40 Special directionals

[Guest edalfa]

I've reassembled the front clip after the new radiator. Everything works fine but the left directional flashes more quickly than the right one. The other weird thing is that the dash indicator only only lights once for a left turn and then goes out. Any ideas?

Ed

[Guest simplyconnected]

I would normally say, you have a burned-out light bulb, but that's too simple. Truth is, your flasher unit works by current flow. All the amps (including your dash indicator lights) flows through a bi-metal strip, causing it to heat. The more current, the faster it heats. With enough heat, the bi-metal strip flexes, and breaks electrical current in the flasher unit until it cools (then it flexes back and starts the cycle again).

If you have mis-matched set of light bulbs (one side is brighter or different numbers), flasher times will become different from side to side. If you have a pinched wire going to a bulb, causing current to go to ground, the flasher will go real fast. Another problem, often overlooked, is a proper light bulb ground. You may use new bulbs, but they may not work properly because their current is going through rust. (Ever see a car with one headlight real dim?)

Check your wiring and your bulbs. It is easy to follow the wires, lifting them along the way to find any 'open or shorted' wires. Check terminal and plug connections, too. They must be tight.

If you are still baffled, check steering column wiring. Flasher current goes through the switch first. Hope this helps. - Dave

[Matt Harwood]

Check grounds first--they're easy! Simply cleaning the grounds on my turn signals on my '41 restored turn signal operation 100%. They were completely non-functional at first, and were very dim. The front fender lamps are probably grounded to the fenders themselves, so make sure the mounting bolts and surfaces are clean. To test, use a length of test wire to connect the negative battery terminal to the lamp housing and see if the flashers work properly.

Hope this helps.

[Guest edalfa]

I got my answer by accident. It turns out that when I removed the old bulb, I had deformed the socket enough that it was not making complete contact. I little gentle persuasion with water pump pliers and it works great.

Ed