I have recently purchased a one owner 1983 XJS very well kept. However, the turn signals did not work, I replaced the relay and they worked for a little and now they stopped and work here and there. When I took the cover off the tail lights to check all the bulbs I noticed this little arrangement. Has anyone else seen this before? Any recommendations on the turn signals working here and there. I know the relay is good. any advice is greatly appreciated… I love my cat and want to keep her running perfect.
This is what's going on in the light, only on the passenger side, is this a reason why my turn signals come and go?

 

Hold the hazard button slightly to engage it but not all the way, something about it surges electricity through the line and sometimes its just a matter of crud buildup, I'm fuzzy on the details but I remember reading this in some book and it worked as my turn signals were intermittent at best when I bought my car.

 

Looks to me like there is an earth/ground fault. Someone tried to fix it with the yellow wire. In fact you might be better buying a better one. Is the other the same ?

 

I second Mac.

Remove the YELLOW wire and test for continuity from the lamps to the car chassis you have less than 1ohm. If not you need to clean the grounds, there is one just under the antenna and another a little further forward (half way to the battery). Clean them up and check ohms again.

 

Someone has bodged the wiring. All the proper loom connections are behind the lamp unit. Why not pull the other side and look what should be there and reproduce it on the bodged side?

 

I will definetly going to try looking at the hazard trick and will most likely replace the rear tail light with a newer one. The driver side light does not have this "grounding" wiring going on. Thank you guys...

 

Might want to put a shirt on to before taking anymore pics

 

 

It was the hazard switch. She's all good now. Thank you again

 

Might still be worth fixing the bodged wiring though?

 

Previous owner might of added the wire not knowing about the hazard trick (kirby palm?) if it works it works!

 

I agree, fix it properly while you are there then forget it. IME wiring like this can cause all sorts of issues with lights glowing, indicators going out when you put your foot on the brake, and numerous other funny issues.

 

I really love the shape of the tail lights, and the power antenna.