Corvair light issue

[Duff71Riv]

So, I recently purchased a 65 Corvair.. I love it! It’s super original, 4 speed, awesome car. Thing is the back lights don’t stop blinking. It’s like the hazards are on but they didn’t have hazards in 65 (from what I’ve heard). Right turn signal works. Left turn signals makes them both blink and neutral makes they blink which is annoying to drive with. Any ideas? Thanks

Ryan

[Larry Schramm]

First thing I would do is check the connections and especially the grounds.  If you do not have a Chevrolet Corvair service manual, I would highly recommend getting one.  It is an invaluable tool.

[Duff71Riv]

2 minutes ago, Larry Schramm said:

First thing I would do is check the connections and especially the grounds.  If you do not have a Chevrolet Corvair service manual, I would highly recommend getting one.  It is an invaluable tool.

This is the second time today I’ve been recommended the manual so I’ll definitely be getting one! Thanks, I’ll check the grounds especially!

[Avanti Bill]

Turn signal switch would be my first investigation.

[Duff71Riv]

Just now, Avanti Bill said:

Turn signal switch would be my first investigation.

I was a little suspicious of that myself... the prior owner did some work to it he said... thanks!

[padgett]

Join Corsa and get a Clark's catalog.

[Marty Roth]

Once, before 4-way hazzard lights were common,

I added a switch below the dash as a jumper between the right and left brake light circuits of my older car.

when not jumping the circuit, all worked normally,

but when the switch was actively closed, my left turn position acted as a 4-way-flasher,

pretty cool on my 1949 Pontiac convertible - 

but at one point a wire shorted against another,'and sommething similar to what you describe happened,

until I was able to get off of the road and temporarily tape the short, and then properly repair later.

 

But it still may be your turn signal switch,

or more likely, the wires attached to it,

maybe inside the steering column

[Frank DuVal]

Yep, time to pull the steering wheel and take a look at the switch contacts. A good picture of them is on:

 

corvaircenter.com/phorum      search "turn signal switch"  and "late model" or "1965"  "1966"  those two years use the same switch.

 

A shop manual can be found by Google,  "repair manuals corvanatics"   there is a link there to the 1965 manual.  Do buy one later, maybe two, one for bookshelf, one to get greasy! 

 

Lates (65 to 69) have those plastic rear lamp sockets. They loose ground, as the metal socket pulls out of the plastic housing. But I do not think this is your problem here.

 

Do you see any odd non-stock wiring under the dash? Anything GM put there is usually in a black tape without adhesive.Find any black tape with adhesive, and that's not OEM!

 

Does the switch cancel, i.e. return to "neutral" when the steering wheel is moved?

Edited August 29, 2019 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[cheezestaak2000]

if you suspect the turn signal switch, simply unplug it at the steering column and see if the problem stops if it continues then, try unplugging the brake light switch.

 

[Duff71Riv]

5 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Yep, time to pull the steering wheel and take a look at the switch contacts. A good picture of them is on:

 

corvaircenter.com/phorum      search "turn signal switch"  and "late model" or "1965"  "1966"  those two years use the same switch.

 

A shop manual can be found by Google,  "repair manuals corvanatics"   there is a link there to the 1965 manual.  Do buy one later, maybe two, one for bookshelf, one to get greasy! 

 

Lates (65 to 69) have those plastic rear lamp sockets. They loose ground, as the metal socket pulls out of the plastic housing. But I do not think this is your problem here.

 

Do you see any odd non-stock wiring under the dash? Anything GM put there is usually in a black tape without adhesive.Find any black tape with adhesive, and that's not OEM!

 

Does the switch cancel, i.e. return to "neutral" when the steering wheel is moved?

The wiring looks to be all original. This is the most original car I’ve ever owned. The turn signal switch looks oddly clean thought so I bet that’s new unfortunately, problem must be from there

[Duff71Riv]

36 minutes ago, cheezestaak2000 said:

if you suspect the turn signal switch, simply unplug it at the steering column and see if the problem stops if it continues then, try unplugging the brake light switch.

 

That’s smart! How would I go about unplugging it?

thanks 

[Frank DuVal]

Look at bottom side of steering column. Flat harness exits turn signal cup, follow it to two curved connectors and unplug both. 

 

Doing this also takes away wiring from brake switch. 

[Duff71Riv]

31 minutes ago, Frank DuVal said:

Look at bottom side of steering column. Flat harness exits turn signal cup, follow it to two curved connectors and unplug both. 

 

Doing this also takes away wiring from brake switch. 

Ok I’ll check that when I get home. 

Thank you!

[JACK M]

Twer it me I would make absolutely sure that ALL of your lights are grounded properly before doing anything else.

Lights do some very strange things when looking for a ground that isn't there.

A test light to a KNOWN GOOD GROUND and test for voltage at the offending circuits.

Tail and parking light housings are known to loose contact with the body making these kinds of things happen.

 

An old guy told me once that 90% of all electrical problems are "groundless".

[Duff71Riv]

9 minutes ago, JACK M said:

Twer it me I would make absolutely sure that ALL of your lights are grounded properly before doing anything else.

Lights do some very strange things when looking for a ground that isn't there.

A test light to a KNOWN GOOD GROUND and test for voltage at the offending circuits.

Tail and parking light housings are known to loose contact with the body making these kinds of things happen.

 

An old guy told me once that 90% of all electrical problems are "groundless".

I’ll be sure to check all the grounds! Wouldn’t be surprised if some have gone bad, after a 20 yr storage 

[JACK M]

Sometimes simply tightening the screws on a light housing will complete a ground.

