1969 Turn signal problem

[Dave R.]

Last week I was out for a drive in my car when I noticed that the left turn signal wasn't working. No big deal, I figured, I'll change the bulb and that should fix it.........WRONG! For starters I had one hell of a time getting the driver's side front bulb out of the socket. It was so bad that I had to break the bulb and remove the threaded section with needle nose pliers.
Anyway, I put a new bulb in after much wrestling and the lights work but, the turn signal still doesn't blink.
I posted this issue on the Corvette Forum and got some good suggestions but, to date, nothing has worked.
This afternoon I tried the hazard lights to see what would happen; all of the lights blinked except the driver's side front bulb. That bulb just stayed lit but, did not blink on and off.
If I manually blink the lights by moving the turn signal stalk the rear light will blink like normal but, the front bulb just gets bright and stays that way.
It also seems like the driver's side bulbs, front and rear, are a little brighter that the passenger side.

I apologize for the lengthy post but, I was hoping that with all of this information someone could help me diagnose and solve this problem.

Thanks,

Dave

[Terry M.]

Re: 1969 Turn signal problem

Dave
You may have multiple problems, but as a first step check both driver's side bulbs are properly installed. The turn signal bulbs do not thread into the socket. Make sure you are using #1157 bulbs – I think the front is #1157A. They have pins on the side and push in and turn a quarter turn to install. To complicate what should be a simple installation those pins are different heights so that the bulb can go into the socket easily only one way. Check that the deepest pin is in the slot that goes deepest into the socket in each of the bulbs. One can install them improperly if brute force is used, so check this first and let us know how that works. We will know then if you have additional issues.

[Dave R.]

Re: 1969 Turn signal problem

That's funny that you mention brute force to install the bulbs. As I said in the original post, I had to break the bulb to remove it and I found it very difficult to re-install the new bulb. I removed the bulb from the passenger side just to make sure I wasn't doing anything wrong and that bulb was pretty easy to remove and install. Do you think the lamp socket may have been damaged at some time?
I forgot to mention that the turn signal worked fine up until a week or so.

[Terry M.]

Re: 1969 Turn signal problem

It is possible to damage the socket by using excessive force to install the bulbs with the pins out of alignment with the socket. It was your mention of the force needed to remove the bulb that caused me to think of the potential of improper installation. The fact that the bulbs on one side seem brighter than the other can also indicate misalignment. Corrosion can also make the bulb difficult to remove and reduce the voltage at the bulb enough to also cause a dim(er) bulb.