Strange Turn Signal Issues! Help?

6642 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by VStar650CL, Mar 26, 2022

noranola

Discussion Starter · Dec 13, 2020

Recently my left side signal stopped blinking, but still illuminated. Then it stopped working entirely. Both rear signals were and front signals working fine. Then, both front signals also stopped completely, not illuminating or anything. All of the bulbs are fine. The turn signal fuse is fine. I saw that the housing around one of the front signals looked kind of dumpy, so took that apart and cleaned it. So now: both front signals work again. And now BOTH side signals illuminate but do not blink! There is only one flasher relay, so if that was bad none of them would be working right? Kind of stumped. The vehicle is a 1996 Nissan Hardbody 2WD

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jp2code

· #2 · Dec 13, 2020

It looks like power comes from the LIGHTING SWITCH at the top middle of the image below and from that right-most fuse on the bottom row.

If you don't have any special wiring (aftermarket fog lights or LED lighbar), I would suspect that the little lighting switch went out. It plugs into the steering column.

Just be careful when you take the steering column cover apart. Those metal screws thread into 25+ year-old molded plastic that has gotten brittle. I've busted those molded plastic pieces before trying to get the little screws tight. Those covers used to be about $120 to replace when Nissan sold them, but they don't even carry them anymore.

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noranola

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 13, 2020

OK thank you, I’ll check that next time I have time to mess with it. At least I have most of the signals working now. Man I hate messing with the plastics it never goes back together right ha

jp2code said:
It looks like power comes from the LIGHTING SWITCH at the top middle of the image below and from that right-most fuse on the bottom row.

If you don't have any special wiring (aftermarket fog lights or LED lighbar), I would suspect that the little lighting switch went out. It plugs into the steering column.

Just be careful when you take the steering column cover apart. Those metal screws thread into 25+ year-old molded plastic that has gotten brittle. I've busted those molded plastic pieces before trying to get the little screws tight. Those covers used to be about $120 to replace when Nissan sold them, but they don't even carry them anymore.
View attachment 6965

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VStar650CL

· #4 · Dec 13, 2020

The WD's in Identifix show the front and rear marker lamps and front clearance lamps all being single-filament bulbs that only work with the parking lamps, they don't appear to be connected to the turn signals in any way. Are you sure they ever blinked?

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rogoman

· #5 · Dec 13, 2020

noranola said:
Recently my left side signal stopped blinking, but still illuminated. Then it stopped working entirely. Both rear signals were and front signals working fine. Then, both front signals also stopped completely, not illuminating or anything. All of the bulbs are fine. The turn signal fuse is fine. I saw that the housing around one of the front signals looked kind of dumpy, so took that apart and cleaned it. So now: both front signals work again. And now BOTH side signals illuminate but do not blink! There is only one flasher relay, so if that was bad none of them would be working right? Kind of stumped. The vehicle is a 1996 Nissan Hardbody 2WD

There are two fuses; make sure they are OK.
Turn on the hazard switch! Are all the front/rear lights and the dash lights flashing. If not, then the flasher unit most likely is bad; another possibility is a bad hazard switch. If all the front, rear lights and the dash lights are flashing, then the only things that could be bad is the turn signal switch or the hazard switch. Inspect the harness connectors for the flasher, hazard switch, and the turn signal switch. Here's some diagrams:

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noranola

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 14, 2020

VStar650CL said:
The WD's in Identifix show the front and rear marker lamps and front clearance lamps all being single-filament bulbs that only work with the parking lamps, they don't appear to be connected to the turn signals in any way. Are you sure they ever blinked?

yes, definitely. Before I got the front ones working, it was just the right side one that was working.

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noranola

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 14, 2020

rogoman said:
There are two fuses; make sure they are OK.
Turn on the hazard switch! Are all the front/rear lights and the dash lights flashing. If not, then the flasher unit most likely is bad; another possibility is a bad hazard switch. If all the front, rear lights and the dash lights are flashing, then the only things that could be bad is the turn signal switch or the hazard switch. Inspect the harness connectors for the flasher, hazard switch, and the turn signal switch. Here's some diagrams:

View attachment 6969

View attachment 6970

Great, thank you! I will investigate.

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noranola

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 14, 2020

rogoman said:
There are two fuses; make sure they are OK.
Turn on the hazard switch! Are all the front/rear lights and the dash lights flashing. If not, then the flasher unit most likely is bad; another possibility is a bad hazard switch. If all the front, rear lights and the dash lights are flashing, then the only things that could be bad is the turn signal switch or the hazard switch. Inspect the harness connectors for the flasher, hazard switch, and the turn signal switch. Here's some diagrams:

View attachment 6969

View attachment 6970

Where is the second fuse? I only saw the one in the fuse box in the cab of the truck

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VStar650CL

· #9 · Dec 14, 2020

Someone must have done some custom wiring, then. Notice that Rogo's factory diagram shows the same thing, one set of front bulbs. You'll have to sort out what was done to the vehicle, whether someone wired the markers to turns instead of the parks, or used relays to combine the two.

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rogoman

· #10 · Dec 14, 2020

noranola said:
Where is the second fuse? I only saw the one in the fuse box in the cab of the truck

The reason there should be two fuses according to the FSM wiring diagram is if the ignition key is removed, then in order for the hazards to operate, there must be another fused electrical pathway.

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Breaking Bill

· #11 · Mar 26, 2022

VStar650CL said:
The WD's in Identifix show the front and rear marker lamps and front clearance lamps all being single-filament bulbs that only work with the parking lamps, they don't appear to be connected to the turn signals in any way. Are you sure they ever blinked?

Great tip at the end! I was trying to diagnose why my marker light didn't blink, DUH! I was ready to start digging deep to figure it out. After reading this, I realized the turn signal was in the front bumper. Problem solved, thank you! I am new to this 97 D21.

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VStar650CL

· #12 · Mar 26, 2022

Glad you got it straightened out. Happy motoring!

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