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Flasher woes!

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frankBN6

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Good morning, but not for me. I just installed a new flasher in my 1959 100-6 BN6, after checking bulbs, fuses, connections, etc., and I still can't get all directionals to work properly. Front and rear running lights work, so do brake lights and rear passenger side directional. However, driver side rear directional and both front directionals still refuse to flash. Before investing $135 in a new flasher relay, I thought I'd ask the group to see if I've missed something before replacing the flasher relay. Thanks!
 
I don't know if your '59 has the same flasher as my '66 BJ8, but I went to the NAPA store and bought a 550 flasher to replace the three pin connection flasher that had failed. It worked fine and cost about $6. That would be a cheap way to find out if your flasher is bad before buying the "correct" flasher.
Charlie
 
Hi Frank,
Do you have a shop manual? Section N14 has a trouble shooting guide for the flasher relay. It also shows how to set the air gaps on the contacts, which probably need a cleaning.
 
Welcome to the forum Frank,
The cleaning that Greg is talking about is best done with a burnishing blade/file. I don't have any idea where to buy one these days as nobody uses mechanical relays for anything anymore. If you can locate a burnishing blade, just slip it between the relay contact points and clean all of the points. That may take care of the problem at least temporarily. If it does fix it for a while but the problem eventually returns, buy one of those Moss relays that looks like the original on the outside but contains modern components on the inside.
Ed
 
Just for the record, all the cars before the two different lights for parking and turn signals, ( 2nd quarter 1965 ), had both a flasher that Charlie is talking about and a flasher relay on the driver's side inner fender that Greg is talking about.
 
Thanks Greg. I have a manual and quite frankly I was reluctant to try the relay adjustment (sounds complicated and problematic) for fear that I would make the problem worse. Currently, ,my brake lights function correctly, so I can drive my car safely and use old fashion hand-signals to compensate for the lack of directionals. If I messed up the adjustment I thought I might loose the brake lights and have a more serious problem. I replaced the flasher, but that didn't make a difference. Sounds like I should just bite the bullet and give the relay adjustment a shot.
Frank
 
Thanks Ed for the welcome and the feedback. After posting my first request for help, I used the site's search capability and found a number of references to flasher problems. One suggested using a simple piece of paper in lieu of a burnishing file to clean the contacts. I haven't tried it yet and will let you know if it works (assuming I can't find a burnishing file). I replaced the flasher and that didn't help, so the flasher relay is more likely to be the problem. On the other hand, another search reference talked about the importance of grounds and the flasher bulb on the dash as potential sources of the problem. I replaced the dash bulb and tried to clean up the ground. This may be linked to my problem too as I was able to get one front and one more rear directional to flash, but only sporadically and only after a considerable delay after activating the directional. I'm going to clean all my grounds before trying the relay cleaning and adjustment. It sounds like the new electronic relay may however be the best way to achieve better reliability.

Frank
 
frankBN6 said:
It sounds like the new electronic relay may however be the best way to achieve better reliability.
Click to expand...

If your relay is original, I'd say that was pretty reliable. Makin' it about 50 years. :bow:
 
Excellent point! I try to keep as much as possible original on my car, so I'm hoping the relay adjustment works out.

Frank
 
Try removing the terminals from the relay on the inside wing (fender), one by one and clean them up and the surrounding area on the relay, I had a similar problem and tracked it down to those 6 terminals, apply a little vaseline to each on replacement and after that no problems.

Bob
 
Thanks Bob. I was planning to remove, disassemble, and adjust the relay unit this weekend. I'll try your suggestion first. Hopefully it will save me some work and it's less likely to make my problem worse.

Frank
 
1st, Welcome to The Forum FRank !!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]It's good to know they are still available.[/QUOTE]

Gents, I got a pair of points files (single package) at AutoZone just a few weeks ago. Couple bucks :thumbsup:

Ed
 
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