Electrical Question

[TR4]

I installed new TR4 Tail Lights I recently purchased and the turn signals would not work. Not being electrically inclined, I took the old light to test the turn signal and it worked by touching the single wire to the positive pole on the battery and the housing to the negative pole. I tried that with the new light and it would not light so I attached a ground wire to the turn signal light socket and that would light it up. I thought I could use that ground wire to get the turn signal to work but no luck. Do you have an idea as to what I should try before I ask my mechanic to figure them out? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.



Rgds,

Phil

 

[TR4nut]

Phil-

I think you are on the right track here, from what you wrote it sounds like a bad ground on the new light. Were your old tail lights working with the turn signal? If so, I think you can safely assume the ground is still the problem. Instead of working directly off the battery, you may want to repeat your tests in the trunk area, connecting to the wiring harness - old vs new etc. I still think you just have a weak ground on the new setup.

Randy

 

[TR4]

Thanks Randy, After working at the tail end of the car with no luck, I decided to take the bulb out and found the hot wire could move in the socket housing and in fact had moved so it did not touch the bulb. Moving that wire back in place fixed the problem. Not something I would expect to be the issue. Thanks again for your advice and support.

 

[AlanT]

Were these lamp units new reproductions or NOS (new old stock)? I ask because I am hearing about this problem with repro units for many LBC's.

Alan T

 

[TR4]

These repro tail lamps came from The Roadster Factory and were made in Taiwan. Other than the floating hot wire issue, they are very nice. I wondered if the slot in the light socket was there for speed of assembly. Once the light bulb is installed with the wire in the proper location, it won't move. I got these on sale with an additional discount so a much better price than rechroming the original lamps.