Signal light is flashing at hyperspeed

[Vella's Alero]

My car recently is signaling super fast when I signal to the Right. When I signal left it is normal and when I use the hazard button it is normal as well.

Now the front flashing indicator on the right is a little dim but it is not from the bulb. I traded bulbs left to right, same thing happened. I bought new bulbs and the same thing happened.

No other bulbs are burnt out. I know the system runs on resistance and it thinks that there is a bulb out, but there isn't. I was told it could be the flasher canister (if it has one) or a ground wire is not doing it's job.

My three questions:

1) what else could it be?

2) Is our car equipped with a flasher canister?

3) How do I go about checking the ground wire?

[cherrington17]

clean the contacts.

get a Digital Multimeter, and test the voltage at the bulb. Might have a bad wire somewhere...

[Vella's Alero]

That was one of the first things I checked. The contacts are all spic and span and look like new. What would I set the multimeter at to test it out...never really used it before for much of anything.

[cavaliers60]

blinker fluid might be low....







in all seriousness, sounds like a short somewhere... Especially if the lights are dim on that side.

[cherrington17]

set the multimeter on VOLTAGE or V and test both contacts with the light on... see if its getting 12V (or whatever running voltage you have on the battery/alt)

[hok666]

clean the contacts that might work it worked for me...

[Vella's Alero]

I checked the voltage at the contacts and the left side switches between 7.6 to 13.5(when turn signal is flashing) and the right side is only at 0.3 (in the same instance) would this be a ground issue, or should I replace the socket and see if it is that? I am completely lost with this and the wiring looks like it would be an b1tch to find a problem in.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Vella's Alero]

Originally Posted by cavaliers60

blinker fluid might be low....

I already checked that too. I topped it off after flushing the system but that didn't seem to help. Thanks though.

[cherrington17]

the blink rate is done by wattage of the bulb. (if resistance is there, then it blinks normal. if not, then its hyper)

so the left is 7.6-13.5 and the right is 0.3 and ?

[Vella's Alero]

^Just 0.3 it didn't fluctute at all. That's why I was thinking the socket but I don't know.

[Gr1m]

this will happen a couple of ways:
you installed LED blinkers without proper resistors
one of your bulbs is shot or on its way out
theres a short somewhere in the blinker system (not likely imo)

now, just remember that when you turn your signals on, the front blinker and the rear blinkers light up. the ones in the back are dual filament which means you might think that the bulb is good because it lights up with your headlights but the second filament that lights up for the signals is burnt out.

so did you try to change both the front and the rear signals or just the front? (the way you typed your diagnoses is kind of leading me to believe you did not change anything on the back of the car.

[Vella's Alero]

I didn' touch anything in the back because they were flashing but I will check that. Would that also affect the front bulb flashing dimly?

[Gr1m]

no, but definitely check and replace the rear lights

[clutch1]

Let me clarify something... our parking lights in the front have TWO filaments, yes???

One is a filament with higher resistance, that burns dimmer, for parking lights.
One is a filament with lower resistance , that burns bright, which is the flashing one.

Correct??

Go see if BOTH filaments are working properly (visually)

Also, HOW did you measure voltage.. bulb out? Or did you backprobe the wires??

Finally, is you little bitty side marker bulb working correctly?? IIRC it shouuuuld be on w/ parking lights, then turn off when the inner parking light bright filament flashes, and turn back on when the bright filament turns off... so that way it alternates, right?

[Vella's Alero]

1) Yes

2a)
2b) I believe so for both

3) checked voltage by bulb out first and got the non-fluctuating 0.3 reading. I just tried to change the socket itself today seeing if that was the problem and when I had them spliced, i tested the wires and the black with brown produced same readings as the left bulb when I tested that one with bulb out (fluctuating from 7ish-12ish) but when I went with blue and black I got the 0.3 reading again. What does each wire control (Blue, Brown Black)?

4)and yes that is working correctly.


@Gr1m - I did test out new rear bulbs and it still does it. Those ones are working well.




So can anyone tell me what those three wires come from and what each is for individually? I am pretty sure black is ground but not sure about the others. Thanks

[clutch1]

Black goes straight from socket to ground... shared grounding point for both sides..

Brown is parking lights wire... it'll go hot when the parking lights turn on.. it should have constant 12..

Blue is your turn flasher wire. That should go to 12 on and off when it's turned to turn signal.

The blue comes from IP left fuse block.. but goes through the underhood fuse block.

The brown comes from the underhood fuse block, specifically the auto park lamp control relay.


Here's the deal. The blue wire on your little parking bulb, AND on the big parking bulb are the same wire, coming from the same source. If your little one is working, but not the big one, that leads me to believe the wire is damaged between the underhood fuse block, and big bulb socket. That's where the 2 branch off from a splice.

Got get your jumper wires, and WITH THE BULBS IN.. backprobe the blue wire on both sockets with a paper clip (or strip off a little insulation, your call), then connect those two points together with a jumper wire.

Does it work right now??

[clutch1]

Here's a picture of what I'm 90% sure is going on

Purple line is where you should jump across, and it should work again....

Oops just realized I did it on the left side of the diagram... but it's the same on the right side, just with the darkblue wire.

[Vella's Alero]

Ok, I swear my car heals itself...It was raining today and I went driving. All of a sudden it would work properly and then another time it wouldn't. As I kept driving though it would work properly more and more. I haven't done anything to it other than what I've posted. But now my outer markers are not working at all on both sides. I have no clue what is going on now. I might just take it to my mechanic and get them to diagnose it.

Something that might be related or not...My door lock on my driver door sometimes won't automatically unlock when I press unlock, turn off the car, or use my keyfob. Whenever it is colder or damp though it will work. Is this related?

[Cliff8928]

Check that the splice pack is securely bolted down...

[clutch1]

Ok lol that brings a whole new dimension. Disregard what I thought I had narrowed down.