Replace Turn Lamp on 97 Taurus Wagon (and a weird occurrence)

[Whomp]

ugh. that's what i get for trying to be handy.

i've searched the archives, the faqs, the internet, and i can't find anything about this.

i need to replace the passenger rear turn signal and i can't figure out how to get to the bloody thing. i have removed the inside panel from the tailgate and there are the backup lights nice and handy, but the tail lights appear to be protected by layers of security that don't make sense, like should i have to remove the speakers to do this? (there are two screws maybe more that appear to hold the light bar in place, neither are accessible from the inside unless, it appears, i remove the speakers..) so can someone please tell me before i break out a cutting torch?

oh, and the weird occurrence -- i was pulled off the side of the road and had my right turn signal on, and some kind of powdery looking mist was coming out of the emergency flasher switch hole. it had no detectable odor but i wasn't comfortable with my face so close to the airbag in case it was gonna blow.. i cycled the emergency flasher switch and there was a "pop" and that's when my turn lamp blew i guess.. but the pop came from in the column.

Thanks for any suggestions / advice
"i am not a mechanic, duh!"

[Whomp]

gosh i see a couple people (13?) have looked at this and no one has answered, is it that hard? or did i not say pretty please :-)

[brooster42]

Well, nobody is answering because you car's got spooks! Yesiree, I seen it before. That powdery looking mist that come out of the Emer Flasher hole.....sure as shootin that was ECTOPLASM! Yep...I'd bet my boots on it. Poltergeists they call em. And you have one!

Of course, if you had been able to detect an electrical burning smell from that mist, then I would say you have a little "short" in your steering column. And it is probably the Emer Flasher switch that is shorted. And I'll bet a dollar that the wire from your turn signal runs riht through that Emer switch. I'll bet another dollar that the pop you heard actually came rom the fuse box and if you look, you'll find a fuse burned out. You owners manual will point you to the turn signal or emergency flasher fuse location so you don't have to spend a lot of time hunting. In fact, I think it is marked right on the fuse box itself. After you replace the fuse, the rear turn signal will probably work so you don't have to know how to get to it. But if it doesn't, then use a test light to check the wires in the rear to see if turn signal juice is getting there (hopefully you can find the wires even if you don't see the lights). My guess is that everything will be fine after you replace the fuse, but if not, I suspect the Emer switch or wiring in the column. If everything works after replacing the fuse, DON'T EVER TURN ON THE FLASHERS AGAIN!

But all the meanderings of my mind don't mean a thing cause you didn't smell any electrical burning which means you have ghosts. So what you need to do is call Ghostbusters or have your local priest do an excorcism. Good luck.

[Whomp]

hehe thanks for an entertaining post and i'll see if i owe you a dollar or two in a second.. but about that bulb.. what the heck is up with that?

[Whomp]

well, it's not a fuse, checked 'em all, but i don't think you owe me a dollar; you may be right on with your possessed car theory. the flashers had started going 2x normal speed; then they went 4x, now they go so fast they just make a buzzing sound.

oh and just in case you thought i wasn't a complete moron, the turn signal lamp is not behind the stupid light bar.
and the bulb seems fine and replacing it didn't fix the problem.