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signal flasher....threw in the towel

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wingsandwheels

wingsandwheels

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i am an originality fanatic, i enjoy the challenge...except for some ignition components (Lucas unavailable or questionable quality), horns (OE unavailable) and a very, very few other items, my car is as BL built it.

i've had a slow driver's side signal as long as I've had the car. not bad, but if the battery was a bit low and i had lights on w/ my foot on the brake it was borderline.

after tracing, cleaning and dielectric pasting almost every connection and ground that i could access, i finally threw in the towel. i went to the local Consuler Auto Parts and bought their 'premium' electronic flasher.

i now have perfectly timed and matching signals but can't shake a slight feeling of defeat....or feeling like i cribbed a test...figure i'd find some sympathy here.

that said, the electronic flasher works great.
 
I took the electronic flasher path several years ago after a couple of expensive NOS Lucas ones failed on me. I used regular Tridon flashers instead and have not had any failures yet. Originality is great but on a car you want to drive regularly there is a lot to be said for reliability.
 
wingsandwheels said:
after tracing, cleaning and dielectric pasting almost every connection and ground that i could access,
Click to expand...
Could actually be a bad wire. It's happened before. The original flasher is deliberately sensitive to how much current the lamps draw, so you can tell when a bulb is out. Your "electronic" replacement probably is not.
 
It can also be the wattage of the bulbs (yes, there are different versions of nearly identical looking bulbs). If you don't have the right bulbs, the flash rate will not be "right" with the stock flasher. As Randall said, the electronic flashers don't really pay attention to the current draw. As such, one downside of the electronic flashers is that they won't change rate to alert you when a bulb has burned out. However... I can live with that.
 
make sure that the filaments are right in the bulbs. I ran into a couple of cars with them backwards, where the turn signals where the "dim" filament, rather than the other way round.

That would give you the oddball flash. and depending on circumstance, be hardly noticeable.
 
Gentlemen,
I do not know what is wrong with my 1966 TR4a electrical system..Except for the horns I have never had an electrical problem since I bought the car in 1976, and still has original Lucas components. No, it never has been used daily but have driven it 50K of the present 82K miles. Yes, have done lots mechanically, some for problems.
 
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