I thought of an easy electronics project that could enable side marker lights (front and/or rear) to blink with the turn signals as well as illuminate with the parking lights. Would this interest anyone? Some people may have blinking side markers from the factory... but I don't remember why some do and some don't.
i originally thought they did, till i was checking a bulb and realized they weren't blinking..would be cool if the fronts blinked!
Mine already blink, as do many other Mavericks right from the factory. We have talked about this before and nobody can figure out why some do and some don't. I definately think it is a safety improvement.
as we have to have yellow turn signals over here anyway, i converted my front side markers. looks good, i'd say!
Yeah, thats what I remember. This project would only work for non-blinkers so far. That's cool! Somebody stole your marker lights! How rude...
its very easy to wire. connect the ground from the side marker to the positive of the turn signal. When the lights are on the marker will pull ground through the turn signal bulb and stay on. when the turn signal is on the marker will flash opposite of the turn if the marker lights are on and with the turn if they are off.
I did not even realize it was that simple. In my feeble defense, I had not looked at the schematic yet, just thought of it while driving home. Thanks for saving me a lot of time. :Handshake EDIT: Looking at the schematic; actually, that does not exactly work. With park lights on, the marker will pull ground through the t/s bulb. This will cause the t/s bulb to illuminate (current through a bulb = light), and the voltage will split (not evenly) across the marker and t/s bulb. So the marker will illuminate, that is true, but not be as bright... along with the t/s bulb.
Using the '73 wiring diagram, if you tied the marker ground to t/s feed [white / light blue], this is what I see happening (run through it and see if it makes sense): Park lights OFF: (assuming parking lights feed [brown] is grounded with park lights off)Turn signal OFF means marker is OFF Turn signal ON means marker is ON (full brightness) (in sync with t/s) Park lights ON: (now parking light feed is 12V+)Turn signal OFF (assuming t/s feed [white / light blue] is grounded) means marker ON (full brightness) Turn signal ON means marker OFF (out of sync with t/s) This would work PERFECTLY, as long as t/s feed is grounded with t/s OFF and parking light feed is grounded with park lights off. Maybe you mis-poke when you said it would pull ground through the t/s bulb? It sounds like you already did it and seems to look fine. Now, if the t/s and parking lights feeds are NOT grounding when they are OFF, this is what I see happening: Park lights OFF:Turn signal OFF means marker OFF Turn signal ON means marker ON (but also illuminating the park bulb at the same time), so marker would not be illuminated 100%. This means marker in sync with t/s, just not as bright as it would be. Park lights ON:Turn signal OFF means marker ON (but also illuminating the t/s bulb at the same time), so marker would not be illuminated 100%. Turn signal ON means marker marker OFF (out of sync with t/s) So, if the first case is true (feeds grounded when OFF), then I have no project to make and it is works already. If the second case is true, (feeds floating when off), the bulbs may LOOK like they are working right, but not be as bright as they could be. Even if they are not as bright as they could be, they could be bright enough to look just fine. Sorry for the winded walk through, but it helps me be clear. Clint, what do you think?
The side marker light has only one filament so it will be the same brightness all the time when 12v is applied
Yep, but if you have two filaments in series (side marker and t/s), that is a voltage divider. When Clint said that the side marker will pull ground through the turn signal bulb, that means two filaments.
I was wrong on the Wiring in my previous post, please disreguard what I had previously written. Chevy and Ford use different wiring styles with Chevy going through the ground system. After doing a bit of research, Clintd has it completely right. Here's a link to a PDF file that describes it in detail: http://dsl.torque.net/images/Markerflash.pdf ========================================================================================================== I took this from a thread by oldhalftons on the Ford-Trucks.com board: This wiring modification will enable the front side marker lights of any car to blink _with_ the turn signals (if running lights are off) or to _alternate_ with the turn signals (if running lights are on). Normal operation of the marker lights is not affected. The procedure works on any car with parking and turn signal lamps at the front, even if the turn signals are not dual-filament (#1157/1157A/1157NA) bulbs, The marker lamps must not be single-wire designs which rely on the car body for grounding. If the marker lamp has two wires connected (power & ground), the procedure will work. (most ford sidemarkers use a 2 wire rubber socket that plugs into the plastic marker lense) Wiring to the marker lamp is rearranged such that the lamp bridges the parking and turn signal circuits, drawing power from whichever circuit is "hot" and grounding through whichever circuit is dead. The whole job involves only re-routing one wire on each side. You just need to check carefully to ensure that you've identified the right ones. 1) Switch on the vehicle's parking lights and 4-way emergency flashers. You don't need to run the engine during this test unless the battery is severely low. 2) Using the test light on the wiring going into each turn signal, identify the wire carrying the blinking turn-signal power. 3) Using the test light on the wiring going into each front side marker lamp, identify the ground wire (the one that's _not_ hot). 4) Switch the vehicle lights off. You don't need to disconnect the battery. 5) In the next step, you're going to snip the ground wire coming from the marker lamp and connect that wire to the turn signal's power feed. Work out the best way to snake the marker lamp ground wire around to a point where you can tap it into the turn signal's power feed wire, using an extension of 14-gauge wire if necessary. Pay attention to what cavities or openings might be filled when you reinstall the light assemblies, if you removed them previously. You don't want to pinch the rerouted wires. Note: Don't get confused here. The idea is to run the ground wire FROM the marker lamp TO the turn signal. Currently it runs from the marker lamp into the wiring harness and grounds somewhere. You're _not_ trying to connect the harness ground to the turn signal! 6) Cut the ground wire coming from the marker lamp, giving yourself as much wire length as possible from the marker lamp to the cut point. Tape the cut end of the ground wire that goes into the vehicle harness and stuff it out of the way. 7) Connect the ground wire leading from the marker lamp to the hot lead going to the turn signal on that side. Tape or otherwise weatherproof the connection, and you're done. ========================================================================================================== I hope this gets your Side Markers blinking like you want them to do. -Scott H.
