ok guys so my question is I have a 2007 Lincoln towncar signature limited 4.6 that I just got a week or so ago Im supposed to take it Monday to get md state inspection! I checked over the car today to see what I could see that would be a fail as far I know everything looked good until I noticed I had the passenger side corner light wasn’t working !! Thought no big deal went and bought a pack of 3156’s and pulled the assembly out and replaced the bulb firstly I noticed it may have been a tiny lil fender bender but nothing too serious at all ! I tried the new bulb and got nothing cleaned the contact points inside the bulb housing got nothing even tried it on the other side that works to make sure I didn’t have bad brand new bulbs and they all worked fine ! I’m hoping the inspector lets me go as all the other Important lights work like the headlights all the turn signals the tag lights the tail and brakes lights all work as well even the corner light on the driver side works and I’m under the assumption that there not a necessity there there just to light up the turn a lil better hell most cars dont even have that feature ! I’m a nervous wreck tho I can’t afford to have it professionally diagnosed and fixed I’m disabled and on fixed income here and money is super super tight ! I go to a buddy’s tomorrow to use his test light or whatever there called to see if it has juice to the socket but I doubt it does or the light would be working anything else I should look for I don’t even know were to start really I looked for broken wires didn’t see any but I plan on going into it further tomorrow! Any ideas or help on what to do here guys ???!! anyone had this problem before ? I looked online and on here in towncar forums but no luck so far not even YouTube had anything on this specific issue ! I read it could be the turn signal itself the arm I’m guessing that unit but I really don’t have money to throw parts at it !! please I’m praying something gives here it’s bad enough I had a hard time getting a decent car and getting this thing tagged and all on a super strict budget not to mention you only get 30 days to fix n get your car inspected smh 🙏 please and thank you for any help in advanced and please keep me in your prayers everyone !! Could it be the actual assembly? The turn signal switch itself ? What do I do !?
I’m betting it’s a broken/cut wire or an unplugged connection from the fender bender. You say all the other lights work, including the right turn, if yes, it isn’t the switch, it triggers both the cornering and turn lamps. Simple way to test. Unplug the connector at the light assembly, Take a test light and connect it to ground, check the Brown wire for power. If it has power you are 1/2 way there. Now connect the test light to battery power and start tracing the Brown w/white stripe wire back to the switch. With the turn signal switch turned on for a right turn (key can be off) the switch completes a path to ground. So if you test at the first connector (C1444) and find nothing, go to the next one (C134) then on to C260. I’m betting you find it out in the harness near the other damage.
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Ok wow thank you ! You sound like you know electrical stuff ! Thank you for the diagram as well ! Yeah the turn signal works fine so that’s cool don’t need the t.s switch ! now Tomorrow when I get to my buddy’s with the test light I’ll show him this as well and hopefully both of us together can find this issue I’ll follow your steps and see what happens !!! The fender bender was a light touch it looks like on the corner right there nothing bad at all really minor but was enough to break the third or lower bolt on the headlight assembly and then lil signs like the bumper sticking out a lil right there behind the headlight ! I did check for unplugged connections but I did lose the day light so Tomorrow I’ll go thru like you laid out and hopefully get it figured out !! THANK YOU so much for your time and help I more than greatly appreciate it !!
Ok glad I seen this again so I bought a multimeter will that work for these steps ? Im about to go see if I can get a light instead anyway Im gonna follow these steps and hopefully I find it I did get failed for the corner light smh also I found a crudely wired remote start with a toggle switch under there that kinda worry’s me one of the wires was tapped into the lcm a white wire I believe and I took it off and still no corner light …Ill follow all the steps u laid out hopefully the multimeter works ! Or I may go grab a test light instead ! I’ll let u know what happens thanks again
Light is generally better for this because it shows that the wire can carry a load. Think about a wire, made up of say 20 strands of copper. You can break or corrode all but one strand and it will still show 12 volts at the other end, but put any load on it and it stops working. No different than towing a load, a 3" rope or a piece of sewing thread will both connect them, but which one can take a load?
If you are measuring for voltage drop or resistance than the meter is good. For other testing I have everything from a common test light to a headlamp bulb that I use.
Okay awesome im going to exchange the multimeter for the test light and then I’m gonna follow your instructions you gave me and I’ll let you know what I get THANK YOU SO much I can’t say how grateful I am for any kind of help r.n !
No problem. A quick way to find a bad wire that is inside of a connector or even an open run is a simple tug test. A good wire can be pulled very hard with no issues, a bad connection will pull apart and if it was a corroded wire inside the insulation you will see it hourglass over the break before the insulation fails. If you want to see videos of this try this guide it might help. If you need more help you can ask there as well.
