I am a nitwit (turn signal / parking light / dim headlight issue solved)

Cheesy

TJ Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 1, 2019
Messages
690
Location
NE IL
So, I have been dealing with an annoying turn signal/parking light/dim headlight for the past few weeks. I travel for work so I only have weekends, if I don’t have other plans. All symptoms pointed to a bad ground but they checked out good. Tried a new aftermarket MFS and flasher. Worked for a week. Perused the forum and learned that an aftermarket MFS was a crapshoot and that the OEM switch was repairable. Could not find the old MFS, figured I trashed it. Bit the bullet and sprung for an OEM MFS and flasher to the tune of $250.

Got around to replacing the MFS and flasher this cold and windy morning. No change. Arrghh! So, I go back to checking my grounds. Now I do not have a good ground. WTF? I run a jumper from the right parking light ground terminal to the lights chassis ground and, bingo, everything works. Crap. A lot of money just went out the window. Now I am unwrapping harnesses, hunting for a broken wire. Still not finding it. This is going on for almost two hours. It’s cold, it’s windy, and my nose is running. I follow the two right side light ground wires back to the body terminal and decide, what the heck, just unbolt it again. This time, both ground wires easily break free of the terminal. Found it. I cut a good 3/4” from each wire before I found clean copper. Crimped, soldered, and heat shrunk on a new terminal, then coated that with some dielectric grease. Good. To. Go.

Clean up my mess and I box up the aftermarket MFS and flasher for back up. Just in case. I bring the box into the garage and place it on a shelf. Right next to the old MFS I couldn’t find last week. Double arrrgghhh!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jerry Bransford
Yeah, CRS can be a bitch. Now wipe off the snot and get that warm adult beverage you’ve earned. You’ll want to drink the cheap stuff because you spent all that money on the MFS. 🤣

Electrical issues drive me nuts. I feel your pain.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Cheesy
It's after Labor Day so most of my partaking in adult beverages has been curtailed except for special occasions and sinus infections. Nose was running, so no sinus infection. I did settle for some hot tea, though.
I'm in my 60s, so CRS comes with the territory. Along with ear hair.

Electrical problems have been my bane this year, though my first one with the LJ. I'm usually trying to find them in stuff like this. Although after someone else has already been rooting around where they shouldn't.
7143145283_02b111b57b_z.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: mushdogs
I feel your pain. I've spent months chasing electrical issues and always hate when they pop up. I'm not the best with electrical stuff, so I always dread it.

Of course this goes to show that Ockham's Razor usually always prevails!