I've got some general weirdness going on with a turn signal bulb. bulb does not work in the socket, but does work when hooked up to a 12v source. i show 12v at the socket for the bulb on the hot side. I also show continuity between the neg post on my battery and the ground wire at the socket. i'm wondering if there is such a thing as a ground that isn't good enough, and how would I test it?

 

To test a ground put a voltmeter between the suspected bad ground and a known good ground. You should have LESS than 0.05 volts.

 

bad ground could absolutely be the problem. unfortunately, the best way to test it is to get another wire (new, preferably) and wire it up. see if there's any buildup of gunk on the ground point and, if so, steel-wool that badboy (wirebrush is good too) til you see shiney metal

 

You can also check the voltage at the light with your load (lightbulb) attached. Check the voltage using the ground for the bulb as well as the hot for the bulb as the connection points for the multimeter. With the load connected, the voltage will "drop-out". Do this first then use the technique from the previous post checking for voltage between the grounds. If you get a voltage drop and the ground test shows good, then you have a power supply problem and not a ground problem.

 

OK cool. Thanks

 

Or just use the tongue method. j/k