turn signal help please, for the electically in-experienced.. Options

[MrHyde]

Background:
The PO of my 73' 2.0L said that he never actually drove the car. He picked it up to restore and then got more involved with his MG's ( he has a sweet MGB with a mustang drivetrain in it , and a couple more under covers) .. anyways.. the turn signals dont work.. in the glove box i found an extra relay socket, and a 4 prong relay... hanging out under the fuse board is another of the same socket I found in the glove box.. I'm assuming that some PO wired this thing in to get the turn signals working.. the signal lights all come on when I turn the headlights on ( tail lights AND all the turn signals ) when fliping the turn signal switch, nothing happens.. no dash lights.. no flashing...

question...
I've never really needed to use a multimeter before, so i'm totally inexperienced with this.. I want to know how to find out if this socket is infact for the turn signals ( so I can just get a turn signal relay ) or find out where to check the wiring with the multimeter to see where the disconnect is happening..


Since My shoulder is out of commission right now, I cant do any heavy work at all, but testing a circut with a multimeter is doable. I've downloaded a couple wiring diagrams, but it all looks a bit greek to me right now...

Thanks in advance for the help !

[DJKnut]

MrHyde... I've found that in cars, when lights seem to act very strangely.. like yours are doing... it's very often due to bad grounds... a valid power source will back feed through other bulbs to find a way home, and light up everything it passes through.. at least partly..!! On the flow diagram, at the bottom, is the ground connection... with a circled number... the index for those diagrams will tell you where that ground number is actually located... most of these are steel tabs welded to the body, and often rust and loose connection... track your locations down and clean them up, and see if things act any differently.... That may eliminate some of the confusion, and show you where the true problem is... Remember, the flasher function responds to load so if you don't have good bulb connections they won't even try to work... Pull lenses and clean bulb sockets.. you could even make up a jumper wire to the battery (or any battery..) to verify that each lamp-socket is connecting and working properly... VW wiring is really pretty good ( especially when compared to British cars..!!) and most of my problems have ended up being connections... Good luck!! Dave