This 1998 Chevrolet Malibu came in with the complaint that the turn signals did not work properly and the horn did not work. Inspecting the turn signals found that the signal was reaching the bulb but it seemed very weak. First place to start is one of the easier bulbs to get to to see what’s going on. There is a black plastic panel that covers the front light assemblies.
There are multiple push pin retainers that have to be removed. Pull the center core up and then the rest of the retainer will come out will a little pull.
There are two blade type retainers that have to be lifted in order to get the light assembly out.
You can use your fingers or if you are careful you can use a screwdriver for assistance.
With the light assembly out it is easy to remove the turn signal socket and bulb for inspection.
With only the turn signal on I noticed that both bulb elements were lit dimly and not flashing. From experience I knew this was a sign of a faulty ground.
I glanced down at the inner fender panel in front of the driver’s strut tower and this is what I saw. How lucky could I be? The ground buss assembly was not bolted down.
Come to find out the car had recently had the transmission out at another shop and the problem started immediately after leaving the transmission shop. The customer took the car back and was told that taking the transmission out had nothing to do with the lights. I detest the combination of ignorance and laziness, which is what the other shop seemed to have. The bolt for the ground had been broken off while removing the transmission and no one bothered hooking it back up. Since the bolt was broke off, I found another hole nearby that luckily was threaded and just moved the ground over and installed a new bolt.
The light is back bright and blinking, although you can’t see the blinking in the picture.
A nice simple repair for a change. By the way, the horn also is back working!
Hey Sparky,
Ive got a 00 Olds Alero. Over the weekend i was having intermittent problems with the turn signals going out. Later in the week my girlfriend was having a stalling issue and most recently it wouldn’t start back up for hours. She said she could not hear the fuel pump running (we’ve had fuel delivery problems before). The vehicle is again running, but i do not trust it to stay that way. My Haynes manual wiring diagrams are nice but tell a lot about specific grounds and where they can be found. Is the ground BUSS in this instance the grounds for everything in the underhood junction block? I’ve checked both of the grounded relay points in the block for continuity (one straight to ground and the other through the pump to ground). I’m getting 1.2ohms on the signal side of the relay and around 3ohms on the pump side. Both of them, i jumped from the relay box to the negative battery terminal. Any thoughts on other places to visually inspect the grounds?
Number one, make sure your exterior lights are working. The dash light fuse is powered from the park/tail light circuit. By doing this the engineers provide a way for the driver to tell that something is wrong.If they are working fine then I would suggest checking all of the fuses.
i have a 2008 maalibu There is apparently a short in my dash board lights like the spedometer and rpm gage and the air control light and the horn ant ideas?
The hazard switches themselves are a failure point for both the turn signals and hazard lights. It sounds like you have already been diagnosing this by getting your turn signal working by pushing the hazard button on and off. If you need more info please email me at info@the-electric-connection.com
I have a 2001 Chevrolet Malibu, There is apparently a short in my hazard lights and turn signals won’t came on when needed.I have been hitting my emergency flashers to get my turn signal to work. But even they don’t come on when the button is turned on. Could you help me out?