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1968 Fleetwood Turn Signal Issues

Started by benh116, March 27, 2023, 12:24:03 AM

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benh116

Hey so I've got a 1968 Fleetwood and the turn signals were working fine and after replacing bulbs they continued to work for a minute and then all of the sudden stopped. When I activate the hazard flashers everything does exactly what it should but with the turn signal there is no clicking and none of the blinker bulbs flash anymore. The cornering lamps turn on left or right as they're supposed to with the blinkers so the switch should be all good. I swapped the flashers around and nothing changed so the flasher units are both good. The hazards flash so I know the bulbs are all good. I'm kind of stumped here, any ideas are appreciated, Thank you

Jeff Rosansky CLC #28373

The 1st thing I would do is to clean the sockets. I had issues with our 55 and found the sockets corroded to the point the contacts were grounding out.
I cleaned them with scotchbrite on the end of a screwdriver. It's possible crap broke loose when you pulled the old bulbs out and is now causing issues.
Don't know if that will help, but worth a try.
Jeff R
Jeff Rosansky
CLC #28373
1970 Coupe DeVille (Big Red)
1955 Series 62 (Baby Blue)
Dad's new 1979 Coupe DeVille

Highwayman68

Unfortunately this many be an issue of bad timing where the turn signal switch failed with the next operation which happens to be when you were testing the new bulbs.

The same power wire feeds the turn signal switch and the hazard switch. The hazard switch feeds the wires to the lights after the turn single switch. So since the lights work when the hazard switch is activated but not when the turn signal switch is that means the power is available at both switches but not passing through the turn signal switch when activated. Looking at the wiring diagram you will see that all of these wires are in the same half moon connector which again means the issue has to be related to the turn signal switch.

The Cadillac Shop manual is a must to have with these cars. I advise getting at least the digital version as it is easier to search for the words you are looking for and you can zoom in on the wiring diagrams for easier viewing.

Now the BIG question, do you have a tilt steering wheel? If yes then you have entered in to the dreaded "unavailable" part issue as there are very few if only one turn signal switch available for sale and it will be several hundreds of dollars if you do find it.
1968 Fleetwood Purchased in 1981

benh116

Quote from: Jeff Rose CLC #28373 on March 27, 2023, 08:36:54 AMThe 1st thing I would do is to clean the sockets. I had issues with our 55 and found the sockets corroded to the point the contacts were grounding out.
I cleaned them with scotchbrite on the end of a screwdriver. It's possible crap broke loose when you pulled the old bulbs out and is now causing issues.
Don't know if that will help, but worth a try.
Jeff R

The bulb sockets should be fine, the hazard blinkers work as they should just the turn signals dont

benh116

Quote from: Highwayman68 on March 27, 2023, 09:24:23 AMUnfortunately this many be an issue of bad timing where the turn signal switch failed with the next operation which happens to be when you were testing the new bulbs.

The same power wire feeds the turn signal switch and the hazard switch. The hazard switch feeds the wires to the lights after the turn single switch. So since the lights work when the hazard switch is activated but not when the turn signal switch is that means the power is available at both switches but not passing through the turn signal switch when activated. Looking at the wiring diagram you will see that all of these wires are in the same half moon connector which again means the issue has to be related to the turn signal switch.

The Cadillac Shop manual is a must to have with these cars. I advise getting at least the digital version as it is easier to search for the words you are looking for and you can zoom in on the wiring diagrams for easier viewing.

Now the BIG question, do you have a tilt steering wheel? If yes then you have entered in to the dreaded "unavailable" part issue as there are very few if only one turn signal switch available for sale and it will be several hundreds of dollars if you do find it.

When I turn on the turn signal the cornering lights turn on steady depending on what direction I turn the stock so I would think the switch is good. It's just the flasher isn't clicking and none of the lights that should be flashing are flashing. The flasher is known good.

I do have a shop manual but I have a hard time understanding the wiring diagrams, there's a lot going on in those. I cant figure out where that half moon connector actually is or where it's going in the car

I do have a tilt steering wheel. RIP my wallet?

V63

I echo that 1967-8 turn signal switches were EXTREMELY problematic.

Highwayman68

The cornering light switch is a separate switch (with a 3 conductors wiring harness) from the turn signal switch (which has an 8 conductors wiring harness) so it is possible for the cornering lights to be activated when the turn switch lever is moved without the turn signal lights being activated.

The turn signal operation and the hazard operation use the same flasher unit.

Both connectors are half moon shape and should be attached to the steering column or now in the area of the steering column.

You want to be referencing pages 12-64 & 12-65. Unfortunately this particular function is split between the two pages making it harder to follow.  Because all of the switches are inside of the steering column it is required to remove the steering wheel cover and then the dreaded attempt to remove the parts necessary to make the turn signal switch accessible.  Once you accomplish that you will need to use a meter to test the switch to confirm if that is where your problem is. DO NOT attempt to remove the turn signal switch unless you have a replacement available to install.
1968 Fleetwood Purchased in 1981

benh116

Quote from: Highwayman68 on March 27, 2023, 01:49:06 PMThe cornering light switch is a separate switch (with a 3 conductors wiring harness) from the turn signal switch (which has an 8 conductors wiring harness) so it is possible for the cornering lights to be activated when the turn switch lever is moved without the turn signal lights being activated.

The turn signal operation and the hazard operation use the same flasher unit.

Both connectors are half moon shape and should be attached to the steering column or now in the area of the steering column.

You want to be referencing pages 12-64 & 12-65. Unfortunately this particular function is split between the two pages making it harder to follow.  Because all of the switches are inside of the steering column it is required to remove the steering wheel cover and then the dreaded attempt to remove the parts necessary to make the turn signal switch accessible.  Once you accomplish that you will need to use a meter to test the switch to confirm if that is where your problem is. DO NOT attempt to remove the turn signal switch unless you have a replacement available to install.


I don't know much about this turn signal stuff so I'm learning as I go but wouldn't the turn signal just have two contact points for left and right and then they would power both the flasher and cornering lights together as they are supposed to come on at the same time?
The hazard and turn signal flashers are definitely two separate units
If the switch is bad then 1. What makes the tilt vs non tilt switches different and the tilt so hard to find? And 2. Since the cornering lamp switch is good is there any reason I couldn't just splice the turn signal stuff onto that instead as it would do the same thing?

benh116

Looked into it a bit more and I think I have a better understanding of how everything works except the switch. I dont get why it would go from being fine to both left and right blinkers failing with both left and right cornering lamps still functioning. I'm guessing there is 4 contact points, two on the left and two on the right, two blinkers and two corner lamps. Why would both blinker contact points on opposite sides fail? The stock still clicks and stays on both sides if that matters