MGM Amber rear turn indicators

[colfair]

Hi everyone and greetings from damp and chilly ol' England!

I don't know if anyone can advise me but i've just bought a 'ninety six Grand Marquis and as you'll all know they have red turn indicators on the rear of the car, Well, unfortunately in this petty, narrow minded country that I call home, the requirement is for all cars made after the mid sixties to have amber rear turn indicators. SO, do you know of any export versions of the GM that have amber turn indicators? maybe Canada, or Mexico maybe? At the monent i have to have small amber indicators screwed on to the rear of the car which totally ruins the look! I was Going to get a CV as I know some years of that model had the amber indicators but this GM came along and was too good a deal to miss out on. Any help would be gratefully received.

[85crownHPP]

Ive seen some change the backup lights into blinkers, if you can give up the backup lights.

[mfmagicmike]

I ve had the same problem with my 89 crown Vic. Welcome to Europe!
If You are lucky:
You have 2 back up lights (1 on each side). Just replace the white bulbs with amber ones, and wire them with the auxiliary turn signals. If You want to, You can install an auxiliary back up light under the trunk, with the existant wires. But, as funny as it seems, back up lights are not obligatory in the EC.

[mfmagicmike]

If You are not lucky,
You donīt have 2 back up lights. And I have never seen rear light assys with an amber turn signal. It exists on the later Canadian Crown Vic models.

[colfair]

Thanks guys for the input, looks like it's gonna be the backup lights option then. Now that i've been told about that option i've just realised that most town car limos that ive seen in England have been converted in the same way.

[mfmagicmike]

If You are really motivated You can drill a small hole in the back of the back-up light assy (if there is enough space), next to the existing bulb holder and mount Your amber bulb separately. That way You would have both without having to add a look-ruining auxiliary back up light.
Off course, You need to be extra careful for not destroying Your rear light assy (super thin plastic), and You will have to find a bulb holder that fits (most difficult part of the job).
I havenīt done it myself yet, but will one day for sure!
Auxiliary lights are a total disgrace to these cars, and thus should be removed whenever possible.

[Grand Marquis GT]

Welcome!

Where in the UK are you? Dereck is down in Somerset, and can provide more insight on the light conversion. I was stationed there for 2 years, actually...

[sxcpotatoes]

I have a pair of 1197 LEDs or whatever the model number is for the taillights on a '91 MGM! I can't really use them either, I bought them to replace the front turn signal bulbs on my '91, and though the Ebay ad said they were model # 1196s, they were too big, the same size as my tail light bulbs.

I think a bright set of Amber LEDs will show through red taillights as Amber lights! Look into it, or if they'll fit, buy mine off of me! Thanks!

Of course you will need a $10 US, Tridon?Triton? Electronic Flasher to replace the thermal unit in your fuse box.

[91waggin]

Is there any way to wire this so that when you hit the brakes the ambers don't come on? Or so that when you hit the blinker, the amber lights up, but the red doesn't?

Basically, is there any way to turn the combined system into a separate system with ambers?

[Dereck]

Hi Colfair

I am not 100% sure about the Grand Marquis being a Town Car guy but before you go snipping wires you better check out whether you have an LCM (Lighting Control Module), Town Cars got them in 95 and I am geussing Grand Marqs got them as well. If you go blindly snipping and joining wires you WILL fry the LCM ($400 dollars worth) and the turn signals may not flash.

Turning back up lights into turn signals is easy I always add a relay as well so you can have dual purpose lights (Turn signals and back up) exceptthe back ups will be orange of course. You may also need to add some resistors to fool the LCM into thinking more bulbs are fitted than actually are.

To then reconfigure the stop lights I would take a feed to switch a relay off the hi-level brake light with power for the stop lights coming from either the maybe the luggage cruncher feed or run in another feed.

One other thing you will have to do is cut the wire for the stop light input on the multi-function switch.

Don't forget you will also need a rear fog light and some side turn signals up front usually on the fenders.

Here is a version (final version had a couple more relays for side turnsigals, switch control box and fog lights) of how I reconfigured my Excursion wiring so I could swicth between American and Euro style lighting




Regards

Dereck

[91waggin]

Hi Colfair

To then reconfigure the stop lights I would take a feed to switch a relay off the hi-level brake light with power for the stop lights coming from either the maybe the luggage cruncher feed or run in another feed.


Regards

Dereck

Took me awhile to figure out what the "luggage cruncher" was...lol.

[colfair]

Once again, thanks to everyone for the help (GM gt, i live up in north wales) and dereck, fortunatley (or not, depends how you look at it) the car is already registered in the UK so the side repeaters are already on it. Also, it's got the compulsory hi intensity rear fog light, which i'll re mount in a more discreet way when i get the time! I agree that all these add on lights do spoil the look of the rear but i'll get it back to a better state, Thanks , Colin