VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1961-1964 1961 Corvette Turn Signals

I'm working on my wife's 61 Vette. Last year I fixed the turn signals so they worked properly. Then I had an ignition problem (A shorted wire in the distributor). After replacing all ground straps and fixing the distributor the turn signals no longer work. One side works normally, but the other doesn't. When the LEFT is used it works. When the RIGHT is used all four lights flash quickly. I figure its got to be a short somewhere, but can't find where. I did put a new NOS proper flasher in the car when it worked properly, but I'm going to go back and try the original flasher, which appeared to be the wrong flasher based on the specs. The original flasher worked for one side but not the other. The difference in flashers is a two prong vs. a three prong. Note that I also had a minor tune up (new plugs and timing) when the distributor wiring was repaired.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanx for anything you can suggest.

remove all bulbs fron parking lights and tail lights. use a flashlight to inspect the connections inside the lamp assemblies. i recently had a similar problem with a pair of repo 56 parking lights where one of the two contats (that mate up with the lead contacts of the bulb) were dislodged into the metal body of the bulb receptical, hence grounging out. if this is the case with your 61, you should be able to view the end of the wire, with its contact, grounding out on the body of the lamp assembly. otherwise, check for lack of grounding of the various ground wires. good luck,mike

Ground the RIGHT light housing. All lights flash because the ground in that light is bad and the path back to ground is through the the parking light filament in the bulb which is connected to the other parking light and tail light filaments. It happens routinely on trailer lights with a bad ground.

Thanx. I haven't had time to work on it while I got my 28 Chevy Coupe up and running, but now that it is done I can get back to the Vette. I replaced all the ground wires on the engine block and am looking for others. The taillights and parking lights are NOS replacements (full assembly-no mixing of old and new components) so they appear to be okay when I check them. I think there are some other grounds to check and that will be my next step. I also changed the flasher as the one that was in there did not look right, so I will put the old one back in and test it, and then go from there.

Thanks for the info. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm working on 4 cars right now so it may take a while. I do want to take the 61 to shows so it will be my priority now so I have turn signals.

Okay, thanks for the info. I know the grounds in these things cause problems. As I mentioned to one other member I replaced all the parking and taillight lenses with full NOS assemblies so they just quick connect to the old wires. i replaced the 4 ground wires on the block and had the distributor fixed (broken wire). I've been working on my 28 Coupe to solve a brake problem (all mechanical brakes) so I haven't had time to work on the Vette yet, but the Coupe is now up and running so the Vette is next so I have turn signals when I go to shows.

Thanks again. I will let you know how it goes.

Make a long story short. I did about 4 hours of testing on the 61 Vette turn signals today, all with the same results. Tested with engine on, engine off, lights on, lights off.

Found the ground was not the initial problem. The left turn signal had a bad pig tail connection to the assembly so I fixed that and tested as follows (same results with front parking lamps):
Right Turn Signal: Works with normal brightness and cycle.
Left Turn Signal: Works but quicker than normal with dim lights.
Brake Lights: Don’t work when brake pedal depressed
Tail Lights: Don’t work when headlights turned on
Flasher: Originally a Wagner 522 2 prong unit. Replaced with a NOS Tung Sol
322 3 prong unit.
No difference in results with a ground wire on or off.
So I’ve gone from an annoyance, no turn signals, to a more serious problem, no brake or tail lights. I hate old car electrical problems. Any other suggestions I might try?

NOTE: All my taillight/parking light assemblies and bulbs are NOS units hooked to original pigtail connectors in back of light assemblies.

Thanx f or your help so far. Every time I fix one item something else goes bad.

Sounds like you might need to start over -- beginning with the basics.

Get a small 12 volt battery (just a lantern dry-cell) at any local electronics store, or maybe Radio Shack.

Then add a couple of 4 foot alligator-clip test leads. Go to each light socket and make sure that the bulb works when you put power to it from the back of the socket. Use a needle or any other sharp item, if you need to, in order to punch the wire or the socket.

The purpose is to eliminate each socket. Then that will leave a) the wires, and b) flasher, and c) switches.

Next -- check the brake stop light switch. make sure that it is working since it controls both rear lights.

Without trying to be too overbearing here, I'd say that you need to separate your testing into different groups - 1) the stop light, and then 2) turn signals. They have different elements controlling them.

