The Truck Thread

[NeTree]

Turn signals and 4-ways are usually on different flashers. 4-ways are wired to BAT, turn signals are wired to IGN or ACC circuit.

Check the connector at the rear under the bumper, and under the hood by the steering column.

 

[Al Smith]

On that 350 ,Ford for some unknown reason uses various "ground " termination points .Evidently either for ease of assembley or an aide to be able to isolate for purposes of trouble shooting .If one of those SOB's comes loose it can cause all kinds of problems .

Another thing to keep in mind ,if you tow a trailer or something with lights this can cause an overload situation to the flasher unit .It could either blink real fast or not at all .Best thing to do is get the super heavy duty flasher unit ,the one that makes a hell of a noise when it blinks .

Ford wiring diagrams are also a real nuisance to try and decipher .GM is much easier .

 

[Dave Shepard]

There is only one flasher unit. There is a blank for another one, but there are no terminals in it. The hazards are working front and back, and there is no trailer wiring on this truck. There is full voltage at the fuse. I'm liking Al's ground theory. With the brake lights on, activating the turn signal kills the light on that side.

 

[NeTree]

Sure; it's pulling a false ground. I like that theory, too.

Al, I like the electronic flashers better for trailers; same flash rate, no matter the load.

 

[Al Smith]

We had a problem with Toms' International bucket truck overloading the flasher unit which surprised me .I would have thought a big old diesel truck like that would already have had a heavy duty unit .He replaced it with something and it must be working else he'd have drug it out for me to look at it if not .

His problem was actually two fold .Bad ground on the Morebark chipper plus an undersized flasher unit .BTW automotive type electrical systems are a monumental pain in the buttocks to trouble shoot .Especially after every Tom ,Dick and Harry have fooled with them .

 

[NeTree]

Especially after every Tom ,Dick and Harry have fooled with them .

You should see some of the panels I get stuck working on.

 

[Al Smith]

Yeah,traveled that road a time or two myself .

 

[NeTree]

Last week I had to help a guy troubleshoot one of our machines over the phone. Pretty tough when the guy can barely take a voltage reading, I have no schematics, and his English sucked.

But we got 'er done; bad cooling fan in a 55kw drive.

 

[GASoline71]

My 1995 F-250 had 2 relays. 1 for the 4 ways, and 1 for the blinkers. Not sure what year your F350.

Gary

 

[GASoline71]

Deva... love that '48 Chev.

Gary

 

[Al Smith]

Actually I don't recall every seeing any that didn't have a double set of blinkers since they started using them whenever that was . On the old ones the turn signal blinker was on the fuse panal and the 4 wire connected to a harness dangling under the dash .

The metal ones were loud enough to hear but the plastic ones sometimes you could not.So stand on your head upside down with a flash light looking for the damned thing .

 

[Dave Shepard]

Well, I'll look again. I did find the 4 way blinker, and there was another set of holes in the same layout, but without any conductors in the holes. My truck is a 2002 Gary.

 

[Al Smith]

Hey hey hey ,good old Google comes through again http://www.lemonauto.com/complaints/ford/ford_f250.htm

 

[Dave Shepard]

The brake and tail lights still work. Everything I can find says the turn signal relay is to the right of the steering column under a little snap on cover. There is only the one relay under there, which clicks when I put the 4 ways on, but not the turn signals. Still baffled.

 

[NeTree]

When you say "relay", do you really mean "flasher"? The two are completely different parts.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I mean flasher, but there are many references to relay.

 

[NeTree]

I haven't looked for the wiring diagram to see which or how many of what you have, but it does matter in terms.

I'm still leaning towards a bad ground somewhere, though.

 

[Cobleskill]

I think most of the new flashers are electronic and do both signals and 4-ways. I had trouble with the signal lights flashing erratically on my Lumina. They eventually stopped flashing. I took the flasher apart and determined it was sticky. Added some tension to the spring and away it went. Has a circuit board and some other parts in there. I looked on the parts store rack. A few kinds of electronic flashers as well as the old style cans.

 

[Dave Shepard]

'02 wiring diagram for stop/turn/tail.

View attachment 2002 F-Superduty Turn_Stop_Hazard Pg 1.pdf

 

[Al Smith]

That diagram looks like a Ford OEM drawing . Chiltons is more descriptive but hard to follow .Mitchels are probabley the best because rather than Chiltons that just blast it all on one page Mitchels breaks it down to specific areas .

Mitchels are so damned expensive as is their on-line service that few except commercial garages can afford them .However many public libraries have copies in their research sections that they allow copies to be made from .It's like a dime a page here localy .

 

[NeTree]

Well, that's not very detailed, is it?

Reach up under the column, and see if the connector for the TSS is loose.

 

[Dave Shepard]

I finally figured out the problem. A fuse that wasn't labelled to suggest it might have anything to do with turn signals. After all, there is already a turn signal fuse. I think it was marked "Muffler Bearing" or something like that. I got out my MM and set it to continuity and started testing every fuse in the block. When I got to about the second to last fuse, I finally found it. Fortunately I didn't do any damage to my MFS when I prised it apart and had a poke inside. So, now I don't have a horn until I buy another 15 amp mini fuse, I sure wasn't going to steal the one from the radio.

 

[NeTree]

So no more using the universal turn signal to convey your intentions to other drivers?

 

[Cobleskill]

Don't ya just love when people come to an almost complete stop before they put their turn signal on, if they put it on at all? I always figure there are a lot of people out there with a broken left arm.

 

[lumberjack]

Called the Ford dealership to get a price on a part number (6E7Z-9A332-B). They said list price was $168, I asked what the out the door price was, they replied $180 (tax) and they didn't have it in stock.

I am having it delivered for $112 from [shamelessplug]Tousley Ford[/shamelessplug].