side.
Turn on the headlights and see if the tail light on that side is twice as bright as the other. If so, the bulb is in turned 180 degrees [brake light filament swapped with tail light.]

Fri Oct 02, 2009 11:10 am

telford dorr wrote: Quote: All electrical works except for the left brake light which is half the intensity of the right side.
Turn on the headlights and see if the tail light on that side is twice as bright as the other. If so, the bulb is in turned 180 degrees [brake light filament swapped with tail light.]

Try this test for sure. However the bulb has staggered locks and should not fit. THe wires going to the 2 bulb base terminal strips may br reversed. Bulb should be an 1157.

Sun Oct 04, 2009 1:22 pm

Currently my left front Parking light is not working and i tried to fix it with no avail. Also, in my attempts to fix it my turn signals are now not working??? Have a schematic of my wiring but it's not helping. I drive a October 1970 (1971) Bus. Help??? it's the daily driver so the sooner the better! thanks!

Sun Oct 04, 2009 2:28 pm

theeaustenstone wrote: Currently my left front Parking light is not working and i tried to fix it with no avail. Also, in my attempts to fix it my turn signals are now not working??? Have a schematic of my wiring but it's not helping. I drive a October 1970 (1971) Bus. Help??? it's the daily driver so the sooner the better! thanks!
We're going to need way more information, did you test the bulbs? did you test the fuses? did you test the wires to the lights for power? Did you clean all the grounds and sockets? Do your hazard lights work?

Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:20 pm

I sat down and thought about it for a little bit and decided to go back and check my fuse box again and chekc my bulbs and relays. turns out: I had one burned out bulb, one wire had come unplugged from my flasher relay, and my battery is going to need replacing. Thanks for at least replying and now i feel like an idiot. But hey, i solved my problems.

Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:36 pm

This is driving me nuts. I've cleaned all the connections and checked the wires where I could. Now the turn signal is working but the alternater light and turn signal light on the instrument cluster alternate with the blinking of the signal. When the turn signal is off, the alternator light is on, when the turn signal is on, the blinker light is on.

At least it works now, it is just annoying!! Have I still got a gorunding problem somewhere?

Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:44 pm

Could be a bad ground to the back of the instrument cluster, it goes between a tab on the cluster and the fresh air vent near the wiper motor IIRC.

Tue Oct 27, 2009 3:15 pm

sounds like a bad ground

Wed Oct 28, 2009 12:59 am

I will further agree with all the posts pointing towards grounds. Mine was doing very similar things when I first started working on it, and all I had to do was clean up a few gnarly ground connections with a wire brush and some sandpaper.

At least it's free to fix!! 8)