Having been parked for 20 years I would take all of the housings off and clean all rust deposits, sockets etc.

ESPECIALLY after that long of a nap.

[vermontboy]

Back when my Corvair was a $150 used car I ended up driving wood screws between the bezels and body on all 4 taillights and it worked as long as I had the car...

[Larry Schramm]

Back in the day, I bought two Corvairs, a '63, & a'64 Monza four speed for $20.00 total.  Scrapped the '63 and fixed the '64 and drove it for another 50,000 miles.  Fun car and eventually sold it for $300.00.

[Duff71Riv]

57 minutes ago, Larry Schramm said:

Back in the day, I bought two Corvairs, a '63, & a'64 Monza four speed for $20.00 total.  Scrapped the '63 and fixed the '64 and drove it for another 50,000 miles.  Fun car and eventually sold it for $300.00.

I wish mine was 300

[Bloo]

Having some other circuit blinking (backup lights?!) with the turn signals is almost certain to be a ground issue.

[Frank DuVal]

Earlys and lates have different socket styles so the repair is different on each. For more trivia, the front parking/turn sockets on the earlys are the same sockets as the late's rear tail/turn sockets! These have two issues, the steel part of the socket that holds the lam and provides ground slips out of position, causing loss of ground. The "cure" is a #4 sheet metal screw 3/8 to 1/2" long screwed though the pastic to hld the stell in position. Of course, this is not an AACA approved repair for judging (if they see it😉), but it is cheap and VERY effective. The other cure is installing steel shell sockets, like used on Chrysler Corp vehicles, and this is points off for judging on AACA also, and cannot be hidden from view. 

 

Early tail lamp sockets need a ground wire soldered to the brass socket and connected to the chassis. You can try and hide these from view, unless the judge sticks his head under the rear quarters... And knows Corvairs!

 

Corvair speak: There are 5 years of earlys (60/4) and 5 years of lates (65/9).

 

The simple fact stated above that the lamps light with the turn signal switch in the Neutral or Center position points to switch issues, usually the contacts inside have been bent, or the cancelling arms are broken.

 

No connection between the back up lamps and the turn/brake/tail lamp circuit. So I do hope the back up lamps are not blinking or on (when not in reverse) . If they are, the main harness is probably cut by the clutch cable or parking brake cable and wires are shorted together.😲

Edited August 30, 2019 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[Duff71Riv]

5 hours ago, Frank DuVal said:

Earlys and lates have different socket styles so the repair is different on each. For more trivia, the front parking/turn sockets on the earlys are the same sockets as the late's rear tail/turn sockets! These have two issues, the steel part of the socket that holds the lam and provides ground slips out of position, causing loss of ground. The "cure" is a #4 sheet metal screw 3/8 to 1/2" long screwed though the pastic to hld the stell in position. Of course, this is not an AACA approved repair for judging (if they see it😉), but it is cheap and VERY effective. The other cure is installing steel shell sockets, like used on Chrysler Corp vehicles, and this is points off for judging on AACA also, and cannot be hidden from view. 

 

Early tail lamp sockets need a ground wire soldered to the brass socket and connected to the chassis. You can try and hide these from view, unless the judge sticks his head under the rear quarters... And knows Corvairs!

 

Corvair speak: There are 5 years of earlys (60/4) and 5 years of lates (65/9).

 

The simple fact stated above that the lamps light with the turn signal switch in the Neutral or Center position points to switch issues, usually the contacts inside have been bent, or the cancelling arms are broken.

 

No connection between the back up lamps and the turn/brake/tail lamp circuit. So I do hope the back up lamps are not blinking or on (when not in reverse) . If they are, the main harness is probably cut by the clutch cable or parking brake cable and wires are shorted together.😲

Reverse lights are fine thank goodness. So if I read this right, the cure is a metal screw screwed though the existing holes in the tail light lenses into the original holes in the body? Thank you so much for your help!

[Frank DuVal]

NO, nothing to do with LENSES!

 

We are talking sockets, those snap in black plastic  thingies in the engine compartment. You have a LATE. Remember, lates are 65/9.

 

I have rarely seen ground issue from the metal taillamp housing to the body of the car on a LATE!

 

I have NEVER seen a ground issue cause rear or front turn signal lamps to light with the turn signal switch in the Neutral or Center position. This is 90% a turn signal switch issue, 10% wiring harness issue. DO NOT go looking for Zebras when listening to these hoof beats! Assuming you do not live in Africa....😉

 

 

FYI, the path the trim screw takes holding the trim to the lense to the housing on a late does NOT go through the body, so what you think you heard will not even do any good.....

Edited September 1, 2019 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)

[JACK M]

My experiences are not meant to be model specific.

If the late Corvairs never had grounding problems in the last 50 years then move on to the canceling device.

In my experiences here in the northwest corrosion and grounding is an issue on older cars so I go there first.

Just my troubleshooting procedure.

I agree the canceling device (turn signal switch) can make problems as well.

[Frank DuVal]

Not what I said. Of course ground issues with those black plastic sockets is common. But, the comment of lights On with switch Off means switch problem or harness problem. There may still be ground issues, just fix switch first. 

 

My version of Triage. Fix known issue first. 

 

Jack is right, if the known issue is dim lights, lights lighting that shouldn't light with switches on, lights not working when switch is on, etc. is usually bad grounds!👍

Edited September 3, 2019 by Frank DuVal (see edit history)