Ok, need some help from the forum. 86 F150 I6 300. Replaced the little PITA pot metal fork in the steering column that works with the key. I replaced the entire blinker switch while I was in there as it was wore out. put it all back together and have no blinker or Back up lights. Emergency blinkers work and I swapped flashers so I know the flasher is good. the wire loom from the blinker plug to the fuse box looks ok, I thought I might have pinched the loom while putting the steeering column back in place. Checked and replaced the fuse. I did notice that in the fuse block only one side of the fuse has a metal clip to hold the metal fuse tang, all other fuse's have two clips to hold the fuse in place. The blinker one is loose and I dont know if I pushed it through when checking the fuse or is it supposed to be that way. Need to get it safety inspected this month as I am off to the middle east in a few weeks. Any one have any advice? or pointers I sure could use it. Thanks

Joe

 

you need to trace em, but the BU lights are triggered by something on the tranny - not in the column. fuse?

 

on mine i had to replace my neutral safety switch to get my back up lights working

 

i agree, the neutral safety switch on the trans is the switch for the reverse lights, just replaced mine about a month ago. blinker fuse, you have to have contacts on both sides for the fuse to work(electricity to pass through). you might have to unbolt the fuse block and see if you indeed did push it through or possibly pulled it out when checking the fuse. check the back of the block for water intrusion. Part of troubleshooting is starting with the most obvious and working up stream. if you have a multimeter, start unplugging plugs where the blinker system passes and check for pulsing(blinking) voltage, ensure you have a good ground. Get ahold of a schematic out of a repair manuel, it will help.

 

Well I have found the problem. Took the advice and pulled the fuse block off one more time and did some looking. Bounced the Chilton manual diagram off what was in place. Some where along the trucks history the original owner (I am 2nd owner) must have done some kind of work and re routed the blinker fuse to another spot. The place he routed it to is marked for a 25amp fuse and is listed as some thing to do with the ignition. Removed the burnt fuse put a new 15amp on in place and shazzzam everything works now. This is a true testement as to the usefull ness of this forumn. Thanks for the tips


Joe

 

So it was working but while in the column you decided to do some restoration on the automatic blinker which caused a problem. It does seem likely the first problem is still in the column. Fused signal power goes up and switched power comes back down. Since neither work it looks like power is not available at the new signal switch. So you were chasing the problem back down to the fuse box and it seems you introduced a new problem when the fuse holder had a mechanical failure and one of the two pinch connectors slipped out the back. I think there are three small long bolts that hold the fuse box. You need to swing that assembly out and examine the keeper mechanism that prevents all those pins from being pushed out. You might be able to gently bend the metal spring shoulder back out just enough that it works again and reinstall the pin. Seat the fuse a couple times to be sure your handy work really worked. And I would leave the fuse in before bolting the fuse box back in its place. However, from the clues you shared, I don't think you blinker is going to start working unless that fuse thing was the problem all along. As for the backup lights, they have to get their power from somewhere; perhaps it is the same fuse.

Just a comment on the neutral switch. If you have had that thing off the side of the tranny there may be a mechanical calibration step where you run a wire or pin through alignment holes in the switch body and then after its bolts to the transmission you pull that pin out.

Hope that helps. TIP: when testing wires that are suppose to have power you can stick a sharp pin like a needle through the insulation into the strands of wire within and use a volt meter or test light to see if the power is really in there. Take the time to verify the voltage is really 12V. If it is less then disconnect or turn off the load (signal lights) and see if the voltage jumps all the way up to 12V. If that happens then between the battery and your test clip you are loosing voltage across a bad connection when the current is running to the load.