Front side markers dead. 68 fury

Knebel

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Hey,

Both of my sidemarkers in the fenders are dead on my 68 Fury, I'm wondering if its a ground problem or if both bulbs are out. My turn signals are also pretty fast because of this and this is the only thing i see wrong at the moment.

What kind of bulbs do they take, I can't seem to find the number for them anywhere.


Thank you!
 
Had grounds are a common problem because the lamp housing grounds to the body would the nut. A fast blinking problem is often a sign that a bulb is out.
 
Just to make sure we are all on the same page, you know the side markers don't flash, correct?

And we are talking just about side markers and not cornering lights. Correct?

Just making sure...

First thing to always check is the simple stuff. The bulbs are always the first suspect and easy to check.

Then I would look at grounds and connections under the hood. Your FSM will guide you here.
 
So I checked all the bulbs and all of them flash. My front side markers are orange and I do believe they used to flash...
 
Unless that car has been modified, the side markers don't flash.

Flashing side markers were a GM invention that arrived some time in the 1970's. Can't remember if my '76 Cutlass had them, but my '78 Impala did for sure.

Jeff
 
If your sidemarkers are flashing you have a backfeed in the system so check all grounds.Body is ground!
68 sidemarkers DO NOT flash as mentioned.
Electricity takes the path of least resistance.
Not uncommon to use jumper wires to make good ground.
Hope this helps
 
If your sidemarkers are flashing you have a backfeed in the system so check all grounds.Body is ground!
68 sidemarkers DO NOT flash as mentioned.
Electricity takes the path of least resistance.
Not uncommon to use jumper wires to make good ground.
Hope this helps
^This^

If they were flashing, the turn signals were using the filaments in the bulbs in the side markers as the grounds for the turn signals. It's hard to describe, but it puts the bulbs all in a series type circuit... I need to draw this out one of these days to explain it.

Anyway... So you have ground problems at your turn signals at the very least and very likely at the side markers (which do not, never were supposed to flash).
 
As stated in the above posts side markers are not supposed to flash. The ground for these lights is the large nut that holds the side marker housing to the fenders. Take the marker lights out, clean up the housing and the nut, making sure there is no corrosion on any of the surfaces. Make sure to clean up the hole and inside the fender where the light mounts too. This was a fairly common problem with this style marker light, especially if you lived where roads were salted in the winter.
 
Ahhhh....so maybe a ground problem on the flashers to begin with. Good info, thank you! Igitt go digging on that one then!
 
Alright, one came back alive after cleaning it. The other one has a broken bulb I assume but I cant get them apart. Soaking some penetrating oil in right now.
 
So, one rear bulb was dead. Weird enough, when I noticed the fast flashing, I walked around the car an all of them worked.

Replaced the Bulb, all turn signals work.... but its still flashing fast!? What am I missing here???
 
If ALL the lights are flashing fast, my first suspect is the flasher. If just one side, it's a ground or bulb problem.
 
Wouldn't the bulb turn signal stay solid if the bulb out bad and not hyper flash
 
Wouldn't the bulb turn signal stay solid if the bulb out bad and not hyper flash
Usually, yes. Sometimes they just act a little strange when the load (a bulb out) is changed. BTW, a heavy duty flasher, like you use with trailer, won't notice and will still flash.

In this case, it's a matter of isolating the problem. It's flashing... So that means there's power, but it's flashing fast, but we don't know if it just one side or both. It makes sense that the flasher could be causing the problem if it's everything, and flashers are cheap enough that swapping out to check is very pragmatic. On the other hand, just one side leads us to a bulb or bad ground as being the logical problem.

But, this is all based on what is presented here by the OP and our experience/knowledge. For all we really know, a little green man could be running around under the hood and screwing with the wiring.

I just had a "hyper flash" with my 2010 Grand Marquis. One of the two bulbs on the left rear was out.
 
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