68 G - Front Signal Light Repair

Front Signal Lights
The signal lights didn't work when I bought it. When I pulled the lenses the socket on the driver's side had too much rust to put in a bulb, and the passenger side had a bulb rusted into the socket.

This is how I fixed them..


Not much to look at here, just a shot before fixing the front signal lights.


Belly Pan removed, and nuts removed from the backs of the lights. Not much slack in the wires on the driver's side.


I cut the wires about an inch up the plastic wiring sleeve so I could slide the shrink tube over it later.


I used a screwdriver to slide into the sleeve and pop the insides of the socket out the front, making sure to pay attention to what color wire was on top in the bulb socket.


Steel wool wrapped around the end of a drill bit polished the the sockets like they were new again.


Using new socket innards bought from Auto Zone I marked the wire that belongs to the top contact in the bulb socket.

They were made by: Conduct-Tite!
Part Number: 85801
Barcode: 37495 85801


I slipped some shrink tubing onto the wires before soldering them in place.

Getting those nuts back on the back of the lights when remounting them wasn't very easy. It really helped to wrap my finger with tape, sticky side out. I could then stick the nut to my pointer finger, reach around the wires coming out of the back of the light, and get the nut started on the bolt.

Next, the front drivers signal had a short in it..

I tracked it down to the plug found in the outside wall near the brake pedal.

I started by removing and cleaning the metal plugs from the plastic jack at the end of the harness, and cleaning the other half of the plug in the body.

Then I tested the plug on the end of the harness by using a spare trailer light.. It worked fine..

Since cleaning the plugs didn't fix the problem, and the harness worked fine to that point, it must be in the other half of the jack.. Right?

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Getting the second side out was no picnic, I really thought it was going to rip before it came out. I used Needle-Nose Pliers to squeeze the rubber plug. Then while holding the Pliers I pushed two small screwdrivers past the sides, one on top, and one on bottom. Then spreading the screwdrivers apart caused the plug to pop out. You can see in the second picture that it plugs into the body from the inside of the cab.




Once I finally got it out, I didnt see any thing wrong with it. In the end I figured out that the problem was just a loose plug. I removed the metal plugs from the plastic plug at the end of the harness. Using a small screwdriver I bent the inside of the metal plug for a snug fit.

NOTE: There are two wires in the cab that feed this signal light, one brown, one blue. From the plug in the body, to the signal light, there is one purple, and one black.

BLINKER LIGHT> BLUE connects to BLACK
PARKING LIGHT> BROWN connects to PURPLE