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electrical question

Randy92782

Randy92782

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Ok don't everyone run off just yet. I have an 83 GMC and when i hit the brakes the left blinker comes on. Same thing was going on in my 77 Chevy cept it was the right blinker. I never tried to fix it on the 77 cause i knew it was getting used for parts. I only want to fix it so i don't cause an accident. Someone may think i'm makin a left when really making a right. :rolleyes:

i had a guy try and explain it to me but i think he's on crack and it didn't make ANY sense :doah:

Any ideas?
 
I had the same thing happen before and it turned out to be a bad bulb. Just because the filament isn't broke doesn't mean the bulb is good. I've had a bulb with a good filament that actually still worked but the purple glass piece on the end where the terminals are was cracked and it caused me a nitemare until i replaced that bulb. Hell, bulbs aren't that expensive, i would just replace all brake/tail light bulbs and i'll bet your problem goes away.
 
4X4HIGH said:
I had the same thing happen before and it turned out to be a bad bulb. Just because the filament isn't broke doesn't mean the bulb is good. I've had a bulb with a good filament that actually still worked but the purple glass piece on the end where the terminals are was cracked and it caused me a nitemare until i replaced that bulb. Hell, bulbs aren't that expensive, i would just replace all brake/tail light bulbs and i'll bet your problem goes away.
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Right on.I never even got down and looked yet. It's cold out. I'll do it tomorrow if there isn't 6-8 inches of snow onthe ground...
 
the light on the dash? because the blinker in the back is the brake light bulb also. Or is it actually flashing? another thing to check is the grounds, if you have a bad ground it can back feed and do weird stuff.
 
The light on the dash along with the front and maybe the rear blinker. It's not actually blinking but when i hit it it lights up and stays that way until i let off.

I just hate to have to hit my brakes and turn right. It confuses people i think
 
ok, so when you depress the brake pedal, do both brake lights work/light up including the front right signal light?? If this is the case, you might have a bad turn signal switch or your front right turn signal circuit is shorted to the brakes circuit. Like I said, check the ground circuit first...does the right turn signal work ok?
 
I had an old chevy II that had a bulb go bad on me and when i would be driving it at night and hit the brakes the headlights would turn off, the dome light would turn on and the radio would turn off.
 
wetbackZO said:
ok, so when you depress the brake pedal, do both brake lights work/light up including the front right signal light?? If this is the case, you might have a bad turn signal switch or your front right turn signal circuit is shorted to the brakes circuit. Like I said, check the ground circuit first...does the right turn signal work ok?
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yup everything works fine when the brake pedal isn't pushed. I think the left blinker actually still blinks when the brake is pushed but not sure so that wouldn't be that big a deal. :dunno:

4X4HIGH said:
I had an old chevy II that had a bulb go bad on me and when i would be driving it at night and hit the brakes the headlights would turn off, the dome light would turn on and the radio would turn off.
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Now THAT wold be interesting :rotfl:
 
I'm getting confused here. Do you mean that if you hit the brakes while you have your blinker on the dash light for the blinker just lights up steady without blinking? If so that would be a bad flasher for the turn signals. When the flasher goes bad either the flasher will make the dash light flash really quick or the dash light will stay on steady without flashing at all.
 
Ok i'll go slow here :haha:

When i'm parked and push the brake pedal the dash, left front and left rear bulbs will light up and be steadily on. When i turn the turn signal on *left* and the brakes pushed the signal on the dash flashes but not sure about the outside (as it's kinda hard to push the brake and see the outside lights at the same time).

If it doesn't blinker flash on the outside it'd be steadily on. hope this helps :crazy:
 
Did you ever figure this out because my 90 model is doing the same thing only on the right side
 
I realize its an old thread, but most likely culprit is the turn signal switch.
That is the only place the front outside turn signal bulb and the brake light circuit approach each other.

When the turn signal is in the center position, the front outside blinker light is dead. There is no connection to it.
The rear outside blinker light is hooked to the brake switch through the turn signal switch.

When you turn the signal on, the line from the brake switch for that side rear is broken, the front light is tied to the back light, and both, along with the indicator, are hooked to the flasher unit.

Sounds like you either have a turn signal switch that is coming apart, or a damaged wire harness letting two different circuits connect when they should not.

Now, if the turn signal indicator was coming on when you turned on the headlights, that would be a different cause.
 
4X4HIGH said:
I'm getting confused here. Do you mean that if you hit the brakes while you have your blinker on the dash light for the blinker just lights up steady without blinking? If so that would be a bad flasher for the turn signals. When the flasher goes bad either the flasher will make the dash light flash really quick or the dash light will stay on steady without flashing at all.
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Side question. if you put your emergency flasher on, shoudl they flash if you foot is on the brake. Mine don't, until i remove my foot from the brake
 
dhcomp said:
Side question. if you put your emergency flasher on, shoudl they flash if you foot is on the brake. Mine don't, until i remove my foot from the brake
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No, mine don't flash either.
 
dhcomp said:
Side question. if you put your emergency flasher on, shoudl they flash if you foot is on the brake. Mine don't, until i remove my foot from the brake
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NO.

Actually I forgot about the e-flasher switch. I was thinking it was too old to have one.
If it were going bad or partially on, it could cause the brake to turn on the front turn signal.

The e-flasher switch acts similar to the turn signal, except that it does not break the brake light wire.
It ties the front outside turn signal to the rear outside turn signal on both sides.
Then it adds the line from the e-flasher unit.
That unit supplies power to the four lights in pulses. Power on, power off.

If you hit the brake light, it supplies power to the same set of wires the flasher supplies but it does so continuously as long as you hold the brake down.
Thus it "fills in" the gaps in power coming from the flasher causing the lights to stop flashing and stay on.
 
i don't have any electrical problems just now, but when i do i'm gonna ask you to help me Fordum......i enjoy reading when you share about electrical concerns.
 
I've had several GM's do this when a tail light bulb's filament for the brake light breaks,and leans over and touches the other filament for the tail lights,causes a feedback and usually lights up the turn signal indicator..bad flashers can do it too,there's 2 of them,one for directionals and one for the 4 way flashers...directional switch is a possibility too,but not as common as bulb or socket issues..

'88 and up trucks had a lot of issues with the printed curcuit boards in the tail lamp housings too..
 
Fordum said:
NO.

Actually I forgot about the e-flasher switch. I was thinking it was too old to have one.
If it were going bad or partially on, it could cause the brake to turn on the front turn signal.

The e-flasher switch acts similar to the turn signal, except that it does not break the brake light wire.
It ties the front outside turn signal to the rear outside turn signal on both sides.
Then it adds the line from the e-flasher unit.
That unit supplies power to the four lights in pulses. Power on, power off.

If you hit the brake light, it supplies power to the same set of wires the flasher supplies but it does so continuously as long as you hold the brake down.
Thus it "fills in" the gaps in power coming from the flasher causing the lights to stop flashing and stay on.
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:woot:
We have a winner i turned my flashers on then back off and now its fine (guess it was partially on) Thanks guys:bow:
 
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