Fuse Tab Broken!

[88mancheman]

Hello Everyone,

  To start off I'm sorry if this a repeat post, I couldn't find anything similar using the search function    and this is my first post so thank you in advance for your time! I've recently purchased a 1988 Jeep Comanche with around 210k on the original AMC motor and around 60k on a new automatic transmission (not sure what kind) after some work to get her running right and pass CA emissions shes back on the road as a daily driver and runs great  but I've ran into one problem, my turn signals don't work    I don't believe that they have ever worked since I've bought the truck either but I never paid much attention to it before I started daily driving it, when ever I turn the running lights or headlights on the left turn signal imminently illuminates on the dash and stays lit till you turn the left blinker on, and does not blink when on, it just stays off and the turn signal below the headlights will stay illuminated dimly, when you turn the right turn signal on nothing shows on the dash and it dimly illuminates the right  blinker as well as slightly lighting up the left one? they do not blink which lead me to believe the relay was bad so i followed Cruiser54's advise from another forum and swapped my hazard relay and blinker relay and nothing....not even hazards... so I swapped them back and the hazards work again but no blinkers.... so messed with the fuse I believe its #4 or #5 I can't remember off the top of my head but it says turn/B on it trying to see if the fuse was loose and bent the tab in the fuse block and broke it off so there is nothing to hold the fuse, for a temp fix I bent the remaining tab over to touch the fuse and bent the fuse to touch the end of the broken brass(if that makes sense) but still no blinkers and now I have a broken tab in my fuse box..... is their any way I can pull out the tabs from one of the unused fuse tabs and install it back into the turn signal fuse? I'm sorry for the long post I'm just at a loss and wiring is the bane of my existence...... P.S my wipers and horn don't work either possibly another symptom of bad fuse or connection?

[jdog]

I would check to see if your bulbs are Working, easiest way is to pull out your headlight switch one click. Once there on see if your front turn signals are lite as well as your taillights. If they are then the issues in the column. If dim lights you either have a bad ground in the rear and/or a bad connector at the front for the front lights. But there could be many things wrong, I would break up the problems and tackle them one by one starting with the lights. The only other thing I might suggest is that I see you've found cruiser, perform his ground refreshing and connector refreshing.

[Eagle]

When the dash turn indicators light up as soon as you turn on the headlights or parking lights, that's a sure sign that you have bad grounds in the front end wiring, and possibly bad parking light sockets, as well. Start by cleaning up the ground connections, then clean up the sockets -- or just replace the sockets. You can find replacement sockets that fit in the HELP! line at the parts chains. I don't have the number, but I believe the ones that fit are for a Ford.

 

I don't know about replacing a broken tab in the fuse panel. My guess is that it would be easier overall just to replace the fuse panel.

[gogmorgo]

I've had burnt-out parking lights cause that, too. 

[88mancheman]

Thank you guys so much for the quick replies!! jdog I replaced the turn signal bulbs about 3 weeks ago hoping the cheap fix would solve my problem since the left turn indicator on the dash is lit up constantly whenever the parking or headlights are on, but it didn't do anything but give me new bulbs  I've also began to believe my problem is in the column as well, are there any connectors on the column or such that I can check before replacing the turn signal switch itself?

jdog & Eagle, I noticed today that the grounds on the block looked pretty dirty so I do believe a good Ground cleaning is due ASAP. I guess I know what I'm doing on my lunch break tomorrow   

gogmorgo, I replaced both the Parking lights/ turn signals? (if I'm wrong please correct me) about 3 weeks ago hoping to fix my problem 

also sorry for the late reply guys I'm new to this forum and I guess my notifications are not showing up 

 

[gogmorgo]

Did you change the bulbs up front or just the back? What bulbs did you use?

 

[cruiser54]

also check out the connector featured below.

 

I suggest unplugging EVERY electrical connection in the engine bay you can find, whether engine related or not, and spraying it out with a good electronics cleaner, visually inspecting the terminals making sure they haven’t retracted into the plastic holder, and then plugging it back together.

There’s a critical 10-pin connector for the front lighting system located in front of the air cleaner and behind the left headlight assembly. Don’t miss that one. Also be sure that the connectors to the ballast resistor mounted near the air cleaner housing are clean and tight.

ALL of the relays should be removed, the terminals wire-brushed until shiny, and the receptacles sprayed out with contact cleaner. Then plug them back in. I do this on every Renix Jeep I purchase or work on for someone else.

 

[Eagle]

15 hours ago, 88mancheman said:

 I've also began to believe my problem is in the column as well, are there any connectors on the column or such that I can check before replacing the turn signal switch itself?

 

 

The switch is the LAST thing I would look at. When the dash tirn indicator glows or lights up at inappropriate times, it's a sign that you have a bad ground path at the lights, and something, somewhere, is seeking a ground by backfeeding the turn indicator circuit. That's not a switch issue, it's a socket or ground issue.

