This Doesn’t Help Me One Bit…

[This post is linked from ClubFrontier.org here.]

I’ve recently developed some bad habits since my turn signal on my truck stopped working… a year and a half ago. I think I’ve put 20,000 miles on it since it went out. But I decided my turn signal doesn’t help ME at all so it wasn’t real high up on my priority list. Then I realized I had just stopped using the right turn signal in every vehicle I drove so I decided against letting it go forever.

I apologize for lack of pictures in advance, but hopefully the ones I have will be helpful to anyone reading… (Click on pictures for larger views)

Any way, the problem was that the front right turn signal stopped working even though the bulb was good AND there was voltage (and a good ground) at the plug going to the turn signal housing, as is demonstrated in this video where I hooked the plug up to an LED:

LED Turn Signal

Quick sanity check: Nissan wants $121 to replace the housing. Any way, on with the free solution:

I was able to remove the housing with MUCH difficulty before I realized that it was only attached at the top by a screw and (here’s the key) at the bottom by a plastic “button.” Pulling enough on the housing causes it to release. I accidentally found out how to remove it by pushing the plug back on without the top screw in, and the entire housing surprisingly popped out and landed on the garage floor. The wiring harness is easy to remove from it, it just pulls right off.

I removed the wiring harness to test the wires on it.

I found that the ground wire at the light bulb socket had unattached itself from the socket, which is shown in the following picture. There was a copper plate on the end of the wire, and all I did to fix it was solder it to the side of the socket, then put a little super glue over everything to make sure that it was solid. I didn’t like the way the solder was sticking to the socket, so that was just a little added insurance.

The wire had a lot of play in it before I soldered it back together. Now the entire thing works fine and is back in service in the truck for the first time since October 2009. You’re welcome, other drivers!