Whats all that grease in the front blinker socket?

[Skunksmash]

I took the back off of the front blinker socket, in an effort to track down a weak voltage problem. The blinker lights up, but its dim. The driver's side is a lot brighter.

But what's all that grease in there? Its yellow. I'm referring to the blinker socket that goes to the bulb that is in the grille, NOT the one that is in the fender.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Die electric grease?

[kwmech]

Originally Posted by Ziegelsteinfaust

Die electric grease?

Exactly, original yellow di-electric. Usually dried out. Scrape it out and put some fresher stuff in. Keeps the corrosion down when the fronts are blasted with water from the road or rain. I use it on all my connectors

[Skunksmash]

Ah ok. I'm used to it being clear. The yellow was a bit odd looking to me.


Any idea what could be causing low power? I would think that if it was a short, it would just pop the fuse. But instead, the bulb is just dim. Swapped it out with the bulb from the other side, and its definitely not the bulb itself.

[cadillac_al]

It's always the grounds in my experience.

[homemade87]

I agree with the grounds . Had some what the same problem with my horns . The horns sounded week . Thought it was the horns . After resto they worked perfect . Only difference was I freshened up all the grounds .

[Skunksmash]

Ha yeah it was the ground. Its very bright now.

Spent hours looking for it!

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by cadillac_al

It's always the grounds in my experience.

Originally Posted by homemade87

I agree with the grounds . Had some what the same problem with my horns . The horns sounded week . Thought it was the horns . After resto they worked perfect . Only difference was I freshened up all the grounds .

x3. Whenever I would ask the electrical system engineer a question he would always say "...bad ground..." before I even gave him any details.

Originally Posted by Skunksmash

Ha yeah it was the ground....Spent hours looking for it!

If you are not concerned with originality you can always create your own. Pick up a ground from the socket (for those with a metal base you can just clamp/solder a wire to the base) and run it to a good metal location on the rad support or frame.

I used to do that for the tail lamps on my stepside. The original ground path was through the bracket to the bed side, but it would rust. Cleaning and painting the bracket would destroy the ground path and the turn signals would go haywire. Took me about a year to figure that one out.

K

[Skunksmash]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

If you are not concerned with originality you can always create your own. Pick up a ground from the socket (for those with a metal base you can just clamp/solder a wire to the base) and run it to a good metal location on the rad support or frame.

Yeah that is what I did. I've long since gutted the factory headlight wiring system and installed an H4 conversion with relays. So I just made a quick little ground that is out of sight down there with the lower headlight. Personally I'm seldom concerned with originality, as I find that in many cases, (like your tail lights) I can do a better job than GM did. They had all these constraints and bean counters lol

[tucsonjwt]

I had a blinker issue with my 2002 Cavalier beater. The rear socket had light tan grease that had hardened and gunked the socket so much that there was no continuity. I cleaned all of that junk out and just left it alone and it worked fine. I suspect that temperatures over 100 degrees frequently in HotZona contributed to the grease hardening -it was rock hard inside that socket. I have never seen grease in any of the 3 squares that I have owned.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by homemade87

I agree with the grounds . Had some what the same problem with my horns . The horns sounded week . Thought it was the horns . After resto they worked perfect . Only difference was I freshened up all the grounds .

Good thought. I'm not happy with the horns on my Grand Prix - I should check that.

K