Blinker lights not right

[lilbobcat]

My first project on my new 1963 Shasta Astrodome was to tackle the lights. I had brake lights but no running lights. After jacking with them for about an hour with no luck, I found a past blog enrty from Red Dirt about connecting old wiring to new wiring. THANK YOU! ;D Finally success, except for the blinkers. When I turn on the right blinker the right side works, but the left side also lights up dimly as well and visa versa. I dug into some old posts and found mention of ground wires to trailer frames, but not really sure where or what to look for or if this is even what is causing the problem. Any ideas as to where to go from here? Thanks.

[61 Shasta]

You are on the right track. The dim lights and multiple lights coming on dimly indicate a ground problem. Generally on these older units, there is not a separate ground wire from each light back to the vehicle so they use the aluminum skin as that path. Try running a jumper wire directly from your vehicle to your trailer skin. That is the quickest way to see if the problem is a break in the continuous ground. If it is, connect a ground wire from the skin of the trailer to the trailer frame, then make sure your vehicle ground also connects to the trailer frame when hooked up. Also, inside the lights themselves, make sure that the grounded side of the bulb socket is not corroded so bad it cannot make contact with the skin. If I can be of further assistance, PM me and I can try to walk you through the process.

[cowcharge]

Maybe they did this as a remedy for the skin grounds, but my '76 uses common ground wires for the marker lights and taillights that goes directly to the frame. Easy to put in if your paneling's off...

[61 Shasta]

OK, lilbobcat, glad we could help you out. The PM process worked great. I'll post something on that other little light bulb later. I was going to take a look at the wiring diagram today but didn't have time. I think it is simply another bulb in the marker light circuit to enhance the tail lights but I will let you know. I posted this here to let others know we had solved the problem. So many of these posts end without a resolution and didn't want to let that happen.

[61 Shasta]

Cowcharge, I agree, if your skin or paneling is off, it is very simple to install a dedicated ground wire but if you don't have access, it is almost impossible. When I rewired by compact, I ran a dedicated ground wire also.