Taillights / turn signal question

[Arricejr]

Have a old 1990 overland with the 1.2.3 row lights I'm wondering if the turn signals lights are supposed to illuminate with the tail lights being though they are 1157 bulbs? My turn signals are not working properly and I'm just gonna rewire everything but was not sure on the wiring rig was like this when I got it when I cut the left signal on when lights are off signal works fine.. if I cut the lights on when I cut the left turn signal on my running lights and dash light flash with the left signal and the right signal doesn't do anything if I cut the lights off the right signal flash slow and I mean cut the parking lights of when I refer to lights on and off..

[Unplanned Tourist]

Sounds like you have a few wires crossed Somewhere. Also check out all of the bulbs. Sometimes they do funny things.
Good luck.

[Arricejr]

That's what I was thinking but I need to know what lights belong on together

[FIRE UP]

Originally Posted by Arricejr

Have a old 1990 overland with the 1.2.3 row lights I'm wondering if the turn signals lights are supposed to illuminate with the tail lights being though they are 1157 bulbs? My turn signals are not working properly and I'm just gonna rewire everything but was not sure on the wiring rig was like this when I got it when I cut the left signal on when lights are off signal works fine.. if I cut the lights on when I cut the left turn signal on my running lights and dash light flash with the left signal and the right signal doesn't do anything if I cut the lights off the right signal flash slow and I mean cut the parking lights of when I refer to lights on and off..

Arricejr,
First, it's kinda hard to understand your terminology. Normally when someone refers to "cut", it means their actually CUTTING wires etc. Not trying to be an english teacher here, just trying to understand your issue. Second, a question or two. How long have you owned this coach? Has the turn signal or any rear lighting issue(s) been there since you purchased the coach? Or, did these issues just pop up?
Tail light wiring can be set differently on different coaches, vehicles, trucks etc. Lights designed to work one way on a coach, may be quite different on other coaches. Without sounding too rudimentary here, the simple operation is like this;

1. An 1157 bulb, for years, has had THREE functions.
A. Tail/marker
B. Turn signal
C. Brake

There are other bulbs in the tail light assemblies but, you only mentioned the 1157 so, we'll deal with that one. Now. just because it's a two or three function bulb, that doesn't mean it's destined to do all three functions on each and every vehicle it's applied to. Take for instance ours. It's an '04 Itasca Horizon, 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT.
The tail light arrangement is, 3 vertical lights on each side. The top two are red. The bottom one is clear and obviously, is a back-up lamp. But the top two provide different functions for each. The very top is just the tail light. The second one down provides not only a tail light too but, is also a BRAKE and TURN light. The good part, ALL THREE ARE 1157 bulbs.

So, back to yours. The very first thing you need to do is, clean up and make sure, ALL GROUNDs are working properly. Poor grounds are the result of about 95% of electrical problems on vehicles, especially tail light issues. And that includes rust and corrosion INSIDE the bulbs bases where they make contact with the sockets they're inserted in. Make sure all your bulbs have clean and proper contact with not only the circumference of the base but, also the actual dual contact points for the tips of the bottom of the bulbs.

Once you've made sure ALL GROUNDs are clean and making good contact, it's time to make sure that, any and all electrical wires and connections leading to those tail lights have good, tight and clean connections. I just went through all of the same exact things on a buddies coach. He was having a ton of lighting issues. The problems were bad connections and poor grounds. All is way better now.


The reason I asked if this problem just happened or, has it been doing it all the time you've owned the coach is, if it just happened, then the wiring or, I should say IMPROPER wiring, is not the case. If your tail lights have been functioning correctly up to this point, then it's a fairly safe bet that, the grounds are the culprit(s). That's not to say the positive side is not at fault. Again, all connections must be tight and clean. I personally have pretty much grown to dislike all crimp connections. I solder just about everything I can. And, if and when possible, I use heat shrink tubing too.

It's a preference thing. I just like the more solid connections that soldering provides. Not many will do it that way.

But, for you, again, make sure all your grounds are clean and tight with no rust and corrosion. Then, if needed, get a test light and hook it to a known good ground and pin test all the wires/connections to see what's what in that wiring. Then, make sure all the positive wiring connections are clean and tight. Then, depending on if your lights are wired properly, all should be good from this point on. If, for some reason, they're not, then you'll have to make adjustments as needed. Good luck.
Scott

[littlebob]

As others have said, you have a bad ground or a shourted out bulb back feeding.

[Arricejr]

Originally Posted by littlebob

As others have said, you have a bad ground or a shourted out bulb back feeding.

