OK, this is the otherwise very excellent 1997 V90 I bought the other day,.

When the main lights are off, the directionals "appear" to operate normally when watching the dash lights. In point of fact, when the right directional is on, the right rear back up light flashes.

When I turn the main lights on (headlights, or parking) The directionals cease to operate at all and the right rear back up light comes on. On the dash the right directional arrow remains lit, but does not flash,.

The "Hazard" switch seems to work, but once again, the right rear back up light flashes.

I have pulled down a wiring diagram from the net. the color codes shown for the wires seem only "similar". In other words, some color codes exist, others do not seen to.

At the tail lamp the wires "pretty much" match the color code tags on the taillight unit.

I am wondering if he taillight unit is from a 960 and for some reason varies.

Never having mastered electricity, or even served an apprenticeship,I am at wits end and cannot pass inspection.

Any help, or suggestion, much appreciated.

SUCCESS

I can claim little credit. After 3 days of changing bulbs, checking grounds, etc,. While Googling the problem I found the exact answer,.

The problem,in short, was that the right front directional (I had spent all my time on the rear). That is a multi filament bulb. The solder on the terminals had melted and the terminals were joined. Using my trusty pocket knife I cut out the excess solder between the terminals, re-installed the bulb, and voila, all as it should be.

Check the grounds in the left front fender and clean them. The headlights are strong enough to rob the other lights of ground.

Once, our '90 744 TI would stall when the headlights were turned to high beam - its in the FAQ!

Also check other grounds in the left front, my car had a ground by or on the cage that holds the anti-lock brake components.

When checking grounds, items mounted in plastic, such as lights have ground wires, and therefore grounding points. Items that only have a power wire going to them obtain their ground through contact with the engine or body.

On a car of your's age, you should consider unplugging wires, cleaning the contacts, adding dielectric grease and zip tying any that you can.

Bad connections can drive you crazy!

Do one connector each week - that way if you have a problem, you know where to look.

It sounds like they are just plugged up wrong.
Unplug the wire from the right rear backup light and connect it to the right rear turn signal. Then see if the signals work properly. Then with the ignition on, the car not running, put it in reverse and see if the backup lights work. Probably the wire that was plugged up to the right rear turn signal is for the backup light.

Jimo