Good luck.

--Bill

Thanx for the info. I've already started trying to figure out additional tests, and am looking at the wiring diagram for the car. What mystifies me is that the brake and stop lights worked properly before I started testing out the turn signals, and the turn signals partially worked (one side). I'm guessing I am going to find that the bulbs, switch, flasher all work (doubtful they could all fail at one time just by adding an external ground wire to the tail light assembly unless something shorted out, and that didn't happen from what I can see). Unfortunately I didn't test the tail and stop lights before I fixed that pigtail connection on the left tail light. I think I'm going to disconnect that first and then retest everything to see what I have. If the stop and taillights come back on, then the problem is in that pigtail connection. In essence I'm taking your advice to go back and start over where I started. Once I know the results of that, I can try what you recommend to see if that does anything. Since I have headlights and the power from that switch should feed the taillights it should work, but I see on the wiring diagram there are some interim connections to check out too. The interim connection may be the problem and is stopping power to the tail lights,, but I won't know until I check it out. If that is true, then the tail lights shouldn't work either since it looks like all power comes from one source, but I have to verify that since the brake lights operate off the brake switch, and the tail lights should operate off the same switch as the headlights (when you turn them on they both should come on). The brake switch just increases the voltage for brighter lights.

I'll keep going and something will turn up sooner or later. Will keep you informed. I just can't drive it without brake/stop lights. Before I drove it with no tail lights as that was a minor problem. I'd just like to get back to that point and go from there.

The brake light switch will not the increase voltage, it is just a switch turns on and off. If the lights are going dim it's telling me two things that 1)the circut is in series 2)the problem is ground related (or lack of in this case) remember that it is seeking the path of least resistance, in this case that path has a lot of resistance but it is the only path.

I am a commercial electrician in NYC for the past 35 years, and I have seen nuetral (AC) and ground (DC) stump the best guys around.

I would suggest to trouble shoot this is to disconect the ground from the device furthest away from the power supply or the dimmist lamp, noting if the lamps go out all together, or get some test leads/wire and make your own temporary ground at each location, and go straight to the battery. Without a doubt it is a bad ground connection

I agree with you that the ground is probably the problem, but finding the right one is the issue. I spent all week tearing the car apart and cleaning every wire to make sure there is no corrosion on any of them. Then one night I woke up in the middle of the night, and realized I did NOT do the one thing that is always the first thing you do for a sudden electrical failure - check the fuse (must be old age and my chemo brain). So I went out the next day and sure enough the taillight fuse was blown. Thought I had it all solved. Put a new fuse in and still NOTHING. Disconnected fuel gauge leads, pulled bulbs, checked pigtails in back, and nothing. Of course with a blown fuse there would be nothing, so now I have to go back and make up for my stupidity/old age and recheck everything with a good fuse in place to provide power. The new fuse has not blown so far (20 Amp AGC Fuse). I was about to try the temp connection when I realized the fuse issue. The lesson here: Don't get old and forget what you've learned over the years. I'll keep you informed of what happens when I get back to it next week.

Thanx again for your assistance.

Don't forget it might be more than one thing gone wrong

Chipper: You are the winner. I took 4 days off to clear my mind on those turn signals, read all the VCCA responses and advice again, and then went back this morning to go through everything slowly and methodically. I tried your solution and it worked like a champ. Grounding the RIGHT lamp with a piece of wire and some alligator clips got the turn signals working properly. Along the way I found some other issues like loose bulbs, poor contact points (even with NOS parts 52 years old you have to expect them to have some corrosion or dirt on them), etc. that I had to resolve. Cleaned everything up, put it all back together, added the new ground and the turn signals are working normally now after about 4 hours of work.

The stop lights and tail lights still aren't working, but I'm thinking that may be a whole different issue with the light switch/brake switch or something else, not a ground problem.

Thanx for your help. I would have been focusing on the LEFT turn signal a long time without your help. Now if someone can just give me as quick a fix for those tail/brake lights.

John 348: You and chipper were right on the ground issue, and his advice to ground the RIGHT lamp solved the turn signal problem (but not the tail/brake light issue). Now back to the tail/brake lights. Thanx for your help, and to everyone else who provided suggestions for resolving the problem.