Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

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CHUG
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Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by CHUG »

I need some help diagnosing the problem with my turn signal and dash board instruments. I've been trying to figure out why my turns signals work and I'm pretty most of the instruments are not working. I tore the car apart in 1978 and I'm now putting it back together. It's been inside in condition space so things are pretty clean. The dash board was never removed and wiring looks very good. The headlights, park lights, break lights and horn works. The ammeter responds when you turn the ignition key to on. All of the fuse are new and test fine. I've cleaned the contacts on and in the fuse box. Since it's been so long since the car was together I'm not sure about a few of the operational aspects. Does the ignition switch need to be in the on position in order for the turn signals to work? Are there emergency flashers on the 66? If so, where do you turn them on? I've studied the schematic and see the part labeled "flasher" which I assume is a relay. Where is this located in the car? I feel like this is a dash board ground issue, but I can't figure out where it is grounded. Any help is greatly appreciated.
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by C.Costine »

Chug, do you have a wiring schematic? If not you can go to the Tech wiki and open and print one. My 67 has no flashers only the flasher that works with the directionals. the can itself is at the far left of the dash. Your dash is grounded through the dash metal. A component to suspect here is the gauge voltage regulator which should be just behind the lower edge of the dash on the right of the steering wheel. It may also be attached to the steering column support. Try entering a search of the archives to see how it works and symptoms of problems with it.
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CHUG
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by CHUG »

C.Costine, thanks for the quick response. I have a wiring diagram. In fact I blew it up to 3' x 5' poster size and have it mounted in the shop. That's been a life saver. :-) I'll see if I can locate the flasher and the voltage regulator. Thanks for the input.
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by notoptoy »

The flashers should work only with the key in the ON position. No emergency flashers prior to 67.5 I believe.
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by ACote »

Just double checking the easy question. Is the dash bolted to the car? I had similar concerns when replacing my later dash, no turn signals or gauge lights. The ground is the dash bolted to the car. Both worked after everything was together. Some people add a ground wire for extra grounding to the gauges.
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by Lorna c »

check your fuse panel in glove box . mine was all messed up . make sure correct each wire is going correctly to which wire connecting it to fuse . And there's some that connects to others on the fuse panel via a connecting bar in back of panel . connecting it to the wire below or above it . not all do this so I'm assuming the right ones need to be doing that also . fixed all my issues . also todays fuses dont always look burnt so use a multi meter to check continuity making sure they're live .. hope it helps ..good luck .
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by spl310 »

The 66 fuseboxes are in the engine compartment and have a whopping 4 fuses.
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by Curtis »

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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by Curtis »

Curtis wrote: Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:39 pm Perhaps this will help.

http://www.kendo-usa.org/datsun/datsun_ ... 66_675.pdf
I just updated this drawing, it had an error on the light switch and I added a couple things.
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Lorna c
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by Lorna c »

spl310 wrote: Mon Feb 04, 2019 10:06 pm The 66 fuseboxes are in the engine compartment and have a whopping 4 fuses.
lol well don't assume it's ok because there's only 4 . haha just saying . if u didn't check the order , I would . and test . u used a test light on the battery to see if there's a cross somewhere? do u know that trick ? where you pull all 4 of your fuses one by one seeing if the test light goes out , and when it does it narrows down your "to look at " wires to those at that fuse ..? kinda thing .. have you done that one yet ?
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by spl310 »

My point wasn't that they would be OK, only that you were directing the OP to the glove box, where (unless modified) there would not be a fuse box.
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by Lorna c »

spl310 wrote: Wed Feb 06, 2019 1:37 pm My point wasn't that they would be OK, only that you were directing the OP to the glove box, where (unless modified) there would not be a fuse box.
got ya
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by CHUG »

Well, I made progress. The turn signals now work! Because of business travel it took me a couple of weeks to get back to this project. In the process of tracing the wiring under the dash I unplugged the flasher can for 3rd time and accidentally dropped it. After plugging the wires back into it it started working. I'm assuming the flasher is not much more than a relay so either it was stock or in the process of reconnecting the wires it made better contact. However, it doesn't appear the gauges are working. So I'm going to focus on that next. I'm confused by a couple things. The schematic shows the voltage regulator connected to fuse box position "F" using a yellow wire. There are only two wires and neither is yellow. Is there an alternative wiring for an early 66 1600? Is there a simple test with a multi meter to confirm that the regulator is working?

BTW, thank you everyone for your help on this. It's all been helpful.
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Re: Turn Signal and Dash lights not working on my 66

Post by Curtis »

The yellow GVR power wire is spliced on to the heater power wire in the dash harness. You could turn the car on and hook a voltmeter to the GVR at the yellow/green wire and see if you have about 8 volts coming out of it. 12 volts in, 8 volts out.

http://www.kendo-usa.org/datsun/66_67_d ... rcuits.pdf
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