turn signal issue

[70Tom]

On my way to work today, I turn on my turn signal and both in hood signals light up at the same time. Once I got to work, I checked to see what is going on. In the back, turn signal works fine--turn on left, left lights; same with the other side. However, with the directional on either right or left, both right and left turn lights in the front activate--in the hood and under the bumper.

Any ideas on this? Is it a bad switch? A bad bulb in the hood or up front? Or some other wiring issue?

 

[Badvert65]

Most likely a shorted bulb in front, under the bumper.

 

[70Tom]

Thanks. I'll start with the bulbs first. I thought the previous owner replaced them all but maybe not.

 

[Big_John]

Bad ground.

 

[70Tom]

Bad ground.

Great. I'm not an electrical guy at all. Where am I looking for the bad ground?

 

[Big_John]

Great. I'm not an electrical guy at all. Where am I looking for the bad ground?

Most likely where the turn signal lights mount to the car. Easiest way to make sure would be to clip a wire to a good ground (like the battery post) and touch the other end of the wire to the light housing.

 

[Badvert65]

In addition to the bulbs, look to see if the socket contacts have twisted out of place. The plastic disk that holds the electrical contacts for the bulb has a locator tab that keeps it aligned to the correct position for the bulb. The tab can break off and if that happens, the contacts will eventually twist out of place. I would start with the bulbs and sockets first. They would be the easiest to check. If no problems there, move on to looking at the wiring. Bad ground would be the first thing to look for, then look for any signal wires that may be shorted together. Scrutinize any repairs made to the wiring as well.
This has happened to my 65 Fury and it turned out to be the twisted bulb contacts.

 

[70Tom]

In addition to the bulbs, look to see if the socket contacts have twisted out of place. The plastic disk that holds the electrical contacts for the bulb has a locator tab that keeps it aligned to the correct position for the bulb. The tab can break off and if that happens, the contacts will eventually twist out of place. I would start with the bulbs and sockets first. They would be the easiest to check. If no problems there, move on to looking at the wiring. Bad ground would be the first thing to look for, then look for any signal wires that may be shorted together. Scrutinize any repairs made to the wiring as well.
This has happened to my 65 Fury and it turned out to be the twisted bulb contacts.

Thanks. That may be the problem. Before I left my office last night I played with the wires a bit. Problem was gone. That is until i drove for about 10 min and the issue came back.

I'll be troubleshooting today.