I'll be on it tomorrow I'll let you guys know what I find

[Arricejr]

Originally Posted by FIRE UP

Arricejr,

First, it's kinda hard to understand your terminology. Normally when someone refers to "cut", it means their actually CUTTING wires etc. Not trying to be an english teacher here, just trying to understand your issue. Second, a question or two. How long have you owned this coach? Has the turn signal or any rear lighting issue(s) been there since you purchased the coach? Or, did these issues just pop up?

Tail light wiring can be set differently on different coaches, vehicles, trucks etc. Lights designed to work one way on a coach, may be quite different on other coaches. Without sounding too rudimentary here, the simple operation is like this;



1. An 1157 bulb, for years, has had THREE functions.

A. Tail/marker

B. Turn signal

C. Brake



There are other bulbs in the tail light assemblies but, you only mentioned the 1157 so, we'll deal with that one. Now. just because it's a two or three function bulb, that doesn't mean it's destined to do all three functions on each and every vehicle it's applied to. Take for instance ours. It's an '04 Itasca Horizon, 36GD with the C-7 330HP CAT.

The tail light arrangement is, 3 vertical lights on each side. The top two are red. The bottom one is clear and obviously, is a back-up lamp. But the top two provide different functions for each. The very top is just the tail light. The second one down provides not only a tail light too but, is also a BRAKE and TURN light. The good part, ALL THREE ARE 1157 bulbs.



So, back to yours. The very first thing you need to do is, clean up and make sure, ALL GROUNDs are working properly. Poor grounds are the result of about 95% of electrical problems on vehicles, especially tail light issues. And that includes rust and corrosion INSIDE the bulbs bases where they make contact with the sockets they're inserted in. Make sure all your bulbs have clean and proper contact with not only the circumference of the base but, also the actual dual contact points for the tips of the bottom of the bulbs.



Once you've made sure ALL GROUNDs are clean and making good contact, it's time to make sure that, any and all electrical wires and connections leading to those tail lights have good, tight and clean connections. I just went through all of the same exact things on a buddies coach. He was having a ton of lighting issues. The problems were bad connections and poor grounds. All is way better now.





The reason I asked if this problem just happened or, has it been doing it all the time you've owned the coach is, if it just happened, then the wiring or, I should say IMPROPER wiring, is not the case. If your tail lights have been functioning correctly up to this point, then it's a fairly safe bet that, the grounds are the culprit(s). That's not to say the positive side is not at fault. Again, all connections must be tight and clean. I personally have pretty much grown to dislike all crimp connections. I solder just about everything I can. And, if and when possible, I use heat shrink tubing too.



It's a preference thing. I just like the more solid connections that soldering provides. Not many will do it that way.



But, for you, again, make sure all your grounds are clean and tight with no rust and corrosion. Then, if needed, get a test light and hook it to a known good ground and pin test all the wires/connections to see what's what in that wiring. Then, make sure all the positive wiring connections are clean and tight. Then, depending on if your lights are wired properly, all should be good from this point on. If, for some reason, they're not, then you'll have to make adjustments as needed. Good luck.

Scott

Thanks Scott for the detailed info yes this has been like this since I purchased the coach as I been restoring it ..so yes it was like this I'm going to clean all the sockets and connections I also see that my front top marker lights don't work also I have checked fuses all good so far

[Dutch Star Don]

"Arricejr".....Typically, the front overhead lights lose their ground. Remove one of those overhead lights so that you can get to socket/wiring. Take a long piece of wire, attach it to a good ground and then touch it to the ground on the running light. If it lights up, you know you have a ground issue.

When looking for your other issues, make sure the grounds are good (most likely your problem- feedback) and then start removing bulbs and see if one in particular causes your issue. You can do it the other way too....remove them all and then start adding them back in. Kind of a poor man's test if your not real confident with a volt meter or tester.

[Arricejr]

Hummm..

[Arricejr]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

"Arricejr".....Typically, the front overhead lights lose their ground. Remove one of those overhead lights so that you can get to socket/wiring. Take a long piece of wire, attach it to a good ground and then touch it to the ground on the running light. If it lights up, you know you have a ground issue.



When looking for your other issues, make sure the grounds are good (most likely your problem- feedback) and then start removing bulbs and see if one in particular causes your issue. You can do it the other way too....remove them all and then start adding them back in. Kind of a poor man's test if your not real confident with a volt meter or tester.

I'm pretty good with multimeter and power probes I applied power to one of the over head lights and they came on? The back over head (red) lights work fine as do the markers when I pull the switch and tail lights..but if I cut those turn signals on all hell breaks loose....lol