Turn Signal Fluid!

[j sofa]

Yeah yeah, i know "My turn signal fluid is low" i've done a bunch of searches and they have for the most part helped. First my turn signal wouldnt blink and i searched and found i needed a new flasher: couldnt find the flasher so i searched and i found where to find it, replaced it and problem solved!

BUT now i have a different problem.
I nightshaded my tails and i thought i'd just made the right one too dark because light wasnt coming through as good as the driver side. SO being the genius that i am, i wetsanded the hell out of the the passenger side tail until my hands fell off. and the damn thing was still not as bright! so i finally get the bright idea [no pun intended] to see if the bulbs were just uneven. Turns out that was the case. see i wouldnt have thought that was it because i recently changed JUST the passenger sides bulbs so, naturally, i thought THEY would be brighter. anyways none of that is important anymore--now i just want to know what to do to make my passenger side light up nice and bright again. I think you guys are gonna tell me to check my wires and/or the ground or the socket or whatever...the thing is once i'm looking at everything i dont know how to see and diagnose what i need to do i could take pictures if needed but i need some help, i might just end up going to a dealership :(

[Vanquish]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

I would suggest checking your ground wire and others connecting to the bulb and see if you find anything. Good luck with it, and if you are having problems, do post pictures because my mind no longer gives good mental pictures when I try to use it.

[landj]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

2nd that. Definitly check the contacts where the bulb hits the metal parts in the socket. Clean all the grease out (should have grease in there to keep corosion down) and then put the bulbs back. May want to regrease them too.

Have you tried swapping the right and left bulbs? maybe the new bulb is just a slighly different power, so you might have to buy another new one like the one you just bought.

Its not the turn signal fluid, its the tail light fluid you need to check.

[jollymon]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

If your going to change your headlight fluid you need to to buy a little elbow grease also.

[j sofa]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

thanks for the replies guys, i couldnt reply sooner because my camarov6.com fluid was a little low. i'm going to check out the sockets today and clean the grease out. what is it in there to help with corrosion? i dont have any and i guess i should buy some. The bulbs are the same on both sides. I pulled off the old bulb on the driver side and replaced it with the same bulb on the failing passenger side, it still was wayyy brighter. also, what/which is the ground wire or whatever its called? i'll take some detailed pics later in the week if this problem persists and after i get my new digital SLR! thanks

[auto666]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

clean your connections then check voltage on both sides if pass is lower start going up the wiring harness and check voltage at each connector untill you get equal voltage that will tell you where its dropping at

[j sofa]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

NEW DEVELOPMENTS:

ok so i went over my tail lights and found that when i have my hazards on--drivers is brighter than passengers

when i have my break lights on--again, drivers brighter than passengers

when i have my headlights on however--my passenger side lights up to its full potential! bright as my drivers side when on hazards! however now the drivers side is much dimmer! its like they switched roles when my headlights are on...

and turn signals are still the same--drivers much brighter than passengers.

So im really confused now. And like i said, i dont know squat about the wiring and how they should look and be..and as much as i want to go through them, im afraid i might just mess them up and do more damage to them cause i dont know what im doing. Im planning on taking it to a family friend who owns a shop and see what he reckons--your input and help is still appreciated and i definitely wouldnt mind for you guys to keep it coming! everything helps!

[landj]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

Okay... after a look at the wire diagram I have, from what your describing sounds like a bad ground. The description of your problem could be caused by a bad ground on one of the light bulb sockets. If the ground is bad, it will cause the voltage to go through both elements in the light bulb, thus will be dull (two light bulb elements in series drops the power to each, two in parallel allows for full power). This would make the lightbulb rather dim. If you have your lights on, look very closely at the elements of the bulb (sunglasses may help). If you see that one of the bulbs has both elements lit, this indicates that that socket (or bulb) is your problem. This may not work if there is not enough power to actually light one of the elements, but electricity may still be flowing through it. The best thing to do is grab a continuity tester and probe the ground connection on each socket after taking the bulb out. You do not need the lights on for this, and probably don't want them on to test the ground to avoid shorting the socket with the probe. You can use a multimeter by setting it to the continuity check function, or use a special tool for it. Either device can usually be found at an automotive shop or a tool store for less than $10. Even better, just barrow one from someone you know.

It will help if you have some alligator leads or someone to help you hold the other probe end to chassis ground while you probe.

Auto666's comments are right on... I just hope you didn't trade your soul for that advise.

These things just take some time in testing.

[Rob Bell]

Re: Turn Signal Fluid!

You can also take a wire or a test lead and probe the socket negative connection (black wire) and touch the other end to bare metal or a bolt somewhere to ensure you have a good ground. I did that to figure out a bad ground I had with my headlights. It ended up being a bad connector, which connected the headlight assembly to the main wiring harness.