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Indicator blinking too fast

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DerekJ

DerekJ

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Here's one of those Lucas puzzles. It was working fine before I repaired something else but now it isn't!

In preparing my car I did a routine check of all lights and indicators. Everything fine except the front right side light wasn't working. All four indicators were working OK. The bulb was fine so the problem must have been the wiring to the side light. It was and I traced it to a faulty bulb holder. I purchased a new one and installed it, the side light works fine but the right side indicators now flash at too fast a speed whereas previously they were fine. Left side work OK.

Can someone refresh my memory on what the likely fault is?
 
I've had an issue like that in another car on occasion. In that case its always been a poor contact. For me pulling and reseating the bulb a couple times seemed to scuff up any oxidation enough on the spade connections to return normal function. For you with a new bulb holder, make sure all the connections are good and that it is grounding properly, that will most likely fix it since it started with the swap. Less likely, problems with the flasher unit itself since that would affect both directions.
 
DerekJ said:
Here's one of those Lucas puzzles. It was working fine before I repaired something else but now it isn't!

In preparing my car I did a routine check of all lights and indicators. Everything fine except the front right side light wasn't working. All four indicators were working OK. The bulb was fine so the problem must have been the wiring to the side light. It was and I traced it to a faulty bulb holder. I purchased a new one and installed it, the side light works fine but the right side indicators now flash at too fast a speed whereas previously they were fine. Left side work OK.

Can someone refresh my memory on what the likely fault is?
Click to expand...
Be sure to check the ground wire next to the light fixture.
 
Subsequent to my post It did work properly for a brief period then went back to fast operation. The bulb holder unit is earthed to the body by a couple of self tappers and the problem might be an intermittent earthing issue relating to those.

Any other ideas?
 
Just to add. Switching the wires doesn't solve the problem, all it does is give you a 21 watt side light instead of 6 watts. However as the bulb can only fit in the holder one direction it is important to get the wires in the correct connections to avoid a very bright side light.
 
Derek, the reason a flasher flashes faster is when there is more current going thru it. It makes the bi-metal strip heat up and open quicker, then it cools and closes, then current makes it open again. And example is it you are towing a trailer etc with a vehicle that does not have a tow package. Usually the flasher in that kind of vehicle is a lighter duty and when you hook up the trailer lights you will sometimes get your turnsignals to flash really fast. Because the excess wattage of the additional trailer lights on the flasher make it handle more current. So something you did has increased the current going thru the flasher. It you did swap wires on a socket and one filament is more wattage than the other , (which it is on the Healey), that probably added more current on the flasher. Another possibility might be that you have pinched a wire at the socket or somewhere or the socket is bad and allowing a very minor short circuit to occur. That would then draw more current thru the flasher as well. Dave.
 
Thats an interesting point Dave. I will recheck the installation, it is possible I have pinched a wire when I pushed the holder back into its rubber covering.
 
Hi Derek,

Did you touch any of your other directional lights? Before searching for phantom issues, check and/or replace the indicator bulb on the same side opposite end of the car. Using a 3 connector flasher (used on BJ8s), a fast flash usually indicates a failing or failed bulb and a slow flash indicates a shorted circuit. However, if you are using a 2 connector flasher, a fast flash will indicate a shorted circuit and a slow flash shows a burned bulb.

Although I believe your car also uses a 3 pronged flasher, I am not sure. Good luck,
Ray (64BJ8P1)
 
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Ray, My car does have the three pronged flasher. I did have a bit of a problem getting the bulb inserted into the new holder. It didn't turn very much. I'll re=examine that, maybe its not correctly seated and acts like its failing.
 
Derek:

I have a BT7 Tri-Carb with the single green turn signal indicator light in the dash above the steering wheel. When I would engage the turn signal (either way), the indicator light would flash quickly 3-4 times, and then go out. The fault was that both rear stop/tail/turn lights were wired backward. Once I corrected the wiring in the rear lights, everything worked fine.

Jerry
 
I had a new traffic/running light assembly that was wired backwards from Moss. It only took me a couple of years to figure that one out.
 
The indicators are now working fine. Not sure exactly what the 'fix' was. I removed the holder again and ensured the wires were not kinked, they may have been a little pinched. I tested them again and they worked much better, correctly spaced blinking then a little fast blinking. I then cleaned up the three contacts on the flasher unit (which actually looked ok), and tried again. Bingo it worked! I guess the flasher unit is pretty sensitive to current variations and it doesn't take much to be out for it mis-perform.
 
Derek--

Inasmuch as these are so often grounding issues I would at least temporarily establish a perfect ground and see what effect that has. To be sure, a self-tapper into a chassis member or the like provides fertile ground for corrosion and lack of conductivity.

As an aside, up until about 7-8 years ago the main area of (over)focus in my life was boating and I lived aboard a 48' offshore power cruiser full or part time for many years. A marine environment is tough on electrical connections and I learned through hard experience that so often problems were the result of faulty or intermittent grounds. As an example, corrosion always seemed to build up on the negative battery terminals faster than on the positive.

I am sure that someone that will explain this phenomenon--perhaps it is due to Bernoulli's Principle or it is a function of the well-known Coriolus Effect. In any case I would start by inspecting the negative connections.
 
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