Front sidemarkers

[fenzo72]

i was involved in a very minor accident last night, (no damage thank god) the man that i hit me said that he never saw me use my turn signal...but i did...he was on my left so i guess he didnt see since there are no indications of a turn when you're besde the car!!! my 99 grand am uses the side markers as turnsignals.......but what i realy want to know.....Is there a way to make the front sidemarkers turnsignals???? idk why Oldsmobile didnt add this feature its needed!! thanks............
Yvonne

[LittleHoov]

Well your front side markers are a constant-on when your turn signals are on, it helps to see where youre turning at night.

But if you wanted to make them blink, Id say the easiest route would be to tap into the turn signal wiring and make it go to the markers also.

The only problem with this is that Im not sure if there is a separate wire for the turn signals, because the centers are on all the time for DRLs. Wouldnt be an issue if you didnt mind your marker lights being on all the time as well.

Thats the easiest way I can think of, the wiring is all there inside the headlamp assembly, which is ridiculously easy to remove. A simple test light should be able to tell you what is happening at which wire and when.

[fenzo72]

yes thats what i want to do...make them blink...but idk how to do that

[LittleHoov]

Well....here's what I'd do to get started:

If you don't have one, go buy yourself a 12 volt test-light, I bought mine at Wal-Mart, theyre available in a lot of different places. A multimeter works too, but theyre more expensive.

Then remove your headlamp assembly, it has to clips on the back side of it (mine are white) if you pull them straight up, then they will slide backward off the tabs.

Locate your turn signals/ Daytime running lights...it will either have 2 or 3 wires going to it, I honestly dont know. One will be a ground. If it has only 2 wires, the other wire will be a constant power/turn signal wire. If it has 3, one will most likely give constant power while the other provides the blinking element. Thats where the test light comes in. You can use it to check for power on the various wires to figure out which is which. Im sure YouTube has lots of videos on how to use a test light if you dont know.

The do the same thing with your marker lights, find the power wire for them. Then using whatever means necessary, change the power source to the marker lights over to the blinking power source from the turn signals. Youll have to tap into the circuit somehow.

If the turn signals only use a 2 wire system, your markers may light up all the time as well.

Like I said theres probably a better way, but youll have to modify wiring no matter what you do.

[pfofit]

Here's a couple diagrams from an 2000 something intrigue.
The first is rear lights and the second is front lights and the third is the some of the BCM signals that pertain to the lights in question. The rears are directly controlled through the signal switch or the hazards but the bcm contols the front signal lights

I'm not sure which lights you want to blink, the white cornering lamps that come on steady with signaling or the side maker lights which are parking lights.

Note from the diagram that the front signal lamps are controlled from the BCM which appears to be a relay contact from diagram three, but it could be an electronic switch like a mosfet scr etc. Either way, then the bcm may be stressed if trying to feed too much current and BCM's are expensive. Although one would think that it should be designed to account for a short but who knows..

The cornering lights draw a lot of current compared to the dinky marking lights.

Another problem is for the marker(running) lights is that they should be on at night all the times, so interfacing them may be an issue. Keeping them on at night but flashing when signaling.

Cornering lights are simple, from the right side lights of the second diagram, perhaps a small 12V relay for each side mounted near the lamp assembly that is controlled from the blinking signal light wire "D"( essentially in parallel with the turn signal lamp) and the normally open relay contact in series with the power wire "K" going to the cornering light

This would result in the cornering blinking in unison with the true signal lights and is not an issue with the BCM output as the relay typically draws milli-amps and the light still uses its original power source .

Which light do you want to blink?
cheers.

[LittleHoov]

I forgot about the marker lights and cornering lamps for some reason, good catch.

If youre afraid of pulling too much current through the BCM, you could use a separate relay and provide power to whatever lights you want to blink and then use the factory turn signal wiring as the signal feed to your relay, the extra current draw on the factory wiring would be insignificant that way. The down side is that you would have to run your own 12v wiring to each relay, either that or find a suitable constant power source nearby. Then mount the relay somewhere and run wires to each headlamp. Plus run a ground for each relay. There might also be some delay in the blinking. Plus I would think it might be hard on the relays to switch on and off rapidly like that. But Im far from an electronics expert.

