I just got my 69 Malibu back from the paint shop. In the process of putting it back together; bumpers, trim, rubber, etc.

I previously re-wired the entire car and everything worked fine. When I re-installed the front bumper and plugged in the parking lights, the drivers side doesn't come on. I know the bulb is good because I switched it with the passenger's side which works fine. Also, the left turn indicator stays on constantly. It does blink if I push the signal switch down, as does the parking light.

I guess it's a short somewhere but I don't know where. I tested the plug at the harness side and there is 12 volts there. I tested continuity between socket and plug on the fixture side and it is fine. I then plugged it back in and tested the contact in the socket and there is only about 1 volt there.

Can anybody "shine some light" on this for me. Everything else works and looks real sweet with brand new lenses and trim.

Change the socket and you should be good to go.

Is that difficult to do? Everything looks pretty sealed up into the housing. Also, are those sockets readily available?

You just cut the wires going into the old one and wire them up to the new one (preferably with solder). They can be purchased for $7.95 apiece from www.paddockparts.com

Shoot, I forgot to mention this is the front parking/signal with 2 wires. Were you talking about the rear light?

No, I just looked up the front parking light socket in my Paddock catalog and this is the one. Should be an easy fix with the new socket.

O.K., cool. Thanks so much for the help.

If you don't see the sockets listed on their webpage you can call them at 1-800-428-4319. I know they have them because they are listed in their catalog. Good luck man.

Your wiring is fine, and the socket is fine. You have simply lost the ground to the light. When you paint, the layer of paint will often prevent the light mounting screws from making a good ground to the body.
Turn on the lights and start messing with the light mounting screws or bumper bolts. I'll bet it will start flickering. When you get the paint out from under the mount points, the light will work again. If you check any screws or bolts that were removed for the paint job, you should find your problem. If the lights were not removed from the bumper, look at the bumper bolts that were removed and put back in as your problem.
You can cheat the ground system by running a separate ground wire from the park light housing to the body or frame under the hood somewhere. That should fix it permanently.

The clue here is that your dash indicator is on all the time with the park lights.

You can check for another strange thing. Turn on your 4 way flashers. I think you will find that the front park lights are alternating with their blink instead of blinking in unison.

Thanks, Gary. This makes sense because I painted the bumper brackets as well as the inside of the bumper to hide the rust. But will the flasher still work with little/no ground? When I trip the turn signal, the blinker works fine and the signal indicator flashes normal.

Bingo! That did the trick. I ran a jumper wire between the housing and the hood bumper post to create a temporary ground. I'll make sure all the bolts/brackets make good contacts.

Thanks for all the help.