Need help with Automotive Problem

I need some help, I have a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee and I am having a problem with the left turn signal. It works intermittently, usually when I am trying to turn left on a busy road, it doesn’t work, but when there is no traffic it works fine I haul a 4 year old and a 1 year old to daycare and back, and don’t want to get rear ended. I talked to a mechanic and he figured it was the turn signal switch, so last night I bought a new one from a Dodge dealer and installed it. Problem solved, worked just fine last night, drove around with it for a while and kept working. Well this morning I left the house and no left turn signal again and of course when I get to the busy intersection it still is not working. Dropped the kids off, got back out on the road and is working just fine. I can’t get it to not work now. Does anyone have any ideas what the problem could be and I don’t need to hear buy a chevy or a ford

Move to a place where you only need to make right turns with the kids in the car.

Dang, the Nextel Cup is out now DaveB

It sounds to me like you have a bad connection, circuit, or ground somewhere at one of your left side lights.

Is your jeep equipped with trailer lights? If it is, that might be your probem. I believe that model still requires a booster box/converter for trailer lights. If one of the connections are loose, or the box is malfunctioning, it can give you problems like this. Make sure your connections are good everywhere and there are no broken/pinched wires. That converter cost from $70-$90.

good luck.

I did have problems with the converter last year, it started on fire It took me 2 different converters after that to find one that worked properly. I thought that the converter makes it’s connection after the tail lights, I will test the converter to see if it is going bad.

Does the blinker stay lit on the dash?

No, there is nothing, no dash light, and bulbs on front & rear of vehicle do not work, just like there is no power there at all.

Low blinker fluid

Glad to help out

Some have a 1″x1″plastic box on a fuse pannel called a blinker relay that makes the blinker blink.Thats my 2 cents.
Glassman

The fire adds a bit of potential problems to the pot here.

When the box fried, its probable some wires shorted out and caused damage somewhere in the system. If a hot wire hit a ground causing a direct short, that ground wire probably had a melt down or overheated. It might have had some connection fr awhile after the fire, and is losing connection/contact now. If that circuit is not grounded, I dont care if you hit the wire with a bolt of lightning, its not going to light the bulb.

Start in the area of that booster box and make sure any ground is connected, has good wire, and contact on the metal surface. The symptoms you are describing does sound like a weak ground connection.. sometimes it makes connection and everything works fine, other times you have nothing/no ground connection.

A poor ground connection can cause a fire (your previous converter) with a bad connection. If the contact is poor and intermittant, constant power surges can cause heat to build up in electronics, or at the source of the connection. If you locate this problem, you may locate the cause of your past fire.

I had a bad ground connection at the battery in a vehical which managed to completely melt off the negative terminal.. 12V gets hot!

SHORT IN WIRING. BLEW YOUR FUSE.

If the fuse was blown why does it work intermittently, and wouldn’t the right side not work either? I know I had a short in my trailer wiring last year around April or May, it must have caused my original converter to go bad. I purchased a new coverter (different brand than what I had) and after one week it caught on fire. I took it back and got a new coverter, it too was bad, got the third and it worked. I rewired my entire trailer and I know that there are no more issues with that – haven’t pulled the boat or any other trailer in 3 months now and this problem has only been around for about 1 month.

Also, when the left turn signal is not working, I can still turn my hazards on and they work fine, it’s only when I use my turn signal and then it is only intermittent.

Dave you have given me a great place to start – Thank You! I have disconnected the trailer light converter and I am going to see what affect, if any, this has on my left turn signal. I e-mailed the manufacture of the converter to see if this has ever happened before with other vehicles, haven’t heard anything back from them yet. Hopefully this problem stops at the converter and I don’t have to trace the wiring through the rest of my vehicle.

Red-Green would just ductape a spotlight on the left side of the hood. Then plug and unplug the cigarrete power adapter to make it flash.

Sorry.

I agree with David Scott.
It sounds like a bare wire shorting out intermittantly.
Good luck wiring problems can run you in circles at times.

Clint

Quote:

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Red-Green would just ductape a spotlight on the left side of the hood.

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Red Green is an automotive genius, but I don’t think that he will be able to help me out with this problem

OK, yesterday I disconnected the converter, got in this morning and nothing for left turn signal But I did discover something new. If I put the turn signal in the left turn position and turn my 4-ways on and then off, the left turn signal starts working again. And for the first time when the signal was on it quit working while the lever was in the on position. So I would just turn the flashers on and off and it would start working again. I ordered a new flasher-relay at the local auto parts place in hopes that it might be the relay.

Listen to the flasher clicking when your signal and your four-ways are on. Most vehicles have seperate flashers for signals and four-ways.

I can’t remember is the signal switch a multifunction switch with the four-way button included. You may have gotten a bad switch it happens now and then.

Clint

I believe that the one in my Jeep is one unit, it’s has a 9-pin terminal that cost around $40. I have the electrical diagram printed out and it shows that there is only one flasher that controls the turn signals and 4-ways.

*Update* I filled the blinker fluid back up like Nick had mentioned and installed a new 9-pin flasher, I have had no problems with the left turn signal not working now, the converter for the trailer lights is still unplugged. I did get an e-mail back from the trailer light converter company and they said that they will replace the converter free-of-charge. So hopefully the flasher relay was the problem.