Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

[Chuck G.]

Annoying... at least to me.

My 63. The LT side blinkers flash at a rate faster than the RT side blinkers.

I've pulled all the bulbs (6). They're all 1034's. They all look good. All the sockets look good. The illumination of the TS bulbs looks the same when flashing. When you put the brake lights on, the illumination looks equal.

Thoughts?

Ground wire somewhere?

TS Switch on the column?

TIA.

Chuck

[Harry S.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Chuck, do you have a spare 63 flasher to try? It should not make a difference just a thought.

[Edward J.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Chuck, Generally what I see is a ground circuit to one of the bulbs when he flash rate is not the same, check the front bulbs and rear bulbs tonight to just make sure the brightness is the same. another thing I sometimes will see is when the park lamps are turned on a turn signal lamp on dash will be on.

[Chuck G.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Chuck, do you have a spare 63 flasher to try? It should not make a difference just a thought.

I have several, Harry. Some are the aluminum "can" variety and some are the square anodized ones. I'll give that a try.

Chuck, Generally what I see is a ground circuit to one of the bulbs when he flash rate is not the same, check the front bulbs and rear bulbs tonight to just make sure the brightness is the same. another thing I sometimes will see is when the park lamps are turned on a turn signal lamp on dash will be on.

I do not have a turn signal "cherry" light up on the dash when the PL's are on. I'm going to check the grounds. The rears are easy. The fronts? NOT so easy.

Chuck

[Paul J.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Chuck, like Ed said, check the brightness of the bulbs on each side. If they're not the same, it usually is a ground issue.

I also recall some discussion in the past about inconsistency of some of the flashing bulbs from Chinese manufacturers.

Paul

[Mark E.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

It's easy to replace all six bulbs using the same brand. They dim with age, so it's not a bad idea to replace them anyway.
If that didn't help, a voltage drop test would be my next step.

[David B.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

As a troubleshooting step, you could swap the bulbs from one side to the other, and see if the different flash rates follow the bulbs or not.

[Chuck G.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

I might have some time to play with the car today, and will try everyone's suggestions. The bulbs are all former "NOS" 1034 Tung Sol bulbs that were given to me by a fellow NCRS buddy back in Maryland. I had a box of 12. so I still have some left that I can swap in/out. They all looked fine, but............

I also have several spare flashers, both the aluminum domed can type and the anodized aluminum rectangular type that I can try.

Chuck

[Richard M.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Chuck, The grounds for the Park lamps are in the 3 prong socket that passes through the front of the inner skirts. This area is prone to corrosion so if it is a bad ground or main+V feed wire issue it may be a connection issue there on one side. Since the right is slower than the left, I think it may be lower resistance on the left connector(s), drawing more current, which may make the flasher heat up and switch faster on that side, at least in theory.

To do a voltage drop test you'd probably have to remove the flasher and make a jumper to connect to the 2 terminals in the flasher socket. Then you could use the voltmeter to get the consistent (non-flashing) readings at each lamp socket.

One other thought if you get no conclusive results with the 6 exterior lamp positions, there are 2 other lamps in the flasher circuit......the dash indicator bulbs. If one of those is a substantially different candlepower, it may cause a flash rate issue too. I hope it's not that as they're a bugger to get at.

Rich

[Chuck G.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Thanks again to all. I tried several different flashers today, and although each flashes at a slightly different rate, the difference in speed between the LT and RT turn signals remains.

Tomorrow, I'll get out my electric meter and start checking the front lights. My gut feeling is that one of them, most likely the RT side is the culprit.

[Timothy B.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Hi Chuck,

I know it's a PIA but you could switch the front parking lights side to side to see if the problem moves to the other side. That will at least eliminate the light assembly. It's got to be resistance somewhere, do you recall the issue before the steering column work, issues there can be the T/S switch and plug.

[Chuck G.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Hi Chuck,

I know it's a PIA but you could switch the front parking lights side to side to see if the problem moves to the other side. That will at least eliminate the light assembly. It's got to be resistance somewhere, do you recall the issue before the steering column work, issues there can be the T/S switch and plug.

Good idea, Tim. I have one spare 63 only parking light assembly that I could swap.

To answer your question, yes... I had this issue before the column work, so I'm certain the recent removal/reinstallation didn't cause it.

Chuck

[Chuck G.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

I found that I have a slight voltage drop to the RT front turn signal.

I checked both front parking light assemblies and they test out fine. No resistance in any of the wires.

BUT, plugging a probe into the end of the wiring harness to the parking light assemblies, I get a full 12V to the LT side and only about 10.5V to the RT side.

Next step is to unplug the harnesses under the master cylinder and see if there is a problem there.

[Richard M.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

I found that I have a slight voltage drop to the RT front turn signal.

I checked both front parking light assemblies and they test out fine. No resistance in any of the wires.

BUT, plugging a probe into the end of the wiring harness to the parking light assemblies, I get a full 12V to the LT side and only about 10.5V to the RT side.

Next step is to unplug the harnesses under the master cylinder and see if there is a problem there.

Chuck, when you probed each side, was your meter ground at a common clean chassis point or each BLK wire at each plug? I'd ground the meter both ways to see if the ground is showing different readings too. That comes through the bulkhead, but the ground also ties to the headlight motor grounds and the horn relay mount ground on the radiator support.

Rich

[Chuck G.]

Re: Turn Signal Flash Rates Different LT. vs. RT.

Chuck, when you probed each side, was your meter ground at a common clean chassis point or each BLK wire at each plug? I'd ground the meter both ways to see if the ground is showing different readings too. That comes through the bulkhead, but the ground also ties to the headlight motor grounds and the horn relay mount ground on the radiator support.

Rich

Hi Rich.

I just probed the ground in each plug.

Later today, I'm going to unplug the bulkhead connectors under the master cylinder and see if I find anything. I also dug out my "spare" 63 only turn signal switch... the one that screws to the column. I'll check that out too.

What information would I gain by probing both a clean chassis ground as opposed to the harness connector plug ground?

Remember, I'm no EE.

Gotta keep it simple for us old retired dentists in Florida.

Chuck