turn signals

[Guest larryF]

It' the silly stuff that confuses me. My turn signals will work, sort of, when I put in a new flasher. They never behave properly, flashing at a random tempo, til the flasher burns out, in a few days. Anyone got any ideas? Is there a special flasher thingy I should be using?

Larry Folta

[Guest LouZ]

Larry,

The Signal Flasher in our TCs works on a load principal. The correct load causes the flasher to interrupt(flash) correctly. the wrong load will function incorrectly. Wrong load could come from bad grounds shorted wires/contacts or even the wrong bulbs. The bulbs on our TCs are not unusual in themselves but there use and placement are unusual by US common use standards.

Our tail lights use 2 common bulbs; but 2 of the same bulbs in the same light is unusual, and the front bulb use and placement, can also be considered strange. Therefore it is not uncommon to find the wrong bulbs in places.

Rear lights, for Stop, Tail, Signal = US# 1157 They use 2 of the same bulbs in each light. They just doubled them up because 1 bulb was not bright enough.

Front lights, for Signal use #1156, 21 watt... for Park use #97, 4 watt. Be very careful the front park/signal light housing is marked for the correct position of each bulb. wrong bulb in wrong place can cause the plastic housing to distort. Also use good quality flasher. The flasher in the fuse holder is for the 4way only. The signal light flasher is hanging behind the fuse panel. Good Luck, Lou

[Guest My TC Toy]

Lou is perfectly correct, the bulbs in our TC's is a somewhat unusual combination. Maybe the flasher you are using is too light for the load. If you havn't done so, try a HD or electronic unit, the latter adjust automatically for the load, although it is more expensive.

[Guest larryF]

Thanks for the info, gents. I will be checking bulbs & wires tomorrow. I currently have an electronic flasher in place - it lasted a week, as opposed to the 2-3 days of the three dollar models.

Larry

By the way, happy father's day to us all. My soldier boys are coming home tonight.

[Guest LouZ]

That Flasher revelation worries me. I think we have an electrical crossover. I hope you find an incorrect bulb causing it. Look carefully for something like a single contact bulb in place of a double contact. also check the wires carefully that feed the lights. Good Luck, Lou

[rofly1]

In my 89 tc the turn signal lights would work as long as the headlights werent turned on. They flashed very slowly. The 4 way flashers would not work. I took it to an auto electronics shop and it took a week but one fusable link was corroded. The harness under the passenger side carpet and seat was also corroded. He said the car had seen a lot of water. It was dry at this time. 28 dollars in parts and 400 dollars in labor. Interesting enough, the seat switches had broken as they will do and when I picked up the car they were fixed. except the driver's side switch was put in backwards. push it forward the seat goes back etc

roger