Rear light / turn signal woes

Wiring, lights, heater controls, anything electrical..
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aleister

Rear light / turn signal woes

Post by aleister »

Hi there, new to the board as well as to dodge trucks. Just bought a 71 d100 utiline (former Dept of Agriculture truck, no power options, no radio, stock 16" wheels), hope someone can help. the lights all seemed to work fine till i got the truck home, at first i had no rear lights at all, checked connections, grounds, etc. i now have brake lights, the turn signal causes both rear bulbs to blink at the same time, if i turn on the headlights i lose all power to the rear. the hazards work great at all 4 corners, except the rear when the headlights are on. if i turn the headlight knob and dim the dash lights the turn signals or hazards blink fast, turn the dash lights all the way up and the signal no longer flashes. replaced the headlight switch today with no luck, any help appreciated. thanks and sorry for the long post.

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Jeffc
Sweptline.ORG Pioneer
Sweptline.ORG Pioneer
Posts: 1954
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 6:00 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA
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Post by Jeffc »

Fast blinking most often means that there is a light not working
somewere.......
Frist thing you need to do is reground the rear tail lights, it is
one of most common gremins, pull and drill holes in the
light buckets and run a ground wire from each to the frame
at the very least, frame to bed ground often is bad since
the ground runs though the bolts that hold the bed to the
frame and the bed sets on wood blocks were the bolts
run though.(it's great till the bolts get rusty). I like to
run a ground wire all the way to the battery but that is
often over kill. Also don't just use crimp contectors,
solder the wires.
Try that and come back if it doesn't solve the problem
and we can go the next step.
I'm so thinking you may have a bad turn signal switch,
but one thing at a time
http://imageevent.com/jeffc
62 D100 225 3sp lwb
64 D100 A318 727pb custom lwb
66 D100 A318 4sp lwb
68 D100 B383 727 swb
65 Dart GT LA273 2bbl 904
73 Scamp 225 2bbl 4sp od
68 P300 318 727 base Oasis 22' RV
71 for sale D200 318 auto parts truck could be fixed compleat $400
Old iron or no iron!
One size does NOT fit all!

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Russ
Sweptline.ORG Pioneer
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Posts: 1556
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 6:00 pm
Location: Lawrenceville, Ga

Post by Russ »

I agree with Jeffc, I think you have grounding issues. You might have additional problems but you should be sure of the grounds before doing anymore un-necessary work. You battery ground cable should go to the engine. Then you should have a ground strap from the engine to the cab. Then You will probably need to add a ground between the bed and cab, or cab to frame and frame to bed. Bad grounds are most often the cause of light problems in these trucks but it's usually the cheapest thing to fix.
1969 Adventurer W100

aleister

Post by aleister »

thanks for the help, when it comes to electrical issues i even have trouble with black tape ! i ran a ground from the frame to each rear light, brake lights, turn signals, etc all work fine now, although when i turn the ignition switch to the on position the dash light and the running lights come on, i can turn the headlight switch down to dim the dash lights and the running lights dim as well. any ideas? thanks

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Jeffc
Sweptline.ORG Pioneer
Sweptline.ORG Pioneer
Posts: 1954
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 6:00 pm
Location: Vancouver, WA
Contact:

Post by Jeffc »

Yes to Russ's post, clean all grounding straps
(engine fire wall) and neg batter
cable to engine (replace cables if they look rattie)
Clean all your fire wall pugs were the wires come though
on the engine side of the fire wall, you got something
bleading power across and that is the place were it happens
most often (corosion will carry a charge across if bad
enough), if that does not solve it, we'll go the next step....
To clean pulgs, a little baking sode and small brush, if need
be to get inside pulg-ins, a small file or wire, treat with
battery protecter spray ( auto parts stores carry it, sprays
on purple)
http://imageevent.com/jeffc
62 D100 225 3sp lwb
64 D100 A318 727pb custom lwb
66 D100 A318 4sp lwb
68 D100 B383 727 swb
65 Dart GT LA273 2bbl 904
73 Scamp 225 2bbl 4sp od
68 P300 318 727 base Oasis 22' RV
71 for sale D200 318 auto parts truck could be fixed compleat $400
Old iron or no iron!
One size does NOT fit all!

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