Weird turn signal light issue only when lights are on

[Subw00er]

2006 TJ 4cyl - I had an issue with my turn signals today.. the right side was blinking 2x speed, but still illuminated front, side and rear - just faster and dimmer. I checked all of the bulbs and all seem fine. So, I replaced the turn signal module on the steering column with an autozone part. The turn signals blink normally now, but now when I turn my lights on - either in parking light or lights on setting, the dash shows me a solid right blinker icon, and if I use the blinkers, I can see it slightly getting brighter. An ODB scan shows "Malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) status On.

Anyone have an idea on what to check?! Its a weird one!

 

[NskLJ]

2006 TJ 4cyl - I had an issue with my turn signals today.. the right side was blinking 2x speed, but still illuminated front, side and rear - just faster and dimmer. I checked all of the bulbs and all seem fine. So, I replaced the turn signal module on the steering column with an autozone part. The turn signals blink normally now, but now when I turn my lights on - either in parking light or lights on setting, the dash shows me a solid right blinker icon, and if I use the blinkers, I can see it slightly getting brighter. An ODB scan shows "Malfunction indicator lamp (MIL) status On.

Anyone have an idea on what to check?! Its a weird one!

Check the bulbs and the grounds. You may have a rear bulb that the filaments are touching each other or a bad ground circuit.

 

[Subw00er]

I checked all bulbs front and rear.. all dual filaments intact and supported, and the lights all do illuminate.

 

[Zorba]

Its a grounding problem.

 

[TJ Jim]

The front side markers also flash with the turn signals. Did you observe those alternating with the turn signals?

 

[Subw00er]

The front side markers also flash with the turn signals. Did you observe those alternating with the turn signals?

yes they all light together.

 

[Subw00er]

I was just sitting here thinking about grounds.. when I was driving, the hair on my arm was attracted to the door and standing on end - static electricity. Could this be related to grounds and why would I be in the loop? ?

 

[macleanflood]

Could this be related to grounds and why would I be in the loop? ?

No. Your theory isn't grounded in reality. Sorry, had to throw the pun in.

Keep chasing grounds. You have one on the driver's kick panel, two under each speaker cover, the battery terminal itself, the firewall ground between the battery and valve cover and two next to each headlight. Might as well check the engine ground too down near the oil filter.

-Mac

 

[Subw00er]

No. Your theory isn't grounded in reality. Sorry, had to throw the pun in.
-Mac

Mac, hilariously it WAS a ground issue, but a different one.. the 8ga ground on my amp was about to fall out, so it must have been trying to find other pathways, or micro shorting or something. The ground for the amp is.... connected to my seat bolt.

Mac at al, you were right!! It was the ground on the pass side near the headlight that had two wires going to it. It was corroded right at the connector. I tested the black wire at the indicator and it had no connection to ground, and the other two terminals (supposedly + terminals), had some resistance to ground (showed some ohms). Anyway, I stripped back a bit into clean wire, and re-terminated it. I also took off the other side headlight ground and dremel'ed the paint away, and rust from the screw and the ring terminal..

Stuff I tried:
I replaced a bunch of bulbs, but I'm sure I didn't need to do that now, even though they looked dark inside. I'm not sure if my blinker relay was bad or not, but the new one from Autozone seems ok and it supports leds, so I threw some bright backup lights in I had lying around. I also replaced the sockets for the front indicators, but I don't think they were bad either in retrospect. I used dielectric grease on all.

Hope that helps someone in the future, thanks for the leads guys.