Not working?

[yfzquadguy]

Well i have been helping a friend work on her 71 opel gt and we are restoring it. We were putting the lights all back in the car and checking to make sure they were working and everything was goin well, but then the right side went out. Nothing on the right side will even come on now and i cant figure out why. If anybody has some suggestions i would be more that happy to here them.

[Anonymous D]

First place to check, is the fuse for that circuit.

[yfzquadguy]

I have checked the fuses and they all seem to be in good shape, any other ideas?

[oldopelguy]

You might also check the turn signal switch if you're doing your testing with the ignition switch off. The parking lights route through the turn signal switch so one side or the other can be lit while the car is parked on the street for short periods of time. With the switch in the "off" or center position the lights should all work fine, I don't remember how it works with the ignition off and the switch clicked over to one side or the other and the light switch on, it's not a common configuration.

Opels are also semi-notorious for bad grounds, I like to use a battery terminal brush to clean out the sockets and coat them with a thin coat of dielectric grease before I put in new bulbs. Seems to make them last a lot longer in-between ground issues, like years instead of months.

[yellaopelgt]

Did you check the fuse or did you REPLACE the fuse. A old fuse can look OK, when in reality, it has the most minute flaw= junk.
I would recommend replacing ALL of them anyway...they are over 35 yrs old. Go back and make sure all your grounds are good as well ,90% of electrical issues are in the grounds.
HTH
Joe

[yellaopelgt]

Originally Posted by oldopelguy You might also check the turn signal switch if you're doing your testing with the ignition switch off. The parking lights route through the turn signal switch so one side or the other can be lit while the car is parked on the street for short periods of time. With the switch in the "off" or center position the lights should all work fine, I don't remember how it works with the ignition off and the switch clicked over to one side or the other and the light switch on, it's not a common configuration. Opels are also semi-notorious for bad grounds, I like to use a battery terminal brush to clean out the sockets and coat them with a thin coat of dielectric grease before I put in new bulbs. Seems to make them last a lot longer in-between ground issues, like years instead of months.

The GT's have that goofy option to work the directionals even when the key is off/out. Somthing about the Europeon roads being narrow and having the lights on ????Anyway, the directional "should" stay on(not blink but stay on steadywhen the lever is up/down.
Joe

[oldopelguy]

Originally Posted by yellaopelgt The GT's have that goofy option to work the directionals even when the key is off/out. Somthing about the Europeon roads being narrow and having the lights on ????Anyway, the directional "should" stay on(not blink but stay on steadywhen the lever is up/down. Joe

Except they aren't keeping the signal lights on, they are keeping the parking lights on. You won't see the amber lights on the back and turn signals below the bumper on the front staying on solid you will see the red parking light on in back and the banana light in front. Pretty much all of the lights on a GT, except the brake lights and the headlights, route through the turn signal switch.

[yellaopelgt]

Originally Posted by oldopelguy Except they aren't keeping the signal lights on, they are keeping the parking lights on. You won't see the amber lights on the back and turn signals below the bumper on the front staying on solid you will see the red parking light on in back and the banana light in front. Pretty much all of the lights on a GT, except the brake lights and the headlights, route through the turn signal switch.

You are correct sir....my bad.

[namba209]

Originally Posted by yellaopelgt You are correct sir....my bad.

Joe, Stephen, that's only if the car has the euro type turn signal switch in the steering column. Some GTs have it, some don't.

[chilly_75]

Originally Posted by yfzquadguy I have checked the fuses and they all seem to be in good shape, any other ideas?

This falls under the "other ideas" category of your question...
Just this weekend, I was diagnosing a problem where the right side parking lights were not working. I began testing continuity of various sections of wiring from switch to bulb. All sections tested out ok. I pulled the fuse, and the fuse tested fine. As I put the fuse back, my helper told me they worked, then didn't, then did, then didn't. Apparently, by jiggling the fuse, they would work. What we discovered, was that the tabs that hold the fuse were just spread out a tiny bit too far, making the fuse slightly loose, and not making good contact. I simply pinched them together a little bit, slid the fuse in, and it held much tighter. Lights have been working flawlessly ever since.