Help diagnosing turn signals

[thebuellster]

I recently got my bug back on the road. It's a 68. The blinkers seem to be acting funny. Most of the time, the turn signals won't work, and the light on the speedo will stay lit when the lever is activated. Whenever this happens, my fuel gauge isnt working and reads empty. Sometimes I will see the fuel gauge start working again, and my blinkers will work too. The emergency lights will always work, even when the fuel gauge and turn signals don't. Im stumped, the relay seems to work fine, all wires are connected. Could they just be loose? Could it be the lever in the steering wheel? Thank you in advance for any help

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'68 Bug 1600 single port
'86 Volvo 240 2nd owner

[vwjetboat]

sounds like a bad ground

[David_nc_72std]

Looking at the schematic, I would check to make sure the turn signal flasher was getting power to the 15 terminal, and that there isn't a bad connection or dirty fuse contact that is causing the voltage to drop when the turn signal is turned on. The wiring appears to go from the fuse, to the turn signal flasher, then to the fuel gauge, so a bad connection causing a voltage drop would also cause the fuel gauge to stop working.

The emergency flashers are powered by a separate wire connected to the 30 terminal of the turn signal flasher, so would not be affected by a problem with the 15 circuit.


Have you checked to see if the brake lights are working? The schematic shows that they are powered off the same fuse as the turn signal flasher.

[thebuellster]

All lights work 100% of the time except blinkers. How would I check the 15 terminal? I have acces to a multimeter. It seems almost as if a wire is loose or something. The fuel gauge and blinkers will randomly start working an stop working while driving.
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'68 Bug 1600 single port
'86 Volvo 240 2nd owner

[thebuellster]

Also, when trying to troubleshoot this, I found a terminal that seemed kind of loose, so I pulled it off and put it back on. Blinkers worked. One minute down the road they stopped working again. I stopped and checked the terminal and it was still tight. Tried the reconnecting it again and it did not fix it that time.
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'68 Bug 1600 single port
'86 Volvo 240 2nd owner

[David_nc_72std]

First thing I would do is try spinning the fuse in its holder. From the schematic, it looks like that fuse is located on the end of the fuse holder block, which end I'm not sure, so try both.

Next check the wire from the fuse block to the turn signal flasher to make sure it is tight and free of corrosion. It appears the wire continues from the turn signal flasher to the voltage regulator for the fuel gauge, but its unlikely a bad connection on that end would affect the turn signals (and a short anywhere on the wire should just blow the fuse).

Its also possible there could be a bad connection on the input side of the fuse, the first two fuses are connected together on the input side, with the ignition switch supplying power to both, if the connecting bar between the fuses is not making good contact it could cause the problem.


Have you verified that the brake lights work while the turn signal / fuel gauge are out? The brake lights are fed off the same fuse, and could at least tell you that the circuit is good up to that point.