[ParadiseMJ]

On ‎9‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 1:27 AM, Eagle said:

I don't know about replacing a broken tab in the fuse panel. My guess is that it would be easier overall just to replace the fuse panel.

 

I took my fuse box in the cab apart to repair 3 tabs that had been ruined by the hydraulic fluid from the clutch master.  I fixed them and put it back together.  In hindsight I wish I would have just replaced the whole panel from a similarly equipped XJ that I had in my hand at one time.   Since then I have two other tabs starting to disintegrate. Plus my wiper circuit beaker slot is so wallowed out so that the cb just falls out every now and then.  If you take the thing apart, replace the whole thing IMO.

 

If you have to fix something in your 30 year old truck, take the chance to upgrade.  My 2 cents. 

[88mancheman]

Sorry all for the late response again my job has me working unusually long hours lately

gomorgo I changed the bulbs with the auto lite? brand from O'Reilly's It was all they carried for our era of jeeps around here I guess, they appeared to be almost exactly the same as the ones I pulled out, just different branding 

 

cruiser54 I will certainly go grab a bottle of CRC electronic cleaner tomorrow and attempt to spray every connector I see I'll report back tomorrow night with my results 

 

Eagle I will check the grounds when I am cleaning all the connections as suggested by cruiser54, any particular place I should look to find the turn signals grounding points? I will also check all my sockets and bulbs again tomorrow after work when I spray all the connectors down 

 

ParadiseMJ Thank you for the heads up! When time and funds permits I will definitely hunt down a fuse box and replace mine, I guess for now I'm just going to have to deal with it  , you also said your wiper fuse falls out occasionally, which fuse would that be? my wipers currently don't work at all and winter is coming fast, so I think that is next on my list after the turn signal problem 

 

Thank you all for the responses it gives me a sense of hope that I will eventually work out the kinks in this truck    

 

[gogmorgo]

On September 13, 2018 at 10:29 PM, 88mancheman said:

gomorgo I changed the bulbs with the auto lite? brand from O'Reilly's It was all they carried for our era of jeeps around here I guess, they appeared to be almost exactly the same as the ones I pulled out, just different branding 

 

But did you change them with the correct bulbs, or did you just put in new ones like what was already in it?

Some of the turn signal bulbs are dual-filament, and won't work properly if they were swapped out for a single-filament. 

[88mancheman]

Saturday morning I took on the task of disconnecting every connector I could find in the engine bay, the one 2 I didn't touch where for the HID Amps I discovered hiding in the fender area which still had dielectric grease on them but where disconnected at the back side so I reconnected that and now I have sweet blue HID brights, I left the connectors all unplugged for about 8 hours to dry while I worked on cleaning my C101 connector and an oil leek at my distributor, plugged everything back in fired it up and checked my blinkers still nothing my emergency lights work fine if that matters at all, and if I turn on my parking lights my left indicator still lights up solid and the right doesn't show anything and my wipers still don't work

 

gogmorgo I had the parts guy look up what kind it was but I'm not 100% sure if its single or dual filament I'm gonna take a look in a bit when I get back from washing the ole girl

[HOrnbrod]

Swap the turn signal and hazard flashers at the fuse panel and see if your lighting symptoms change.

[gogmorgo]

I'd take a careful look at how those HIDs are wired in. They were probably unplugged for a reason. Plus, depending on who did it, they could have hacked into the wrong thing, or otherwise screwed something up. 

The parts guy's info is probably correct, so long as he was looking up make/model and not going off the bulbs that came in there. 

[88mancheman]

H0rdbrod I tried swapping the relays on my lunch break today and got no emergency flashers or turn signals, this kinda confused me so I swapped them back and by emergency lights wouldn't flash for about 5 seconds and then began to act as normal again, I pulled them again and sanded the contacts with some 220 sand paper and reinstalled them but still no blinkers, could this mean the relay is faulty?

 

gogmorgo thank you for sticking with me on this   Ill take a better look at how the HID's where installed tomorrow when I get a chance, as far as I know they are only wired on the headlight brights but I'll double check that, and yeah I'm pretty sure they are dual filament bulbs I had them lookup the make and model and I checked them today they look like they have 2 filament heads, I'll grab another set of some manufacture ones specific for the MJ this week and try those maybe that will help or at least be OEM so I can eliminate the bulbs all together.

[gogmorgo]

I'm going to say don't bother buying new bulbs until you've got the clear issue with the flasher relay sorted. Also you should just be able to compare the ones you got already against the list I posted above. Light bulbs are lightbulbs... Sure the quality may differ between manufacturers, but if replacing them all once didn't solve the problem, I have a hard time seeing replacing them a second time accomplishing anything. 

You can check to see if there's power at the sockets with a voltmeter or test light. Make sure your fuse box is working properly, too, before you start adding a second round of new parts. 

[88mancheman]

could the flasher relay stop the actual lights from coming on or is that a ground issue still? I will grab a relay this weekend after I get paid and report back again