my blinkers stopped working about 3 months ago and id really like to get them going again. funny thing is, the hazards still work. is there anyting i should consider? ive checked the fuses and everything looks fine. is the round silver thing in the fuse box related to the blinkers? i was thinking about getting one from the junk yard.

 

There's two of those round silver things...one on the front and one on the back of your fuse box. It's called a flasher relay, and yes, it does control your turn signals. You can get a replacement for about $3 at a parts store. Before you do, switch positions between the front and back realys and see if your turn signals work and your hazards don't. If that's the case, replace the bad relay. If the problem remains the same, your issue may be somewhere else in the circuit.

 

When you turn on your turn signals, do the indicators light up and blink on your dash? Can you manually flash your turn signals by lifting the lever up and down?

Mike

 

when i run the hazards the indicators on the dash light up. but when i try at the blinker switch, nothing. thanks for the info, ill switch the two relays and let you know what happens.

 

Possibly a bad socket.

 

The Emergency Flashers, and the turn signals get power from different circuts.

Check the system in the following order. If the first step doesn't fix it, goto the next step etc.

1: Check the fuse for the turn signal and backup lamps. 15 Amp. Check to see if your back up lamps work as well.

2: If fuse is good, Check to see if fuse is getting power when ignition switch is in the run position. If not, check for a faulty ignition switch, or faulty wiring on the purple/orange wire coming from the ignition switch.

3: If fuse is good, and you got power to the fuse, Swap turn signal Flasher wth known good one.

4: Check Circut #44 Light blue wire at the bottom of the steering column for power when the igntion switch is in run. If no power check for wiring fault between fuse panel and lower steering column.

5: Remove steering wheel, check Circut #44 Light blue wire at turn signal flasher, if no power, fault is inbetween lower sterring column connector and turn signal switch. If power at switch, replace turn signal switch.

It will not be the wiring to the front and rear lamps from the turn signal switch, because the emergency flashers, and stop lamps, use the same wiring to the lamps, and they work.

Hope ths helps.

 

thanks a lot, im going to go work on it right now. im a little concerned that the problem is in the steering column now because the part where it pivots is loose. i wasnt going to take it apart untill i got my b&m shifter but i may have to. my backup lights arent hooked up right now ive been meaning to get to that aswell.

does anyone have a digram of the fuse box that shows which fuses do what?

 

If the turn signal switch is all loose as you describe, then that is most likely th culprit, but do the tests just for confirmation.

I do have the diagram, but no way to post it.

According to the 1981 diagram, It is the first 15 amp, fuse to the right of the flasher, just below the 30 amp fuse for the heater blower.

 

it turned out to be a fuse, but some idiot messed with all my wiring including the fuse block. the power for the flashers is coming from a large diameter white wire with a pink stripe (i think) which someone spliced into and ran a jumper to the blinker relay. there is a fuse in the jumper and it was blown but i couldnt see it untill i removed the fuse block. so i replaced the fuse and cleaned things up a bit and got my blinkers working again.

im going to have to completely replace the harness or atleast the interior harness. i have already done many major repairs to the existing harness after 2 small electrical fires. when i bought the truck it looked like a transfer case had exploded because every wire withen a foot of it was spliced with the same red wire and butt connectors. i have sence soldered in an original ford harness. after that i had to completely build both sides of the engine harness because that was a joke. so anyways instead of waiting to see what other supprises are in store i think i might start considering a entire harness swap. thanks for the help.

 

did you check the blinker fluid?

 

I'm glad that you got it figured out! I am going through somewhat of the same thing with an 80' F150 I just picked up. It makes you wonder what goes through some peoples head when they do repairs.

Mike

 

I replaced the cam behind the steering wheel that turns off the blinkers after you complete a turn. Unfortunately, I did not (initially) use a new push on retainer and the blinkers did not work at all. I noticed that if you pulled the turn signal arm towards you as you were using the blinkers they would work. Sooooo, I pulled off the steering wheel and got a new pushon retainer, problem solved.