Author Topic: Turn Signal Woes. (Read 4554 times)

8v-of-fury · « **on:** February 25, 2009, 02:43:47 pm »

OK, so i don't have a Bentley, wish I did. My left front turn signal has stopped working. For a while when u selected left signal it would do absolutely nothing. Now it turns the dash light solid and buzzes from the turn signal relay. HOWEVER here's the catch, the right side still works.. they use the same blinker for left right and 4-way don't they? The 4 way still blinks except only the right side blinks. And i know its not the left bulbs, because not only do they all work on running lights, i have replaced them. Doesn't seem that it could be an external wiring problem, because what would cause this?

I need to get this fixed because i make frequent trips to Toronto area and it is a nightmare trying to turn left anywhere without a signal down there.

If worse comes to worst I will wire in my own blinker relay and use the stock stuff.

Anyhow, I need help. If you can't figure out whats wrong, then give me some tips on how to wire up my own, using the stock wiring and switch.

p.s I posted the same thing on the vortex, don't be offended :lol: they just have more numbers.. I am %100 confident this site will return a better more detailed answer.. but i need it fast sadly

lol thanks alot.

Jeremy.

EDIT: Ill try and get a video of what i mean is going on and post it up.

8v-of-fury · « **Reply #1 on:** February 25, 2009, 06:45:12 pm »

This is from my Haynes. The turn signal switch gets its power from the emergency flasher relay?which gets it from the emergency flasher switch.. man this is the simplest confusing diagram ever

OK so what i am getting is that when you select say the left signal.. there is one flasher.. and it gets turned on due to the draw of the signals coming on.. and then it gets fed to the turn signal switch which decides the left bank of blinkers is gonna blink..

Crap.. i confused myself and now i don't get it anymore.. lol I think i have an attention disorder?

I need help

Op-Ivy · « **Reply #2 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:55:57 pm »

My bet would be the switch on the turn signal handle itself. I've seen those go before and has about the same symptoms.

8v-of-fury · « **Reply #3 on:** February 25, 2009, 08:57:28 pm »

probably the best place to start, to take the wheel off and check out the switch itself.. thanks for the input. then if that checks out i will check the grounds.

camboscams · « **Reply #4 on:** February 25, 2009, 09:42:55 pm »

Here's what happened to me, wether it helps or not

The deal with my car was that the right side blinked faster then the left side... I switched all the bulbs from left to right, all of them worked as before... So i went to the auto parts store and we sat out in the parking lot and tried all the relays he had untill we found one that worked... Weird that some sworked and some did'nt.... maybe you sould try that

Hope it helps

8v-of-fury · « **Reply #5 on:** February 25, 2009, 10:37:16 pm »

I have eliminated a possibility. It is not the switch, i took that all apart and jumped the wires. It still does the exact same thing without the switch.

So I guess the next is to try and find the grounds.. would there be any grounds under the dash or would they be all on the body after the lights.. yeah.

Is it some certain relay? Like is it a certain blinker relay? or is it just a normal relay? I found a three pin electronic flasher at crap tire.. maybe it will be a direct replacement. ?

I didn't get to check the grounds.. its snowing like a bugger here.. its insane..

burn_your_money · « **Reply #6 on:** February 26, 2009, 07:43:36 am »

Check for power at the lights. There should be 2 prongs at the bottom of the socket. Ground is the side of the socket.

8v-of-fury · « **Reply #7 on:** February 26, 2009, 03:03:46 pm »

Quote from: "burn_your_money"

Check for power at the lights. There should be 2 prongs at the bottom of the socket. Ground is the side of the socket.

Well i think there is power at the lights because the running lights work.... Hey wouldn't that eliminate the bad ground at the body too? if the running lights work?

CODE4LS1 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 28, 2009, 10:03:29 pm »

My money os on the flasher.

jtanguay · « **Reply #9 on:** March 01, 2009, 12:59:19 am »

i think its just a loose connection or corroded wire somewhere.

a multimeter will be invaluable in determining the problem though.

Vincent Waldon · « **Reply #10 on:** March 01, 2009, 01:34:08 am »

Quote from: "8v-of-fury"

Hey wouldn't that eliminate the bad ground at the body too? if the running lights work?

You'd think so, but unfortunately... no. The running lights and turn signals share a common point... which is normally ground... but if that ground goes away the current will often find a different way home. For example, the running lights can ground via the turn signal bulb itself (in fact, you can use this to your advantage if you want winking running lights on the side, but that's a different thread for another day ;-) ).

Bottom line... many freaky electrical issues with bizarre symptoms on an automobile are caused by rogue current paths... most often caused by funky grounds.

The fact that the right side works suggests the blinker relay is OK... it will stop working (or flash faster) on purpose if it detects a problem, as a warning to the driver.

The systematic approach is to pull all your left turn signal and running light bulbs and check carefully for corrosion. Give 'em a good sanding, throw in new bulbs if you are at all in doubt. While you have it apart check the sockets carefully... find the brown wire at each and trace where it goes. Nice clean ground connection?? Needs some sanding as well??

If you have a multimeter or test light even better... carefully check for ground and power at all left turn sockets.

Failing all that, the other common turn signal failure (which it looks like you've already eliminated) is the signal stalk itself. Luckly they're cheap and common at junkyards. :wink:

Kudagra · « **Reply #11 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:21:16 am »

I had a problem with the left side headlight would only work in low beam. It was funny since I swapped bulbs and it was the same.

Turns out I had a bad left headlight fuse..it was getting its power some other way. Funky german wiring.

Go back to basics.. Check the fuses..ALL OF THEM. Then get a replacement relay..Id say go to the yard and grab them all. The A/c relay might have some stupid tie into the flasher system.its just the kind of thing VW engineers would design. THEN as stated before ohm out the grounds so you know they are good. There should be none or almost no resistance on the ground wire (usually brown). Then go to the switch....check the left side blinker is getting power to the flasher..you just need to physically trace the wires and find out where the break is.

rabbitman · « **Reply #12 on:** March 02, 2009, 09:01:44 pm »

I've had the ground come loose inside the blinker socket, took forever to figure out.

8v-of-fury · « **Reply #13 on:** March 02, 2009, 09:18:07 pm »

So i have quite a few things to check out

thats always a good sign.. and in this weather.. its better to get it all done at once then to have to make 6 trips outside

Lets see, theres the ground at the socket, Trace the wires, replace the relay to make sure, check all grounds, check for power at the sockets, and figure out how to use my multimeter

Seriously how do you use it? I have this one;

They had them on sale at crap tire, %80 off! and it comes with a case, needle nose pliers, and a set of wire strippers.. So for $10 i picked it up

but now that i think of it, the only function I know, is to check the voltage of a battery or socket in a house...

i am multimeter n00b lol

I will search the internet for how to use it, but if anyone knows tell me! LOL

Thanks guys.

jtanguay · « **Reply #14 on:** March 02, 2009, 10:56:33 pm »

thats a decent multimeter for that price! i bought a cheapie from princess auto. it did come with a temperature probe though, which is pretty cool!

so how to use it... if you want to check for 12vDC, put the selector on the V with the line and the dashed line (symbol for DC power - the other symbol on the V is for AC). stick one end on a ground. bare metal on body should work and to test that, put one end on the 12v terminal to make sure. then just stick the red end on the wire/lead you wish to test.

to test for continuity you can use the resistance function. some will have a continuity tester though which is audible with a beep. pretty self explanatory, just tough both ends of the bare wire (the probes should be able to pierce right through the sheathing) the resistance should read 0 if the wire/contact is good. (the Ohms is bottom left of your multimeter)