Blinker relay

[UncleOtis63]

Hopefully this is an easy one. I was at the auto parts store today looking to get a blinker relay for my left turn signal. The guy pointed me to a part on the shelf and said that would do it. He said that there is only one blinker relay and if it goes out that neither side would blink so if only one side is not blinking that it is probably a bulb. So I borrowed a phillips and pulled off my lenses to find that he bulbs were good. They both (front and rear) light up along with the dash light but won't blink. So I crawled under the dash to see if I could hear the blinker relay. I could when I turned on the right signal but I couldn't find it. It sounded like it was coming from behind the Fuel/Temp gauge so I pulled it out but still couldn't find it.

Is there only one relay that controls the left and right blinkers?

WHERE IS IT AND HOW TO I ACCESS IT??? [newburn]

Thanks for your advice. :)

[Alan H. Tast]

Shawn:

The flasher should be located on the back side of the dash cluster, either between the fuel and temp gauges or between the speedometer and either the clock or the gauges (I'm going off of memory since I'm not at home). It's a pain to get to because of all the wiring and such in the way. It is a round metal can with a plug-in connection - these were used for dozens of years without much change in design. Only one is used.

I hate to ask, but do you have copies of the '62 shop manual and '63 supplement, as well as reprints of the electrical diagrams? If not, get these as soon as possible. The first thing everyone should get when they buy an old car is a copy of the factory service manual, as it will yield a wealth of information on how to the most mundane of items. These are available through the T-bird parts vendors who advertise in the Scoop and are well worth the money.

[UncleOtis63]

Alan,
Yes, in fact, I do have a copy of the '62 Shop manual and I drilled through section 10 looking for a wiring diagram and illustration with the location of the relay. Believe it or not, it wasn't until I pulled out the '63 supplement did I find the location of the blinker relay and something else I've been looking for, a fuse box diagram. I counted on the same information being in the 62's as the 63's supplement for a silly blinker relay so it took me a while to bother to look.

I never post questions without first looking through the manual or doing a search on the web & in the forum. Sorry if my questions seem ignorant to you. I consider myself fairly mechanically inclined enough to do most of my own work but I'm the next farthest thing from car mechanic. I take mine in to have the oil changed. HEH

FYI... Oddly enough, after consulting with quit a few mechanically savy car buffs and hearing that if the blinker relay was out that probably neither signal would blink and it was probably a bulb or a socket I took the fuel/temp gauge out anyways. And after pulling every bulb from every corner of the car, I took a chance on a $2.98 part and replaced the blinker relay. It worked.

[Wklink]

Had the same problem with my 61, couldn't figure out for love nor money where the blinker was. It is behind the spedo.

Yes, it is a pain to get out and replace. Of course it didn't go bad when I had the dash apart either.

[UncleOtis63]

they must have moved it to behind the fuel/temp gauge in '63. I replaced the blinker relay and now both sides blink but when I'm driving with my headlights on, my left rear parking brake light or blinker light is stuck on. So when I have my lights on and I step on my brakes, the right side brightens up to match the left side. Strange. Could this be a head light switch? Short in one of the sockets? Bulb in wrong?
Nothing in the manual to trouble shoot this!

[mike harmon]

Sounds like some wires are crossed somewhere- if the '63 is like the '62, there is a junction (plugs) in the wiring harness in the trunk, near the centerline of the car where the trunk lid latch catches the latching bar on the lower lip of the trunk. The wires are color-coded, check your wiring manual; the wires from the body harness are individually plugged into the harness for the rear lights. Pull each plug apart and with the turn signal(s) on and then the brakes on, and then the lights on, using a voltmeter check each lead of the body harness. If the proper colored body harness wire has about 12 volts or so when it should, then the problem is in the rear light's harness. Which is bad. Body harnesses are relatively easy to work on as there are only a couple of terminal points where they can get crossed- one of which is under the dash where the wires come out of the steering column. I believe the plugs between the body harness and the tail light harness are designed so that you can't inadvertantly cross them, but I could be wrong.

If the problem is in the rear lights' harness, to work on it you have to remove the rear bumper- a bummer! Ford, in their infinite wisdom, kept all of the rear light assemblies totally isolated from the trunk compartment in an attempt to have a good seal against fumes and dust. Good idea until you have to work on the wiring behind the tail light buckets!

I have a similar problem with my '62- the right tail light and the brake light wires are crossed somehow- and the problem appears to be in the tail light's wiring assembly, accessable only by removing the bumper. The bumper was removed sometime in the past by a previous owner, judging by the messed up mounting bolts. When new light buckets were put in they must have broken some wires and in repairing them, got them mixed up. The thought of the removal of the bumper, because of the cross-threaded and improper types of bolts, has given me such nightmares that I have avoided doing it for a couple of years now, and I no longer drive at night (when the reversed lights are REALLY obvious). It'll probably take getting a fix-it ticket to get me going on it...

[UncleOtis63]

This was a bummer. I really dreaded having to pull the bumper to check wiring harnesses so I tried to illiminate all others first. Apparently I bought a bad blinker relay because I replaced it again and now it works fine. I would have taken it back to get my $2.90 but I dented it a bit trying to squeeze it back in to the clip. Maybe that created a short circuit in the can. Thanks anyway. Hopefully your thread will help someone in the future with this problem.
BTW Mike. Nice 62 by the looks of your avitar.

[T-Bird-Art]

All the taillight wires have bullet connectors between the bumper and trunk. Very easy to mix these wires. At this late dte most of the color codes are gone. For anyone considering pulling the bumper, clearly mark each wire on both sides of the bullet connector with masking tape and permanent marker with 1/1 , 2/2 etc.