1960 Plymouth fury electrical problems!!

Chaos

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Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to help me?! My father in law bought his dream car last year. He has always wanted to own an old American car with a V8 engine and he got a 1960 Plymouth Fury which is a beauty! We love it! It’s very bizarre to see something like this on the roads in the UK and it starts conversations everywhere that we go.

We have a problem..... we can’t get the indicators (turn signals to work) The flasher unit has two spade terminals that are both reading 12volts? I have removed the steering wheel and had a look there and everything seems to be fine. There is a wiring loom that plugs in from the steering just underneath the dash. 1 of the wires reads 12 volts there but that’s it? The car doesn’t appear to have a fuse box? If anyone could give me any advice or information I would really appreciate it so much as my father in law is scared to drive it without turn signals! Many thanks in advance!
 
The first thing I suggest is finding a factory service manual. You can download something close (60 Dodge) that should give you a pretty good idea of what is going on. MyMopar - Mopar Forums & Information - Service Manuals

I like these versions on CD myself. 1960 1961 Plymouth Belvedere Shop Service Repair Manual CD Engine Drivetrain OEM

You can find paper reprints or original versions too.

On to the problem.

Does the turn signal light and not flash? Does it not light at all?

Yes, there is a fuse block, but I'm not familiar where it would be in this car.

There are a couple scenarios of problems, but let's just check the easy stuff.

As I asked, if the bulbs light, but not flash, that points to a bad flasher.

Check is the bulbs. Yea, seems like at least one should be working, but you never know. Since the rears use the brake lights, do the brake lights work? That will also check the wiring to the rear lights.

Check for voltage at one of the lights. Probably easiest to get to a tail light.

Check for good grounds at the sockets. Bad grounds can confuse you because they can still let some things work and others not.

Those are the easiest... After that, you need to start tracing wires and looking to see if the turn signal switch is working correctly, but do the easy stuff first.
 
Thank you so much, I will investigate. The turn signals don’t light up on the dash or the bulbs. The two small lenses underneath the main headlights come on when I put the headlight switch into position 1 if that makes sense and when the full headlights are on they don’t light up at all?! I would assume they were the turn signals at the front of the car! I havnt seen them work before so I don’t even know which bulb should be flashing anyway! It has had a new flasher unit, that didn’t change anything. I really appreciate you guys spending the time, thank you very much. I have never been on a forum before I think I’m going to learn a few tricks!
 
Thank you so much, I will investigate. The turn signals don’t light up on the dash or the bulbs. The two small lenses underneath the main headlights come on when I put the headlight switch into position 1 if that makes sense and when the full headlights are on they don’t light up at all?! I would assume they were the turn signals at the front of the car! I havnt seen them work before so I don’t even know which bulb should be flashing anyway! It has had a new flasher unit, that didn’t change anything. I really appreciate you guys spending the time, thank you very much. I have never been on a forum before I think I’m going to learn a few tricks!
A little explanation of how older 'Merican cars light up...

Your 1960 car has parking lights. This is what you are calling "position 1". These are the smaller lenses on the front. They have dual filament bulb in them. The one filament doesn't light as brightly and it was used when you were parked somewhere and still wanted the car to be seen. The tail lights also lit up.

The turn signals also used this same bulb, using the brighter filament. Same for the tail lights. A dual filament bulb served as tail lights and brake light/turn signal.

Of course, if you were driving a muscle car in the early seventies around my area and it was dusk, and you just had your parking lights on, you might have been looking for a street race, but that probably doesn't apply here.
 
Which one is supposed to flash? Does anybody know?
A little explanation of how older 'Merican cars light up...

Your 1960 car has parking lights. This is what you are calling "position 1". These are the smaller lenses on the front. They have dual filament bulb in them. The one filament doesn't light as brightly and it was used when you were parked somewhere and still wanted the car to be seen. The tail lights also lit up.

The turn signals also used this same bulb, using the brighter filament. Same for the tail lights. A dual filament bulb served as tail lights and brake light/turn signal.

Of course, if you were driving a muscle car in the early seventies around my area and it was dusk, and you just had your parking lights on, you might have been looking for a street race, but that probably doesn't apply here.

49C8CA30-65E7-4892-8176-B1A408B1746F.jpeg
 
Thanks big John! Great info. My father in law did suggest to me that the bulbs were probably twin element. At least I know which one should flash now for sure! Any little thing I can learn is a great help! Many thanks
 
More likely as not, the turn signal switch in the steering column is faulty. Very common. The 12Volt wire in the column connector is the feed to the switch. There should be a second "hot" wire there, (white I think), for the brake light switch.

