Turn signal harness '46 Ford

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fordy6

Member
Hello Ford Barn,
Can anyone tell me what harness these turn signal wires plug into? I know the blue wire and the blue with red tracer is the blinker. It's the five wires at the end I can't figure out. I can turn a wrench but I suck at pushing electrons!
Thanks, Mike Jackson
istrum4u@cox.net
 

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I just went through the same job putting stand-alone turning lights on my 1936 pickup 6 volt positive ground. The switch I had was an old Yankee brand. I believe the wire colors were similar to trailer lights. I eliminated the brake light wires as mine were not incorporated into the original tail lights. The switch does not know the difference between negative and positive ground. I just needed a 6 volt flasher.
 
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My problem is the harness I have is NOS hence the cloth covering and the color code is different from any after market harness..
 
For the inexpensive cost of the modern switch, it would be worth it to purchase. They disassemble easily. Remove the covers and ohm the nos wires , compare to the modern wires and use the modern instructions, once you know the what the nos colors translate to.
 
The wiring schematic for your car on VanPelt’s website shows that the stop lights are fed by a single wire and the parking lights are single contact bulbs. You will need to add a wire to the taillight wiring harness so that the stop lights are fed by a separate conductor. In the front you will have to change the sockets to dual filament sockets so that you can have park and turn signals in the same bulb.

Attached is a recent discussion of a similar application that may help.

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342408&highlight=Turn+signal+switch+wiring
 
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When I put turn signals on my 41 I just used the parking lights for turn signals never really had a need for parking lights.
 
That may be okay for you, but the turn signal filament is a lot brighter than the parking light filament.
 
On my 36 pickup I used black housings with dark lenses so they would be mostly in conspicuous. The bulbs are just normal 6 volt. I later painted the chrome screws black also. A friend gave me the switch and the 4 lights and additional 6 volt bulbs were less than $50. No more rolling down the window to make a turn. Ain’t life grand? LOL👌
 

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fordy6 said:
Thanks cas3, That is the problem the harness is NOS! I'm gonna have to meter every wire for continuity.
Click to expand...

fordy6 said:
My problem is the harness I have is NOS hence the cloth covering and the color code is different from any after market harness..
Click to expand...

Sounds like you feel it would be complicated; but it's not.

Gather up a meter or powered test light along with paper and pencil.

With the switch in the center position; find the three that have continuity, and write the three colors down.

Put the switch in the left position and find the one of the three that no longer has continuity, write left rear by that color.

Put the switch in the right position and find the one of the three that no longer has continuity, write right rear by that color.

Write brake light switch by the remaining color of the three.

Put a paper clip or what not into the flasher plug (L terminal) of the wire that goes to the signal switch.

Put the switch back in the left position and check between the flasher socket and the two unidentified wires, the one that has continuity is the left front, add that to your list.

The remaining unidentified wire is the right front, add that to your list.

Probably should only take a few minutes to test and you will gain some knowledge of how the switch will work in your car.

The wire that went from the brake light switch to the rear lights will now be routed to the signal switch.

Wires from the switch will have to routed to the left and right rear lights and the original brake light crossover between the lights removed.

Wires from the switch will need to be routed to left and right front lights. The light sockets can be replaced by new dual sockets if you want to retain the parking lights or you could just install brighter bulbs in the existing single sockets if you don't want to retain the parking lights.

If you want to add dash indicators; connect them to the left and right front wires.

Power up the flasher from an ignition powered source; and you should be good to go.
 
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34fordy said:
I just went through the same job putting stand-alone turning lights on my 1936 pickup 6 volt positive ground. The switch I had was an old Yankee brand. I believe the wire colors were similar to trailer lights. I eliminated the brake light wires as mine were not incorporated into the original tail lights. The switch does not know the difference between negative and positive ground. I just needed a 6 volt flasher.
Click to expand...

and you need to check the bulb in the unit itself to make sure it has a 6v bulb.

GB
 
Rich,
Since my '46 car never had turn signals and my tail and front directionals have one wire, will I need to run another wire to the tail lights and front directionals to use double filiment 12 volt bulbs? Or led lights if i choose?
 
fordy6,

We're kind of missing the forest for the trees here:

If the harness you are using is NOS, then the color coding should match the stock set up. When rewiring my '46, I used an oversized, laminated, color-coded diagram from here:
https://classiccarwiring.com/?srsltid=AfmBOoocY-CAch9bhZe3V1ub99k9PNNIeeoHVQgiwdbuIiLwI19RhJrc

Remember, the original wiring did not have turn signals. Because of that, everything required for them is in ADDITION to the stock wiring.

As to the repop signal unit, the instalation instructions tied to the link in Bob C's post (#4 in this thread) should apply to the one you displayed in the thread starter post.

Just a word about those very inexpensive universal signal units. I bought one of those to use in my '46 and spend a number of lost hours trying to debug the installation. Bottom line, the out of the box repop part was defective and so poorly constucted that repair was meaningless. Instead, I found a seven wire Signal Stat 900 unit and never looked back.

One last bit: Regardless of the exact unit used, there are a number of wires to be connected in a very limited space. Using a small terminal block as the connection point was a way to tidy up the work.

Enjoy the journey.
 
fordy6 said:
Rich,
Since my '46 car never had turn signals and my tail and front directionals have one wire, will I need to run another wire to the tail lights and front directionals to use double filiment 12 volt bulbs? Or led lights if i choose?
Click to expand...

Yes, the front & rear wiring will need additional wires,

The last several paragraphs in my previous post explain the wiring changes needed.
 
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