Rear turn signals 08 mustang v6
7/25/21, 07:25 PM
#1
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Rear turn signals 08 mustang v6
I have a question about which bulb flashes on turn signal tail lights? I noticed that only my middle bulb flashed on the oem harnesses . I switched the harnesses out for sequential lights and now the middle bulb lights but does not flash. The lights blink 1, skips 2 and moves to 3 on both sides and hazards do the same. Anyone have advice on what could be the issue?
7/25/21, 09:32 PM
#2
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Howdy! 
Welcome to the fourms!
The normal operation for a 05-09 S197 Mustang tail lamp is the inboard lamp is parking/marker lamps only, and the middle and outer are for brake/hazard/turn signals, and come on at the same time. The OEM harness is wired this way as well, there is no brake/hazard/turn signal (herein referred to as 'brake') lamp 'signal' wire to the inboard lamp sockets. (Note that this doesn't cover whatever S197s were converted in the countries that required amber turn signals. There was the European turn signals in back that used the middle lamp in a clear lens with an amber bulb, then the Australian one where the outer lamp was an amber lense, both custom wired to work separately from the brake/hazard, and you'd be having a problem with passing tech/being legal in those countries with sequencers. Not impossible, but... yeah.)
I don't know the particular sequential lamps/harness you've applied, but pretty much all of them don't have any other way to operate than this: The new harness/lamp is plugged in to the same harness plug from the car. The electronics of the sequencer then listens for the brake lamp signal from the car harness. Once is sees that signal, it does all the work afterwards, lighting up the lamps as it needs to. The car has nothing to do with the sequencing, it's all on the harness/tail light electronics. These harnesses/tail lamps 'fool' the car, in effect, in seeing the two lamps it wants to see back there, all so the turn signals blinking up front and on the dash, along with the clicking sound, is correct in cadence. If you've ever had the car with a blown lamp anywhere on that turn signal circuit, or replaced the lamps with LEDs that don't take the blinking into account, then the signal will blink fast to help you know you have a blown/bad lamp somewhere, go fix.
That both inboards are not blinking sounds like a centralized sequencer that's bad. I do know there's a set of lamps that you have a communications cord between the two taillamps for whatever reason, so maybe that's the one you have, and they're just bad out of the box. In any event, you might need to have a chat with the manufacturer of the lamps/sequencers you've installed.
Not sure I've cleared up your issue, but I do hope I helped in some way to get there. And hey, y'all, if I'm wrong about the sequencers (that there's some other way they do it that I'm ignorant about), please do chime in!
Good luck!
---
Side notes:
I've always disliked that design, btw. I've disliked the brakes/hazards making the sequence happen (which is why I know what they're doin') and I've disliked the 'two only' brake lamps, not all three. I don't exactly know why they chose that latter at all at Ford. I've got two extra harnesses for those lamps that I've always said I'm gonna splice up into making all three lamps go off, not sequenced, but I'm a little afeared of the circuit being unhappy with the extra load or something, so... yeah. I could probably run a power wire back there, get signal somehow and relay it all and ensure that doesn't happen, but harness would get a little/lot silly then.
Another thought: Run that power, grab signal from the CHMSL, and make the inner lamps be brake/hazard only, leaving the outers turn signal. Yeah. That kinds sounds fun and not terribly harness-y... Maybe an extra weatherpack or something on that one lamp on each side...
Or then there's the thought of making my own sequencer using an arduino or raspberry pi that does it (right side, mirror left): On On On/Off Off Off. Or maybe On1 On2 On3/Off3 Off2 Off1, so it goes out then in then out then in... Like... um... a inflating/deflating balloon. Yeah, that's it.
Anyway, those things would make it fun to try things. Chase style (On1 Off1/On2 Off2/On3 Off3/On1, repeat)... Or Blink1, Blink2, Blink3, repeat... Or Blink1, Blink2, Blink3, Blink2, Blink1 repeat... Or randomly blink each lamp individually, which would be hard because random number generator and car cyclin' resetting that... unless I had a clock... probably highly illegal too, but hey... Unless they stop me or something...