Wow awesome im so grateful for your help I cannot express it enough !! Thanks for the guide I can’t wait till daylight so I can get out here and try what you instructed!! I’ll get back to you and let ya know what I find ! Now question as far as the avistart4200 remote start and there’s a npk xk-04 keyless bypass module do you think it could possibly have to do with them making the corner light niot work ? It definitely its crudely wired I removed the white wire from the l.c.m under there it was just tapped onto the wire and a quick price of tape was thrown over it lol smh figured Id ask the guy who flunked me said if he was me he would remove that but I’m like dude if I do it wrong won’t my car be bricked !?? I know on e thing at a time but I figured I’d ask ya ! I’m really hoping amd praying it’s broken wire or something and not the modules smh with Xmas coming and all I’ll be in deep water !!! so far in close to budget smh THANK YOU THO FOR HELPING can’t express the gratitude and thanks !!! Just waiting for morning and I’ll get out there with the test light !!! you have a good nite and hopefully I have good news next time we talk 🙏 ty again g.n
The remote start shouldn’t have anything to do with the light. I remove things like that because many are installed the way yours is and they end up causing weird problems when a wire finally corrodes off or one of those twist joints comes apart. Especially when it is possible to install them much better for maybe 4 buck more in crimp and seal connectors and proper splicing with glue filled heat shrink.
Personally I would hunt down the manuals for both of those items then trace out the wiring and if you want to keep them, install them correctly. Or if you don’t you can see which wires do what and then repair the cars wiring back to stock. Take a look and see if these are correct -Avital 4200 (pdf) Bypass module pdf
I’m hoping that brown wire is the power and I can just rig it some how until hear back from you I’m gonna pause where I’m at in kinda confused after this point honestly!!
Correct. The Brown wire should be hot when the lights are on. It is the power feed to the light. The Brown wire that has the white stripe is the ground wire and it is turned on/off by the turn signal switched. That is known as a ground side switched system and is very common on vehicles. Now you need to look at the Brown wire with the white stripe on it. In normal operation it isn’t connected to anything. When you turn the switch so the right hand turn signal comes on, then the wire should be grounded. As you have power on the other wire the problem is in the Brown wire with white stripe.
You cannot just ground the light so it stays on because that wouldn’t be the correct operation of that light.
You are doing fine so far, electrical diag claims a few brains every year… LOL
I don’t think it’s the socket. An easy way to test that, find the pin that the brown w/white wire goes into the plug, connect the test lights clamp to the battery positive post, now turn on the key and turn on the right hand turn signal. Now go to that plug and touch the connector pin that the brown w/white wire connect to. Does the light come on? If it does then it is in the lamp housing, but I’m betting it doesn’t.
You already know that the ground point is OK, because the turn signals and the other turn light work. So it has to be from the switch out to the light. Follow that brown w/white stripe wire from the plug back in the harness and I’m betting you find the problem
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Also did I mention I had no power at all using the test light testing for hot on the light bulb holder/socket (pic attached ) does that mean anything? Is there anyway of rigging this thing I literally only need it to work for 3 seconds smh it’s so crazy all this he failed me for a light I don’t even need smh but like u said I need it to work as it should … Sorry if I’m messaging too much I’m getting control just down in the dumps over the whole thing I GREATLY APPRECIATE YOUR HELP IM SO Grateful you’ll get tired of me thanking ya I’m sorry lol
The socket works as I told ya I cut it and wired it to the battery when I thought I could rig it before I knew about your test …wanted to make sure it wasn’t that bulb housing it is not …so I rewired the bulb socket back into the headlight assembly and now I’ll try the following of the brown n white wire like you said ! So basically the brown with white is a ground for the corner light ? And the brown is the power ! your saying my ground isn’t working or something like that but does it make sense that everything else works ? So I’m guessing the ground for the corner light is it’s own ground ?! Am I close or way off ? Thank you this really is helping me I’m understanding a lil more at a time … I’m hoping your right and I find this this break thats what I’m looking for right ? A break or tear in the brown wht wire ? is there a way to check the assembly could it be in there ? or I think your saying it’s from the turn signal switch up to the part that plugs into the hl assembly?! Just let me stop thinking and do what you told me to do if I don’t go back out tonite tomorrow I’ll go out first light and following the wire you told me to and then I’ll report back ! THANK YOU SO MUCH I HOPE YOU have a great nite and I’m grateful for your help !!
The ground WIRE is the problem. The ground on the switch end is good, if it wasn’t the other side and your signals would not work as it switches them the same way. What you have is a bad connection between the switch and that light somewhere in the harness. If the circuit was good the light would work, you just need to find the break or disconnected wire.
Ok so I’m I’m gonna be looking at the brown/white wire in the 6 pin harness correct ? Basically take the tape off and follow that wire !? How far do I go and I’m looking for breaks and tugging at connections correct ?( Pic of the harness I’m starting with attached) it’s like a learning a different language but way way harder id rather pull and put in 50 drivetrains lol
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Ok next I tested the part the bulb goes into and it had no power and has a brown n red wire and a brown n white Is the white the ground ? Electrical is really confusing to me so bare with me pls ! So is the brown wire that goes into the assembly the hot for the corner light and if it is can I jump that to the corner light bulb harness and just run it like that to get thru inspection? See what I’m saying ?? I have the assembly right here in looking all over for a broken wire but so far don’t see any maybe it’s in the part that you plug the harness into the headlight assembly we’re I can’t see !?!? Any thoughts on what to do next please ? Thank you again for your help !!