There is a fuse block, very basic. It will likely be at the lower leading edge of the dash left of the steering column.

Like John says, you really need to pick up a service manual, original or reprint. Both can be found without much trouble.


Is your car a right or left hand steer?
 
More likely as not, the turn signal switch in the steering column is faulty. Very common. The 12Volt wire in the column connector is the feed to the switch. There should be a second "hot" wire there, (white I think), for the brake light switch.

There is a fuse block, very basic. It will likely be at the lower leading edge of the dash left of the steering column.

Like John says, you really need to pick up a service manual, original or reprint. Both can be found without much trouble.


Is your car a right or left hand steer?
If I recall correctly, my 60 Dart didn’t have a fuse panel.
There was a basic wiring harness and not much else
Again I may not be right
 
Thank you everyone!! I will let you know what I discover! The mechanism seemed really good on the indicator stalk.
 
More likely as not, the turn signal switch in the steering column is faulty. Very common. The 12Volt wire in the column connector is the feed to the switch. There should be a second "hot" wire there, (white I think), for the brake light switch.

There is a fuse block, very basic. It will likely be at the lower leading edge of the dash left of the steering column.

Like John says, you really need to pick up a service manual, original or reprint. Both can be found without much trouble.


Is your car a right or left hand steer?
 
It’s a left hand drive. Thank you for your comments, much appreciated!
 
If I recall correctly, my 60 Dart didn’t have a fuse panel.
There was a basic wiring harness and not much else
Again I may not be right

You may be right. My 61 Fury does have a couple of fuses in a small block under the dash. The radio has a separate inline fuse. 60 and 61 shared a common service manual with a supplement for 61, not sure if Dodge did this.
Best bet, get a manual. It will contain a wiring schematic for your car.
 
Geez, I kind of assumed that by 1960 there was a fuse block, but I've never owned a car if that vintage. Only newer or older. I defer to you guys with first hand knowledge.

As Will says, it probably is the turn signal switch, but it seems like lately I've seen a couple changed, assuming that's the problem, when there wasn't any diagnosis done first. I always like to see some simple things checked first before throwing parts (and $$) at the problem.
 
Found this under the dash, I think it may be the wiring for the electric windows as the loom or some of it goes into the drivers door.
26107629-DC24-4D60-A87D-703E36EB8423.jpeg
 
Also someone said that the brake light flashes for turn signals. There is a orange lens on the rear light unit, is that just a reflector?

8588FDF1-DD77-4845-9A7D-70C523470633.jpeg
 
Found this under the dash, I think it may be the wiring for the electric windows as the loom or some of it goes into the drivers door.View attachment 431486

I would agree with your assumption here. looks to be 2 HD temporary circuit breakers.
Mopar uses them for items such as power seats, convertible top motors.

Can't answer the amber reflector question though. Likely have to pull a tail light to confirm if it is.
 
Found this under the dash, I think it may be the wiring for the electric windows as the loom or some of it goes into the drivers door.View attachment 431486
Looking at the '60 Dodge FSM wiring diagram, that looks to me to be the circuit breaker for the window lift (the one with all the wires attached) and I'm not sure what the other breaker is for. Here's where the Plymouth and Dodge may be different, but my bet would be that it's the cigar lighter. The black wire is the feed from the battery.

The small "orange" light I believe is a reflector, was probably red at one point in it's life.

I think another thing that may really help is the owner's manual. That would be the little book that came in the glove box with the car when it was new. Most of us take this stuff for granted, but we also call it a hood and not a bonnet, if you know what I mean... So I found this. 1960 Plymouth Owners Manual This should increase your level of what I like to call "system knowledge".

I'd try to find a paper version (eBay etc.) because it kind of "completes" the car, but this will help you in the meantime.
 
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There are a lot of little tidbits to be absorbed from some of the sources and others like @Big_John posted above. I learned a lot about the accessories for my car in similar documents. Not a replacement for the service or operators manual, but I was pleasantly surprised when I ordered a ‘68 Dodge,Chilton’s Manual as a supplement last week for $10. Unlike the Factory service manual, they did a good job of explaining the basics of the ignition and carburetor/ fuel and other automotive fundamentals. Great learning tool for those not as familiar with older systems. Yes I actually sat down and read through most of it. Great refresher. Not sure how in-depth they have for ‘60 Plymouth, but could be a great additional resource if found. Understanding of the basic systems is very powerful when chasing an issue. Good luck in your quest for knowledge on this great car.

If you were able to find the factory service manual, copy or print out the electrical schematic and use colored pencils to trace out the circuit you are working on.
 
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