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No right Blink. See if you can solve this one.

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tomgt6

Jedi Warrior
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OK, you guys did good on the last test. Lets see if you can solve this one.

1973 GT6.
I have all the lights working running, headlights, side markers, brake and backup lights.

Here is the issue. When I turn on the turn signal to the left it works fine. I get the lights blinking like they should.

I turn on the blinker to the right and all I get is a solid light. No blink.


To add some fun when I turn on the hazard lights I get all four to blink just fine.

I cleaned the blinker switch as well since I just had to clean the high/low switch.

So what is stopping this from blinking when I turn on the right blinker.
 
My wild guess (based on similar symptoms) -

You've got different amperage draw from the left and right signal bulbs. Maybe not "matched" watts.

So the flasher unit can't "handle" the right bulb; circuit doesn't "heat up" the flasher unit to cause the on/off cycle.

Just my two cents.
Tom
Edit: I imagine the hazard flasher unit is a different unit from the turn signal flasher unit.
 
:iagree:
Could also be a high resistance connection anywhere in the RH signals, even the switch contact. Some years back, Jonmac discovered that Flossie actually had enough corrosion in one of the wires, inside the insulation, to cause the problem.
 
I normally start with bad connections /grounds. If that were the case all the lights would probably not flash with the hazards. Try switching the bulbs left to right and see if you can duplicate the problem on the other side. If you do then it is the wrong bulb. (too low a wattage to make the flasher work).
 
TR3driver said:
:iagree:
Could also be a high resistance connection anywhere in the RH signals, even the switch contact. Some years back, Jonmac discovered that Flossie actually had enough corrosion in one of the wires, inside the insulation, to cause the problem.
Click to expand...

Randall - how would you go about testing that with a hand held circuit tester?

Thanks!
 
So one way to check the switch is to flop the wires between the right and left signals. Can do this easy under the steering wheel, I think. This would tell me if the switch is bad on one side or if there is a grounding, bulb or wire issue.
 
tdskip said:
Randall - how would you go about testing that with a hand held circuit tester?
Click to expand...
Well, first check the bulbs themselves by swapping them from side to side. Sometimes a bulb may change resistance enough to affect the turn flasher, but still light.

Another thing to check if these are dual filament bulbs is that the turn filaments can still be seen over the tail/marker filaments. The 'turn' filament should be signficantly brighter than the 'tail' filament (and hence draw more current), but sometimes the sockets get wired wrong, or bulbs installed backwards.

A side point: the turn flasher is deliberately sensitive to the amount of current drawn through it, so that you will see something "wrong" if a bulb burns out. The hazard flasher is designed differently, so it should continue to flash normally even if one or more bulbs are burned out.

Then my next step would probably be to bypass the flasher temporarily (so the turn signals should stay on constantly, making it much easier to take voltage readings) and check the voltage right at the bulb with the bulb lit. A high resistance wire or connection/ground will show up as reduced voltage with the bulb in the circuit.

And note that Occam's Razor does not always work ... sometimes it is a bunch of little problems rather than one big problem.
 
There are indeed two separate power sources for those flashing lights. One from the turn signal switch and one from the emergency flasher . Either can provide the power. Assumming that this is a mark3. Since the emergency works fine the problem is in the green/white wire from the flasher or in the ground of the right fixture . I am willing to bet that the problem is very near the rear of the car. check to see that the lights have equal brightness. It really sounds like there is a bad ground and the circuit is needing to return through another bulb to complete the circuit. one quick check is to attach a wire to a good ground and touch it to the metal base of the fixture. If that fixes it just clean the mounting and grounding leads. Look carefully to see if another bulb is glowing dimly. Good luck, wish I was there because I just love these little wiring puzzles.
 
The winner is!!!!!

The bulb was drawing to much current. Switched the bulb out with another one and all is good.
 
Now my curiosity has kicked in. Too much current should make it blink faster. Was the replacement bulb the same number as recommended or did you have to go to a different bulb? I had the same no-blink problem on my gt6+ and found that there is a separate ground wire on the front light that was not connected and oxidation was preventing ground through the fixture. Anyway, glad to hear it is working now.
 
I also think the bulb wattage was lower and not higher. If it were higher the flasher would blink faster like when you hook up trailer lights. If this is the case then I am the winner. What is the prize?
 
I am not sure if I put in a wrong bulb or the PO did it. I had to replace some bulbs on the car and don't remember which ones and I did some swapping as well.

As for the science behind it I will leave that up to someone else. I just know that the bulb was not right and switching it out fixed it.

So I think all of you were on the right trail. Good job guys. I will post a new puzzler for you soon.
 
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