My wife and kids were out of the house so after watching a couple of demos about how to check for continuity with my cheapo multimeter (yes, I am THAT new at this!) I headed out to the garage, disconnected the battery, opened the plastic harness clip under the dash and realized none of these are labeled! I have looked around in the forum for the past 30 minutes looking for a diagram that tells me what is where but I can’t find one that clearly labels the circuits I am supposed to check.
Can I impose upon you to let me know where I can find a spiffy diagram like the one you sent me for the black and red plugs in the trunk?
Nap time for my twins, another chance to sneak to the garage!
I set my ohm meter to the lowest setting, 200, and actiavted the left turn signal. 44 to 3 gives a reading but it is 2.2. 44 to 9 shows infinite (a “1” way off to the left). Just for giggles I used a long jumper and tested the wires between the male side of the harness under the dash to the A9 connector in the trunk, both 448 and 442 showed a reading of around 0.5.
So does this mean it is the swtich? Is it common for a brand new switch to be bad or might I have screwed it up somehow during installation? That seems unlikely to me beacuse it was basically a drop in installation.
The problem is in the turn signal as you pointed out that when you put the turn signal switch in Left mode, that you are not getting continuity on the 44 to 9 circuit. I recommend removing the turn signal switch and examining the green - orange wiring ( circuit #9). You can compare it to its counterpart on the right circuit #5 Orange- Blue wire.
Just to bring you up to date, I examined the switch and couldn’t see anything that was overtly wrong with it. Then I called WCCC and they said to send it back to them. I had removed the wires from the original turn signal switch from the plastic harness by jamming a penny nail inside to break off the tang, the WCCC guy recommended a Molex pin removal tool which I found online for $6. I thought the tool would keep the tang in tact (in my mind the wire could be re-used after removal) but it seemed to break off that little pop up tang as well. Was that pilot error or is that how they genrally work?
I will let you know when the new switch arrives and what the new situation is. As always, thank you so much for your guidance. I would be lost without it!
Hello all. I have a 69 cougar. Brake lights work, flashers work, dash indicators work, front signals work. Issue is when left or right signal on the inner light flashes sequencing to just a dull pulse on next to lights. Same for both sides. They eventually also go out of sync. The car already has a new solid state sequence unit in trunk. Unfortunately/fortunately depending on how you look at it the previous owner also replaced the wiring harness with a painless harness. The wire coding seams correct for everything I’ve looked at so far but I have not been able to locate the sequence flasher that should be on the right of the radio. Any suggestions?
help help i am having a problem with my tail lites. they started acting up a while back so i ordered a new signal switch i installed it and it worked for a few cruises maybe 4 then it screwed up again i ohmed it out and this is what i found on center position i have nothing on the green,orange-blue or the green,green-orange, left turn i have a connection on all three sets of wires on right turn i have connection on all three sets of wires. i ordered a new signal switch and a sequential unit i installed them and i have no break lites or emergency flashers i have front emergency flashers. both rear and front blinkers work and i have voltage at the green wire on sequential unit and the turn signal wires but no brake lites. i ohmed the new signal switch and this is what i found center position no readings i found a reading on the green-white -red wires. on left turn i have a reading on blue,green-white and blue,green-orange, the green,orange-blue are open, on right turn i have a connection on blue,orange-blue and blue,white-blue and no connection between green,green-orange. is there a way to make my break lites work by bypassing the sequential unit i want to cruise a few more times before before it snows thanks in advance Ray
On a 67 and 68, the brake light circuit is independent of the turn signal switch. The brake light circuit merges with the K8/K9 relay in the trunk to perform the brake light/turn signal logic.
On a 69 and 70, the brake light circuit is branched from the brake light switch to the turn signal switch and the sequential unit.