...Um... yeah I'm gonna shut up now. Hope I helped anyway.
Welcome to the fourms!The normal operation for a 05-09 S197 Mustang tail lamp is the inboard lamp is parking/marker lamps only, and the middle and outer are for brake/hazard/turn signals, and come on at the same time. The OEM harness is wired this way as well, there is no brake/hazard/turn signal (herein referred to as 'brake') lamp 'signal' wire to the inboard lamp sockets. (Note that this doesn't cover whatever S197s were converted in the countries that required amber turn signals. There was the European turn signals in back that used the middle lamp in a clear lens with an amber bulb, then the Australian one where the outer lamp was an amber lense, both custom wired to work separately from the brake/hazard, and you'd be having a problem with passing tech/being legal in those countries with sequencers. Not impossible, but... yeah.)
I don't know the particular sequential lamps/harness you've applied, but pretty much all of them don't have any other way to operate than this: The new harness/lamp is plugged in to the same harness plug from the car. The electronics of the sequencer then listens for the brake lamp signal from the car harness. Once is sees that signal, it does all the work afterwards, lighting up the lamps as it needs to. The car has nothing to do with the sequencing, it's all on the harness/tail light electronics. These harnesses/tail lamps 'fool' the car, in effect, in seeing the two lamps it wants to see back there, all so the turn signals blinking up front and on the dash, along with the clicking sound, is correct in cadence. If you've ever had the car with a blown lamp anywhere on that turn signal circuit, or replaced the lamps with LEDs that don't take the blinking into account, then the signal will blink fast to help you know you have a blown/bad lamp somewhere, go fix.
That both inboards are not blinking sounds like a centralized sequencer that's bad. I do know there's a set of lamps that you have a communications cord between the two taillamps for whatever reason, so maybe that's the one you have, and they're just bad out of the box. In any event, you might need to have a chat with the manufacturer of the lamps/sequencers you've installed.
Not sure I've cleared up your issue, but I do hope I helped in some way to get there. And hey, y'all, if I'm wrong about the sequencers (that there's some other way they do it that I'm ignorant about), please do chime in!
Good luck!
---
Side notes:
I've always disliked that design, btw. I've disliked the brakes/hazards making the sequence happen (which is why I know what they're doin') and I've disliked the 'two only' brake lamps, not all three. I don't exactly know why they chose that latter at all at Ford. I've got two extra harnesses for those lamps that I've always said I'm gonna splice up into making all three lamps go off, not sequenced, but I'm a little afeared of the circuit being unhappy with the extra load or something, so... yeah. I could probably run a power wire back there, get signal somehow and relay it all and ensure that doesn't happen, but harness would get a little/lot silly then.
Another thought: Run that power, grab signal from the CHMSL, and make the inner lamps be brake/hazard only, leaving the outers turn signal. Yeah. That kinds sounds fun and not terribly harness-y... Maybe an extra weatherpack or something on that one lamp on each side...
Or then there's the thought of making my own sequencer using an arduino or raspberry pi that does it (right side, mirror left): On On On/Off Off Off. Or maybe On1 On2 On3/Off3 Off2 Off1, so it goes out then in then out then in... Like... um... a inflating/deflating balloon. Yeah, that's it.
Anyway, those things would make it fun to try things. Chase style (On1 Off1/On2 Off2/On3 Off3/On1, repeat)... Or Blink1, Blink2, Blink3, repeat... Or Blink1, Blink2, Blink3, Blink2, Blink1 repeat... Or randomly blink each lamp individually, which would be hard because random number generator and car cyclin' resetting that... unless I had a clock... probably highly illegal too, but hey... Unless they stop me or something......Um... yeah I'm gonna shut up now. Hope I helped anyway.
Last edited by houtex; 7/25/21 at 09:35 PM.
7/26/21, 11:07 AM
#3
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Yep, on our '08, of three bulbs on each side, inner is just a constant on tail light, but the middle and outer are dual filament bulbs that steady light on low for tail light, but also light the hotter filament for brake or signal light use.
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