[pfofit]

Originally Posted by LittleHoov

....<snip>The down side is that you would have to run your own 12v wiring to each relay, either that or find a suitable constant power source nearby. Then mount the relay somewhere and run wires to each headlamp. Plus run a ground for each relay. There might also be some delay in the blinking. Plus I would think it might be hard on the relays to switch on and off rapidly like that. But Im far from an electronics expert.

Everything can be done right up at each headlight as the power source is what is applied to the turn signal bulb. Perhaps the relay could even go inside the light assembly. As I failed to explain clearly previously, One side of the bulb is grounded and the bcm hits the other side of the bulb with 12 volts. So, then connecting a relay parallel to each bulb will activate the relay when signal light.... signals.

A typical relay "pulls in" in around 10-15 milliseconds (thousandths of a second) and drops out in less than 10 milliseconds, so turning on and off for a least 1/2 intervals is no problem at all. Not much different than the clicking relay in the hazard switch.
As for the load. The steady state current for the 3156 cornering light is 2.1 amps. Say double that when hitting a cold filament and then any relay rated at current of 5 amp DC would be fine. Automotive relays tend to be 10 to 20 amp depending on the application.

The parking light marker lights, either 158s or 194s are like around 1/4 amp. But they need to be on at night and are off(no power) in the day so a different logic circuit would be required than the earlier idea above that just switches the always present 12V when signaling at the cornering lights.

cheers

[LittleHoov]

One side of the bulb is grounded and the bcm hits the other side of the bulb with 12 volts. So, then connecting a relay parallel to each bulb will activate the relay when signal light.... signals.

If you use the turn signal wiring for the actual load power of the relay, not the signal, isnt it still going to add extra stress to the BCM which was the concern to start with?

You really only need 1 relay, Im not sure what I was thinking earlier. If you want to use the really approach, Id mount it somewhere on the passenger side, or in the passenger side headlamp, so you can be closer to the battery, or the terminal on top of the underhood fusebox. Those are the two easiest constant 12v sources for your relay.

Then you can splice the 2 smaller wires feeding your new turn signals inside one single connector and connect that to your relay output.

Here is a good thread on another forum, which does not require you to register in any way, shape or form, and is simply being provided for the sole purpose of trying to help another forum member, and not trying to get you to register, look at ads, etc. Anyway it explains some things about relays and wiring and was very helpful when I wired up my off-road lights on my Jeep. I used a relay and they come on with my high-beams now.

http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f20/w...ations-378268/

They show using a switch to activate your relays, which works just fine, but you can also tap into any 12v power source.

[pfofit]

Originally Posted by LittleHoov

If you use the turn signal wiring for the actual load power of the relay, not the signal, isnt it still going to add extra stress to the BCM which was the concern to start with?

No, the signal wiring is used to drive the relay not source it. The bulb is drawing about 2 amps and the relay coil in parallel will draw about 70 milliamps or 0.07Amps which is diddlysquat compared to the 2 amps. The actual load for the cornering lamp is from its original power source and through the relay contact.

We're probably thinking on separate wavelengths but I suggested two relays one for each side for at least two reasons:

1. one cannot tie the two signal light signal together to run one relay as both signal lights would blink on either left or right turns, unless you use a diode in series off of each signal with cathodes together on one side of the relay coil and the other side of the coil to ground. For me as a electronic engineering technologist diodes and things electronic are plenty, but I do not know the resourcefulness and abilities of the OP so I try to keep it simple to what he might have.
2. one wouldn't have to run wires back and forth across from the two sides for the signals to drive the relay and the wiring for powering the lamps off the contacts. Essentially all could be done right at the lamp with minimal wiring.

I've got to shut down now and fix this stupid keyboard as the letter "o" is being finicky and creating to many typos to edit befre posting.

I'll try and draw up a schema of what i mean latter.

cheers

[pfofit]

Look my o's are working. yeahhh

Here is a quicky rewire of what I meant. The changes are in red. If you would like to have the cornering light and signal alternate in flashing then use the normally closed contact. The diode across the relay coil is necessary to shortout back emf created in the coil by the collapsing magnetic field when the coil is powered off and also makes the relay drop out faster.