My left rear turn signals stopped working recently so I did the easy thing first and replaced the bulbs. This made no difference. The tail lights work but not the turn signal. The left front flashes rapidly and the right side signals work so I figure it's not the flasher unit. Before I start tearing apart the dash to trace wires to the fuse block, is there something else I should be considering?
Check ALL of the bulbs! Every damn one of them. It shounds like maybe you have a bulb out, but have not gotten the right one yet.
The other thing is maybe your switch.
But I would check every single bulb in the car, have someone run them all with you outside as they turn each one on and press the brakes.
Kate
What year is this car? Do the brake lights share the same filaments as the turn signals? If so, do the brake lights work? If they work and the turn signal doesn't, it may be pointing to a bad turn signal switch.
Also, is the flasher the correct one or has someone substituted an emergency flasher? If a turn signal bulb fails, the signal should slow down or just stay on assuming it has the original TungSol unit. The thing that makes it flash faster is an increased load such as a short. My guess is that the line going to the trunk has the short. First place to check is the socket(s).
Since when? How about an 84 SVO, a 95 taurus, 93 tbird, 89 aerostar...all flash faster when one turn filament is out.
You have it backwards.
But that's the place to look.. for an open circuit
I'm an old guy too. I am talking about the plastic TungSol flasher which is light blue for two lights or yellow for three lights. When you apply another light to the circuit (a trailer for instance), the flasher blinks faster under increased load. When there are less than the calibrated number of bulbs, the flasher does not heat up as much and the bi-metallic flashes slower or not at all. Of course, if you put an aluminum canned emergency flasher, it won't work this way. This is why I asked for more information. It's this way on my 65, 67, and 72.
If he has the flasher I menti>
And they havn't done that in many years. My 89 speeds up when it loses a bulb, but add a trailer and it gets dimmer. All newer cars started working this way in the mid 80s like my 85 Toyota truck.
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