Turn signal Issues

So about amonth ago my left turn signal started acting up despite the fact that both bulbs are still working. When I turn it on, it blinks at the normal rate, but each on cycle is shorter than it would typically be. If I have the brakes on also, then the blinking is slower. Perhaps half the frequency it should be. I always drive with my headlights on(that switch never moves.) Yesterday figured I'd see if having the parking lights on or off effects the signals since apparently the brake lights do. Sure enough, if the parking lights are on, it behaves as I just outlined above, but if they are off, the blinking is much faster. Going from parking lights only to headlights and parking lights makes no difference.

I figured maybe there is a crossed wire between the parking lights circuit and the left turn signal. So I unplugged the rear turn signal/ parking light assembly and upon turning on the turn signal it does nothing at all. Turning on my parking lights causes my left indicator on my dash to light up steadily, and turning them off causes it to go out.

Now I'm stumped.

Ideas?

Perhaps I should just replace the bulbs anyways and clean all the contacts I can get to in that system.

Have a good one, Bill

Reply to
weelliott
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I admit to being ignorant of the bulb types involved, but 'in the old days' I once saw a dual-element bulb which caused weird problems when one element had 'sagged' and was touching the other element. Maybe check for that?

Reply to
1 Lucky Texan

My first motion would be to check the ground (chassis) connections of every bulb socket, preferably with all bulbs rmoved..... Asbjørn

Reply to
Asbjørn

My STRONG suspicion is a shorted bulb - I know everyone on usenet says it can't happen - but I've seen more than my share over 40+ years as a mechanic.

Reply to
clare

What year is this? I have been having the same issue with my '89. It will work fine for days, then all of a sudden the next 5 times I use them it will do what you're saying, and then it will settle down again for days.

Reply to
Hachiroku

My money is on a bad ground for the left (rear) turn signal/brake/parking light assembly. Best thing is that this is easily tested for although fixing it is sometimes a bother. For it to be a shorted lamp, and I've seen a couple of these over the years, it would require that all three functions be present in a single bulb and that seems quite impossible.

Reply to
John McGaw

Not at all imposible, as most american cars (as well as many european and some Japanese) did it that way for decades - but a bad ground COULD also be the problem.

Reply to
clare

Looks like we're having the same problem at around the same time. I'm thinking of replacing the relays.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

Bad earth on left rear light assembly.

Test/confirm by providing an alternative (temporary) earth to the lamp assembly.

AB

Reply to
AB

Hide quoted text -

This is a 98. I think it's probably quite similar to the first generation legacy.

Reply to
weelliott

Have you tried anything else first? I'm planning to pick up the bulbs on teh way home today and try that first. I hadn't heard of a sagging filament, but swapping in two new bulbs seems easy enough. It is probably unrelated, but my wife was driving away in my car the other day and I noticed when she first started the car up, the bulb that lights up the taillights on the tailgate(not even sure if that's considered the tailights, but the red bit on the tailgate) was out on the right side, then came on after a few seconds, suggesting an intermittent connection. Perhaps having one bad lightbulb in the parking light circuit is somehow affecting my turn signals? I don't know. I'll lt you guys know if swapping bulbs does anything for me.

Bill

Reply to
weelliott

It looks like my problem was the turn signal stalk itself, on the steering wheel. I bought a new "lighting assembly" as they call it in Subaru speak, and installed it myself. When I took off the old lighting assembly, I noticed it was slippery with oil. It felt like WD-40 or some other lubricating oil had seeped into the conductors. I have no idea how the oil could've gotten there, and I don't think the steering column requires that kind of lubricant. It's possible that it got sprayed in there when I was lubricating some clutch springs, but those springs were much further down the steering column.

However, now I know how to take the steering column covers off, so I can replace more things myself. Saved $150 in labour doing it myself. The replacement lighting assembly was only $110 by itself.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

There's NOTHING wrong with the Earth!!!

;) I had a 1973 Volvo 1800ES and the tachometer said "Negative Earth"

I had no idea at that time what it meant, but it was so cool that's what we named the band! :)

Reply to
Hachiroku

My problem turned out to be the bulb in the front turn signal. It was loose, allowing the juice that should have been going to the turn signal circuit to go to the parking light circuit. That is why when I took the bulb out in teh rear, there was essentially no bulb left in the circuit for that turn signal, so turning it on yielded no blinking, but then turning my parking lights on when the turn signal was on yielded the indicator light to be constantly illuminated. I went to replace the bulb and noticed the one in there was a little loose. I pulled it out, reseated it correctly, and it worked fine. That was Friday. However, just this morning, (Monday) it started doing it again. So perhaps there is a little wear on either the bulb or the socket. I'm going to try a new bulb and see what I get. I guess if even the new bulb comes loose I can stick a little dab of silicone caulk or something on the side of the bulb before sticking it in.

Bill

Reply to
weelliott

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