It is best to use a self-powered test light to check the continuity of turn signal switches. They contain grease that can cause a false open circuit indication with a VOM. A tester using 1157 bulb(s) powered by a 12V source will reveal a weak contact or pin connection with a dim bulb or hot rivet.
hello coach this is ray with the brake lite problem my car is a 69 cougar as i said earlier my blinkers work and my park lites work. no brake lites and no emergencie flashers. i have voltage on the green wire from brake switch to sequential unit then i have power on circuit board but it looks to me thats where the circuit ends it dosnt have a circuit going anywhere on the board should it not go out to tailites through the black connector or am i missing something. also i coulnt respond to your reply to me in the forum area i had to repost here is this the way it works thanks in advance
On a 69, circuit 511 (green) splits from the brake light switch, one goes directly to the Sequential unit in the trunk and the other goes to the turn signal switch. The 511 circuit in the turn signal switch is routed internally to internal circuits 9 and 5 and outputs from the turn signal harness as circuits 442 and 445. 442 and 445 are then fed back to the sequential unit as well.
Note at the sequential harness connector, 442 and 445 branch directly to the left inner (442) and right inner (445) taillights. Since you do not see the inners turning on as a minimum, I suspect that your problem lies within the turn signal switch.
Take a look at your turn signal switch and inspect the wire connecting circuits 9 and 5. Also make sure that the rivets on these circuits are tight as some aftermarket switches are loose. BTW, this connection also affects the emergency hazards. See Buddy 97’s post #12 inspecting and modifying turn signal switch’s electrical connections before installings as he/she explains how to fix the manufacturing defect of the repro switches: http://www.mercurycougar.net/forums/showthread.php?60594-Help.-Brake-lights-are-melting-turn-signal-switch.&highlight=turn+signal+switch
Good luck and let me know if you have any further questions.
Hello everyone,
Found out what the problem is. It is a manfacturing problem with the turn signal switches. The feed wire from the brake light switch (which is green) is attached to the turn signal cam with a rivet. When the rivet is not stamped (or mashed) properly then the connection is loose and a loose connection builds up heat and then the plastic it is mounted in melts until connection is lost. I bought a new turn signal cam which had a loose connection also but I repaired it by setting the cam with the bottom of the rivet on top of my vise then using a center punch on the top side to mash the rivet a little more to achieve the proper tightness. After 2 light hits with a hammer the wire was tight so the wire did not move now. I also checked the other connections and tightened some of them the same way. Soldering would also work but I did not have any low temp solder as regular solder would be to hot. If any of the wires on the flasher are loose solder is the only option that I have found.
I would like to thank everyone for their help. Robert on yahoo groups is the one who saved the day.
I won’t buy any of that brand of turn signal switches again.
Buddy
hello coach ray again with 69 cougar i was hopping you can help me trouble shoot the switch circuit you mention numbers 5 and 9 what color are they and how would i follow them to box in trunk also i bought 2 new switches already and never thought about ohming them before i put them in i am getting 2 different readings on them what should i see on a new one according to the trouble shooting guide i am not a electrican i know the basics so any and all advice would be helpfull thanks in advance
Inside the turn signal switch:
5 - Orange with Blue Stripe
9 - Green with Orange Stripe
Circuit 5 connects to circuit 445 for powering the inner right rear light and provides the power to the sequential unit to connect the power (supplied by circuit 511) to the middle and outside right rear taillights.
Circuit 9 connects to circuit 442 for powering the inner left rear light and provides the power to the sequential unit to switch the power (supplied by circuit 511) to the middle and outside left rear taillights.
At the turn signal connector and also at the sequential unit in the trunk on the Red Connector:
445 - Orange with Blue stripe
442 - Green with Orange-Stripe
You can check the wires by placing one probe of your multimeter on circuit 511 ( green wire) and the other probe on 445 at the turn signal switch or better yet at the sequencer in the trunk. You should have very low resistance, but remember if the contacts in the switch are loose, it might ohm out correctly but as the brakes are applied, the loose contacts can cause heat to build up in the circuit and as a result will make the resistance increase as well. Repeat the same test on circuit 442.