CJ wiring experts...turn signal question

willness33

willness33

Here for the memes
Joined
May 3, 2005
Location
Alexis,NC
I'm starting to pick through all my minor electrical issues on my 83 cj7. All my signals work except the drivers front. Bulb is good, parking light and side marker light up when turned on, rear works, ground behind the headlight is in good shape. The indicator on the dash does not flash with the functioning rear but the one for the passenger side does. I've checked power through the firewall with the signal functioning with a multimeter. It's digital but I should see more voltage fluctuation that .04v. All that info out of the way where should I look next?
 
Fwiw, I have swapped the front fixtures and had the same results. All lights work as they should, all signals work as they should except the left front and the dash indicator. They do not illuninate at all regardless if the headlights are on or not.
 
Well the indicator is doing its job by not illuminating if both bulbs arent blinking.
I would ignore the indicator for the time being.

The first test and what I suspect will point your problem would be an old fashioned test light into the wire where it enters front fixture then turn the ts on. Ground the test light direct to the battery.
If the test light flashes then spend more time on the fixture.

But I'd bet that either the wire is grounding out in the column or...my first guess based on the exact same deal is a lose connection at the column bulk connector.
Ive got a pin out at home I can share. Then you can move your test light test to that connector and check both sides of it and verify.

I had an 84 I chased the exact same scenario on. Identical. ended up wasnt making good contact across the wide under dash connector. I cleaned and greased it and it worked for a while then started giving issues again...I ultimately cut it lose on both sides and but a bullet connector to replace that pin in the plug and never looked back.
 
Ill appreciate the pin out diagram. The one thing that's confusing me the most about this is the left rear signal works, just not the front. I'll start chasing the most likely culprits on Saturday when I'm off. I just want to be armed with the best knowledge beforehand. Are there 2 separate connectors at the column for the front and rear?
 
Take a look at these two...they should help explain.

CJ Wiring Pins.jpg
TSHarnessPlugFrontLightDetail.jpg
 
one more thing int eh old file that may help.....

1613064088771.png
 
Print it on 17x24
 
Went out on my lunch break, found the connector, wiggled it around a little, tried the signal and I'll be damned its working now. Thanks Ron!!
 
As far as indicators & instrument lighting in particular, I gave up trying to get the Numerous bulbs to work. And there's 10K orange wires under the dash. 1 wire & ground is by the bulb receptacle grounding to the dash. My left indicator doesn't work either, just like the Bright headlight indicator & the Tach light. 1 0r 2 of the cluster lights don't work. Every time I mess with 1 light, I seem to knock another one out. As for the left front signal, mine was out. I removed the lens, which drops the whole assembly out, reveling all the rust. Time I cleaned all that up, one of the bulb contacts broke [rotted] off! Damn, I've had this before, & need to order 2 New assemblies. I managed to get the endless wire stripped back a 1/4 ", pushed through the hole, bent over & installed the bulb. Surprised me it Works! Both marker light & turn signal. 🙂
 
rodney eppes said:
As far as indicators & instrument lighting in particular, I gave up trying to get the Numerous bulbs to work. And there's 10K orange wires under the dash. 1 wire & ground is by the bulb receptacle grounding to the dash. My left indicator doesn't work either, just like the Bright headlight indicator & the Tach light. 1 0r 2 of the cluster lights don't work. Every time I mess with 1 light, I seem to knock another one out. As for the left front signal, mine was out. I removed the lens, which drops the whole assembly out, reveling all the rust. Time I cleaned all that up, one of the bulb contacts broke [rotted] off! Damn, I've had this before, & need to order 2 New assemblies. I managed to get the endless wire stripped back a 1/4 ", pushed through the hole, bent over & installed the bulb. Surprised me it Works! Both marker light & turn signal. 🙂
Click to expand...
Why do we do this to ourselves?lol
 
The wipers decided to quit on me on the way home tonight. Awesome when it happened. All I could do was frantically grab under the dash, blind, staring at the road with laser focus, and jiggle the shit out of the wires. Cycled the switch and they fired back up. I'll add that one to the list of contacts that need to be a little fresher.
 
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