Let's guess where the short is.....

[7TCatvert 24]

So just about done with the 69 getting all the finally assembly finished. I check the headlights all is good, the parking lights are good, the turn signal lights are all on.

 

Check the emergency lights no good, no blinkers, what is the matter. All of these things had been working less than a week ago. Dash lights are all working.

 

The fuse is blowing. I took off the flasher cans, installed a new fuse and went to try and hook up the emergency can and blew again. New fuse hooked up the blinker can, no blinkers but no blown fuse. Switched to a new emergency flash can and blew the fuse. I the ground at the relay, in the trunk, the dash, cowl all are metal to metal contact.

 

Next I take an extra turn signal switch and plug it in, turn on the blinkers, they work but smoke starts coming from the switch wiring. That's not good. I may have burnt up my first switch and not known it, that's would be great.

 

So where do I start now, any suggestions?

[69RavenConv 286]

From your description, I would start by looking closely around the emergency flasher can and socket. It sounds like a short may be there, causing excessive current and blowing the fuse. The brief excessive current may also be frying your turn signal switch before the fuse blows to save it.

 

If all looks well there, then I may look for shorts in or around  the turn signal switch, specifically the emergency flasher button and related parts.

 

Good luck, electrical problems can be frustrating.

[7TCatvert 24]

Randy, thanks for the response...you actually rebuilt my system, so not sure where I messed something up. Is it possible it is something in the headlight harness. I retapped everything but am considering taking it all out and going through it...

[danno 128]

Are you blowing fuses when the turn signal and emergency flasher are off? If that is the case, it leads me to think the short is in the steering column. Pull off the steering wheel and take a look at it.  It is all easy to view and you should be able to see a problem when the wheel is off.

[7TCatvert 24]

Not blowing when they are off just when I turn them on....wheel is off, nothing obvious.

[1969_Mach1 333]

It seems to me there is a direct short to ground somewhere.  Did you pinch the harness somewhere or drive a sheet metal screw into it?  Have you visually looked at the harnesses (as best possible).  Do the brake lights work?  If so, the wiring from the dash to the rear of the car is probably okay.  Do both turn signal sides cause the fuse to blow?  I have had shorted bulbs cause fuses to blow.

 

I have s short finder to help narrow down the location of shorts that are not obvious.  It is from MAC tools but I'm sure others sell them.  Its basically a circuit breaker that resets that you install in place of the fuse that keeps burning.  It opens then resets and opens then reset . . . continuously.  While this is happening you run an inductive ammeter (that was part of the tool kit) over the wire harness.  The needle moves back and forth as current flows in the wire.  When the needle stops moving you have went beyond the short because no more current is flowing through the wire.

[danno 128]

Disconnect the front turn signals at the harness in front of the radiator.  That will eliminate those as a possible location for the short.  if your brake lights work, the short cannot be in the rear lights.  I will bet you have a problem though, in the instrument panel.  Disconnect the 16 wire connector from the back of the instrument panel, and I will bet they work.  That is a real common place for a short, if the brake lights work as normal.

[7TCatvert 24]

The brake lights work. I unhooked the dash and the fuse for the emergency lights still blow. The blinkers are still not working in any capacity now.

 

I have visually checked just about everything I can see and no problems are obvious, such as split wires or screws through anything.

[danno 128]

Lets go back to the fuse blowing when you turn on the emergency flasher.  The wire from the fuse goes to the flasher unit, the little can by the radio, and to the flasher switch.  From there, it goes to the turn signal wires.  So if your turn signals are ( or were) working, the problem has to be in your dash.  Disconnect the connector that connects all wires to the steering column.  It is at the lower section of the column, and is a half moon shaped kind of round connector with about 12 wires to each side.   If you disconnect it, and you still blow the fuse, you have a wire bad to or from the flasher, or a bad flasher.  Have you got a solid state flasher for your emergency flasher?  Those can fail and short to case. 

 

I will bet the reason your turn signals stopped working is because your emergency flasher switch is stuck on.   Verify that is off. If you have the wheel off, that should be easy.

[7TCatvert 24]

Lets go back to the fuse blowing when you turn on the emergency flasher.  The wire from the fuse goes to the flasher unit, the little can by the radio, and to the flasher switch.  From there, it goes to the turn signal wires.  So if your turn signals are ( or were) working, the problem has to be in your dash.  Disconnect the connector that connects all wires to the steering column.  It is at the lower section of the column, and is a half moon shaped kind of round connector with about 12 wires to each side.   If you disconnect it, and you still blow the fuse, you have a wire bad to or from the flasher, or a bad flasher.  Have you got a solid state flasher for your emergency flasher?  Those can fail and short to case. 

 

I will bet the reason your turn signals stopped working is because your emergency flasher switch is stuck on.   Verify that is off. If you have the wheel off, that should be easy.

So yes with the column connector disconnected it still blows. The flasher is new. I also suspect it is in the dash. I also disconnected the gauges and still blows so it's not the gauges.

 

Over Christmas vacation I will remove the dash harness and go over all the wires and track it down.

[Midlife 814]

Disconnect the 4-way flasher can and see if the fuse still blows.  If it does, it is the red/white wire from the fuse box to the flasher connector.  If it doesn't, the problem is the white/red wire from the flasher connector to the half-moon connector.  There are no other wires on those circuits, with the possible exception of the cigarette lighter associated with the red/white wire.

[7TCatvert 24]

It does not blow when the flasher can is removed.

 

Thanks I will track that wire down and see what it looks like....

[Midlife 814]

Then the problem is clearly from the flasher can to the turn signal switch connector or in the turn signal switch itself.