New Painless Install - Blinker / Flasher Gremlins

[davisjstone]

Needs some help here guys. New painless harness installed and I've got a some gremlins. Long post, but I figured the more detail the better. I have new LED bulbs all around with the exception of the headlights. I have installed new LED flashers to account for the low draw of the LED's.

What works:

• Dash lights work.
• Headlights/running lights work, although it seems as though one running light is brighter than the other.
• Flashers work (new switch) - Initially the flashers did not work, but I reversed the polarity on LED flashers and then it worked.

Function Check/Issues:

• Left blinker:
  • Left turn bulb illuminates on cluster
  • Front left turn signal blinks
  • but BOTH rear lights blink
• Right blinker:
  • BOTH cluster bulbs illuminate (right and left - like I turned on flashers)
  • BOTH Front turn signals blink
  • Rear right turn signal blinks

Note: License plate light wiring is not plugged in as I need to fish the wire through tailgate still. Front side marker bulbs and wiring pigtail not installed.

My Grounds:

• Battery to Engine Block: (-) batt cable to bolt on block (near the starter).
• Engine Block to Frame: 4ga cable from bolt on lower pass side of block to frame.
• Frame to Body: Using same frame location to passenger fender.
• Engine Block to Body: Bolt on front of block to Fender
• Engine Block (intake) to Firewall.
• Body (starter relay bolt) to core support
• Painless harness is grounded to dash per instructions

My plan:

• Add a ground from firewall to dash (using the backside of bolt used for intake to firewall ground
• Add a direct ground from battery to body?
• ?

I've been reading up on grounds, but also see some posts about inadvertently creating a ground loop which can cause issues?

Does this sound like a grounding issue? Help!

 

[DirtDonk]

First off, fix the one bad front turn signal lamp socket.
You mentioned one of the running lights being bright. It’s extremely common, as in almost ubiquitous, that at least one brand of replacement turn signal housing, perhaps more than one brand, are wired backwards.
Sounds like you got at least one of them.

Verify that both front lights are working correctly. It’s possible that the dim one is working on the regular bulb filament, or it could actually be dim from a lack of proper grounding, or a lack of power getting to it.
Since you said you had a ground to the core support, the ground probably is less likely an issue as the bright one being wired incorrectly.
When you turn the turn signal on that side, is it dimmer than the running lamp?

 

[jrussells]

Sounds to me like the turn signal switch connector is pinned out wrong under the dash and you have turn signal wiring sending current through the flasher wiring.

When I installed my painless I had to rewire the connector 3 times before I got it right

 

[davisjstone]

Sounds to me like the turn signal switch connector is pinned out wrong under the dash and you have turn signal wiring sending current through the flasher wiring.

When I installed my painless I had to rewire the connector 3 times before I got it right

That’s what I thought too.

Im using a WH GM column so I had to wire the painless pigtail. checked it over and didn’t see any issues. I’ll circle back and look again with fresh eyes.

 

[jrussells]

I had to dig down to the turn signal switch to verify the actual wire colors that were hooked to what inside the column.

If I remember right none of my colors actually ended up matching

 

[73azbronco]

Grounding issue with different brightness. I ran ground wire from each corner of truck back to common ground point by battery

 

[davisjstone]

First off, fix the one bad front turn signal lamp socket.
You mentioned one of the running lights being bright. It’s extremely common, as in almost ubiquitous, that at least one brand of replacement turn signal housing, perhaps more than one brand, are wired backwards.
Sounds like you got at least one of them.

Verify that both front lights are working correctly. It’s possible that the dim one is working on the regular bulb filament, or it could actually be dim from a lack of proper grounding, or a lack of power getting to it.
Since you said you had a ground to the core support, the ground probably is less likely an issue as the bright one being wired incorrectly.
When you turn the turn signal on that side, is it dimmer than the running lamp?

I’ll do some testing to see exactly under what conditions it’s dim. The turn signal housings aren’t new. Just the LED bulbs.

Are you suggesting the painless harness/plug may be wired backwards or have you only seen new housings wired backwards?

 

[DirtDonk]

Well, anything could happen. Even at Painless.
But it’s usually the new housings. Since you don’t have a new housing, then either it’s an LED bulb causing you trouble, a lack of a ground at some point, or the Painless harness is backwards.
But this is why you test. You don’t know until you know.

 

[Oldtimer]

If you have incandescent bulbs, I would install them, and figure out wire/switch issues, then tackle the led bulb conversion.

 

[DirtDonk]

What Oldtimer said.

 

[davisjstone]

If you have incandescent bulbs, I would install them, and figure out wire/switch issues, then tackle the led bulb conversion.

Good idea. I’ll go back to the normal bulbs and see what I find.

 

[Torkman66]

Not sure if this would help your issue but last month when I installed Painless I found their pre-wired light switch wires were installed in the wrong slots. Once I fixed them, things worked as exspected

 

[DirtDonk]

Did you detail that in your thread?
Wouldn’t mind passing that along to Painless if you haven’t already.

 

[davisjstone]

Not sure if this would help your issue but last month when I installed Painless I found their pre-wired light switch wires were installed in the wrong slots. Once I fixed them, things worked as exspected

Good call. That was your headlight switch right? I actually saw your post about that and checked mine, they look to be correct.