Put new turn signals in and

[sandawgk5]

now my turn signal arrows are always on if my headlights are on. The turn signals I put in are LEDs. I basically replaced the bulbs with oval LED turn signals. Is this a "feature" with our vehicles to indicate a blown bulb ( I am thinking like the blown fuse indicators that light up when a fuse blows). Do the LEDs just not draw enough current so the system thinks a bulb is blown? It is really not a big deal I just want to make sure I dont have anything screwed up.

Thanks

Dik

 

[Fordum]

When in doubt, undo what you did to see if that corrects the situation.
If not, then you know to look for something else.

I have seen problems with the early LED replacements that have the flat plug instead of the twist lock.
Some of the cheaper ones could be plugged in backward and cause a problem.
Usually a blown bulb indication is when that side does not flash.
And, yes LEDs can cause that because they do not draw enough current to make the flasher work.
They sell replacement flasher modules to fix that problem.

But, indicators staying on usually is a ground problem at the socket.
The brake/tail style light bulbs come in two flavors. Two element and single element.
You need to put in the two element ones.
If you put in the single ones, that will cause a problem.

If its the old style twist lock, look at the end to see if you have one connection or two.
Should be two.

If it is the push in flat one, should be 4 wires, two on each side.
Not two, one on each side.

 

[88jimmy4x4]

you need a different flasher module

 

[sandawgk5]

I have an electronic flasher module that I use. The signals work and the indicators flash with the signals the odd thing is when the marker lights are on both indicators on the dash are on at a dim level. When I use a signal to turn the lights on the dash will flash appropriately. The lights I am using are stop/tail/turn from Grote and I only replaced the ambers in the front since I dont have a grill. The rear are the factory incandescent bulb in factory housings. All lights have been verified to work properly.

Could it be a 4 way flasher module issue? Is the hazard flasher a different module?

Dik

 

[Fordum]

The hazard flasher is different.


Every time I have seen the indicators stay on like that, it has been a bad ground at the bulb.

Assuming that they are the dual element type, if the bulb does not have a good ground, when you turn on the headlights and the marker light filament tries to light, it back-feeds through the turn signal filament to ground.
Which causes the indicators to glow slightly.

Late 70s model Fords had a bad solder joint where the ground wire was attached inside the socket that drove me nuts one weekend.
The ground leaf in the side of the socket was all rusty. I would clean it, put some grease on it, and the glow would go away for a few days.

When it came back, the grease had melted and run out and the rust was back.
Turned out the bad solder joint was getting hot and causing the leaf to rust.

Get someone to help. Take out the light fixture, hook a ground wire to either the battery or a known good ground.

While someone is watching the indicators, touch the ground wire to the parts that are supposed to be grounded and see if the indicator goes out.
Mine had the copper based twist lock bulbs, and the indicator would only go out when I touched the ground wire to the brass side of the bulb between the bulb and the socket.

 

[CherryK5]

You need an in line resistor so it matches the incandescents resistance or a flasher module made for LEDs

 

[sandawgk5]

You need an in line resistor so it matches the incandescents resistance or a flasher module made for LEDs

The flasher is electronic for the turn signals. When I tried to switch it to the flasher module spot the indicators did the same thing and the hazards did not work. There is no dual element just different LEDs to light up for flasher or regular marker light.

I can swap my connections and see if the number or LEDs and resistors are causing the issue. I will try that tomorrow and post back up.

Dik

 

[4xcrazy]

sounds like the bulbs are installed wrong perhaps, you have working parking lights AND brighter turn signals when they are on,

or does the light flash completely off and on. (exterior light)

 

[Fordum]

Let me see if I can get everybody on track here.
Maybe myself if I am the one wrong.

A real common problem when you switch to low current bulbs, is that they will not flash, the indicator will just stay on constantly.
That is the problem some folks here are trying to help you fix.

If that is what is happening, then I am wrong, and you need to listen to them. Or my corrected ideas when you confirm I am wrong.

BUT, from what I am reading, the lights flash OK, and the indicators flash with the lights.
The problem is, the indicators stay on when you turn on the headlights without the flashers going.

If so, then that is usually a bad ground. You said that there are not two elements, but there does not have to be.
You have two groups of LEDs with a common ground. That is the same as two elements with a common ground.

If that ground is not hooked to ground, then the marker light voltage will feed back through the turn signals looking for a ground and will find it through the indicators.

You really need to eliminate a variable here. Before you do a lot of work, put the original type bulbs back in temporarily to see if the problem goes away.

If it does, then we know to start looking at the new bulbs and how they are hooked up.
If not, then we can start looking for the actual problem without the distraction of the new bulbs.

For instance, the rear lights will cause the same problem if you have a bad ground there.

Also, since the E-flasher uses a separate flasher module, it might have to be swapped out due to low current.
And, don't forget a bad or stuck brake light switch can cause the E-flasher to stay on without flashing.

 

[sandawgk5]

BUT, from what I am reading, the lights flash OK, and the indicators flash with the lights.
The problem is, the indicators stay on when you turn on the headlights without the flashers going.

This is correct. Swapping the old lights back is not as easy as it sounds. The pigtail and everything has been replaced. There is no socket like the old bulb had it uses a pigtail and plugs directly into the back of the LED panel.

Here are the kind of LEDs I have.

I can't remember if I was having this issue with the original lights before I changed them out, but I did have this issue in the past.

It has been raining here so I have not had a chance to try anything out. As you said it could be an issue with the rear lights also.

Dik

 

[Fordum]

OH, OK.

I thought you had gone with one of the aftermarket replacement LED bulbs that just plug into the original socket.

Those look neat. Bet they cost a lot more than the bulb type though.

Unless there is something wrong with the new light its self, then the problem is almost certainly going to be a bad ground at either the front or back.

If you have a piece of wire long enough, try this:

There should be three wires going to the light.
A marker wire, flasher wire, and a ground.

Hook a long piece of wire to the ground wire and run the other end to the negative terminal of the battery.

See if the problem goes away on that side.
If so, then you have a problem with the ground.

Going straight to the battery is overkill even temporarily, but when you are trying to eliminate a possibility, you have to be absolutely sure you have eliminated it.

Once you check off a possibility, you will not go back to it for days or weeks when you are trying to fix an unknown problem. So, when you eliminate one, it better darn well be eliminated.

Also, you could just disconnect the whole light. If its a bad ground or something wrong with the light, the glow should go away when you do.

If it does, we have isolated the problem. Then its just a matter of figuring out what it is.
If not, then we know the problem is somewhere else. Probably the back lights.

 

[sandawgk5]

I didn't think about just unplugging the light and seeing if it went away.

As for the cost of these lights I only paid about $12 with pigtails for each of the lights. I got them online from a trailer supply place. The lights just snap into a mount you can buy or cut your own (they come with a template) and a rubber grommet.

I will see what I can find with the ground issue. It is most likely the cause seeing as this thing is 23 years old and has the original wiring and harness.

Dik

 

[4xcrazy]

i would agree now that i see what kind of lights they are now, either a bad ground, or they don't have enough resistance for the dash indicators,, however that circuitry works to detect a bad, blown out bulb never got into that issue or checking on how it really works, or "knows" how the bulb is blown.