Passenger rear turn signal not working, need help

[goathearder]

Update, solved. See below.

Hey Guys,
I have been troubleshooting this passenger rear turn signal of mine (which stopped working the other day) and I can't figure out what is wrong because everything seems fine. Here is what I know:

1) Flashers are new
2) All signals work except the passenger rear
3) Bulbs are new and passenger rear bulb works when I move it to drivers side
4) Passenger rear socket IS getting 12v (volt meter goes up and down with flasher)
5) Tested continuity of bulb body to ground with bulb in socket and its good.
6) Parking lights work FINE on the passenger rear (and everywhere else)

So, socket has power and ground, bulb works elsewhere and every other turn signal flashes just fine.

I am thinking maybe the bulb isn't making contact in the socket although that seems unlikely since the parking light portion of that bulb works. Could it be shorting out somewhere with the bulb in cause I only measured voltage with the bulb out?

Any ideas?

 

[goathearder]

Ok, lets add to the strangeness here a bit. I unplugged the connectors on both sides at the rear of the truck, found the prong that was getting power from the signal, grounded the bulb body on the frame and then ran a wire from the prong to the bulb contact.

On the drivers side I get flashing, on the passenger side I get nothing so even though I see voltage on my test meter, its maybe not enough current? What should I check? An amp reading or something?

 

[Blue85]

I guess that it's the bulb socket itself. If so, you might be able to get it to work by pressing the bulb in while the flasher is running. I've had the same problem before and even had people tell me the light was out, but when I would check it was working. I replaced the bulb a couple of times before I figured out it was intermittent.

Make sure both terminals in the bottom are sticking up far enough and have good spring force in them.

 

[goathearder]

I don't think it could be the socket because I unplugged the harness and took the socket out of the loop and I still had the same issue. I supposed I could run a wire from the drivers side socket to the passenger side socket and see if that bulb lights up (I'm pretty sure it will).

I am not a big wiring guy but is there something that could cause enough voltage to be shown but in reality not have enough juice to do anything cause that seems to be what is happening.

On the flip side, is there anyway I could test the light without it actually flashing to make sure I'm actually getting 12v?

 

[goathearder]

Ok, looks like there is a 15 mA draw on the passenger side when flashing compared to a .4 mA draw on the drivers side when flashing so I think that is the culprit. I just gotta trace the wire and find out where the draw is coming from.

Also, speedyT, your inbox is full so you can't get anymore PMs.

 

[goathearder]

Ok, forget the draw. I think that might have been an anamoly because I can't isolate it anymore.

What I did figure out is that its a voltage supply issue somewhere. I found the bulkhead connector for the rear lights in the engine bay and disconnected it. I put the drivers turn signal on and jumped that wire from the bulkhead (yellow) to ground and it sparks. Put the passenger signal on and jumped that wire (dark green) to ground and get now spark.

So, even though I am measuring 12 volts on the dark green wire, it won't spark to ground. What the heck would cause that? At this point, the only thing connected to that bulkhead connector is the fuse panel and none of the fuses are blow and I replaced the 15 amp turn signal fuse just to be sure with no difference?

Here is the interesting part, if I jump the yellow and dark green wire together at the bulkhead connector and reassemble then turn the drivers signal on, both rear lights flash and if I turn the passenger signal on, no rear lights flash.

So in essence, there is nothing wrong with the wiring back to the rear passenger signal but there is something wrong with the electricity being supplied to the dark green wire.

I am at my wits end here, hoping and electrical guru comes along and can tell me what to do. I'm almost thinking of jumping the dark green wire to the wire for the front passenger signal and calling it a day but I would rather find the root of the issue if I can.

 

[goathearder]

Solved. I am not sure what the issue was but I unplugged the steering wheel connector and plugged it back in and now everything works! The connector must have been loose or something.

 

[dyeager535]

If it occurs again, take a close look at the wires and if they are locked in to both connectors well, and if that isn't the issue, might have an issue with the tilt mechanism screwing up the wires in the column.

Just in case it comes back. Hope it won't.