Left trafficator direct short

[Borris55]

We have a 1955 with trafficators only and no other indicators, we have recently got this car and it already had fault with the left trafficator, however the right trafficator works fine. We've tried disconnecting the trafficator but this still causes the fuse to blow, so the fault is somewhere in the loom. Are there common places in the loom prone to failure. Thanks, John

[mogbob]

John
On a basic level the " short " occurs where the live wire/ wires are in contact with metal and there is movement that wears away the wire insulation exposing the bare wire.Typically this will be where the loom / wires pass through the bodywork or the loom is held in position with a metal clip.Other examples might be where the rubber / plastic covers on connectors have been knocked, exposing the bare metal which contacts bodywork or other metalwork which will go to earth.

Adopt the logical approach and trace the length of the wire from start to finish.Given the age of the vehicles we are dealing with rubber grommets ( unless replaced recently ) will be past their sell by date, giving little or no protection.
Bob

[Borris55]

Thanks for your help will do that but of got other pressing matters in and at the moment such as renewing brake system and taken the engine out for a bit of a Spring clean.

[ianmack]

The left trafficator feed is one of the longest wires on the car, assuming it's right hand drive. From the dash it goes in the main loom to the boot, where a single wire passes behind the rear seat and round to the trafficator. The loom gives some protection so I would start by examining the exposed run of wire. Alternatively you could disconnect both ends and run a fresh wire from the switch to the trafficator, routing it to minimise risk of damage or chafing.

I had to fit an alternative brake light wire on another old car where tracing the original would have meant stripping out much of then interior.