Oh Hell...wiring again!

[ivoryjohn]

Just a maybe but has anyone have enough knowledge of the LED tail lights with turn signals to diagnose why the signals work, flash and the brake light works but the tail lights won't work at all whether on low or high beam? I am running an alternator, 6-volt, positive ground.

Just to make it interesting I intend to brow beat and finagle my guru into hooking trailer lights into this mix of noodles this coming Saturday. I have the turn signal set up from Snyder's, am using the cowl lights as signals and everything was working great....now it doesn't...something got bumped I guess.

I am still burning regular bulbs on the trailer and would like them to work as turn signals. Am I being to cruel to my guru?

[[email protected]]

First put a meter or a test light in the tail light sockets to check to see how much voltage, if any, is getting to these lights with the light switch on. Most likely it is a bad ground connection for the tail lights as they sit on the rear fenders. You could possibly add an auxillary ground wire to the tail lights if necessary.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Reply No. 2 above is Right-On:

1. When tail lights do not work, 95% of problems are usually linked to insufficient grounding.

2. When trailer lights do not work, 95% of problems are usually linked to insufficient grounding.

3. Why?

4. Well, always first try running a well grounded separate ground wire for testing tail lights & trailer lights & find out for yourself.

5. It is known as Experience.

[newshirt]

John,
You'll have best luck by pulling out your wiring diagram and probing with an analog multimeter. Place one lead on ground and the other on the various connection points leading to each bulb or LED. The video below describes how. If a bulb or LED doesn't light, you must trace the power from the battery to the (presumably) broken connection, and then fix it. Finding that broken connection can be hard, but systematically following the wiring diagram all the way from battery to bulb is the best diagnostic approach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lPN2LGPhVM

[Marco Tahtaras]

I'm not at all familiar with these conversions so I have to ask one question. Is it possible to connect the light assembly backwards? LED lights require correct polarity to illuminate.

[H. L. Chauvin]

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LED LOGO LIGHTS --- Limitations for Trailers:

Might add that just in case one has a pair of LED LOGO LIGHTS for turn signals on front & rear bumpers, (total of 4 signal lights), according to the LOGO manufacturer, if one wants to provide LED LOGO LIGHTS ton one's trailer, one would have to remove the pair of rear LOGO turn signal lights from one's rear bumper(s) & relocated them to the rear of the trailer.

In other words, the LOGO control unit inside the vehicle is designed & configured to only operate four (4) signal lights & not six (6) signal lights.

This configuration of having trailer signal lights with no rear vehicle signal lights may or may not pose a problem with individual State Laws concerning requirements for vintage Model A signal lights.

[jjcom]

I'm not familiar with that setup, but thinking about it, it doesn't seem like the tail lights and the turn signals should be on the same circuit. I'm guessing that all the lights use the same ground in the back, so I'm going guess it's not a ground issue. My first thought would be to check for power right off the light switch at the bottom of the column. Perhaps one of the contacts is dirty or burnt from a short.

[ivoryjohn]

Originally Posted by H. L. Chauvin

LED LOGO LIGHTS --- Limitations for Trailers:

Might add that just in case one has a pair of LED LOGO LIGHTS for turn signals on front & rear bumpers, (total of 4 signal lights), according to the LOGO manufacturer, if one wants to provide LED LOGO LIGHTS ton one's trailer, one would have to remove the pair of rear LOGO turn signal lights from one's rear bumper(s) & relocated them to the rear of the trailer.

In other words, the LOGO control unit inside the vehicle is designed & configured to only operate four (4) signal lights & not six (6) signal lights.

This configuration of having trailer signal lights with no rear vehicle signal lights may or may not pose a problem with individual State Laws concerning requirements for vintage Model A signal lights.

It is my intention to use the LEDs on the car and the original bulb type lights on the trailer. I have the LEDs that fit inside the original teacups and plug into the original bulb sockets. I do not have extra lights that are the turn signals, just the cowls and the original tail lights with one added to the passenger side. I assume logo is a brand name.

[H. L. Chauvin]

Yes -- LOGO is a brand of LED turn signals where the turn signal lights are mounted in the space between the top & bottom chromed bumper bars.

The rectangular metal control panel has a magnet to attach it to the fuel tank, partially behind the dash rail.

The control panel has a right & left green illuminated button to press for activating the left & right turn signal -- if both buttons are pressed simulataneously, the Hazard Flasher is activated wherby all four (4) LED lights blink on & off, using very little battery power.

[Phred]

As per post #6 above, I was told the same thing by Logo Lites.

However, I did hook up an extra set of Logo Lites signals on trailer and all six lites worked (4 on the car and 2 on the trailer). My car is twelve volts though, perhaps the six volt version does not work?

Just my experience.