blinkers acting up

[ncgator]

'79 911SC
New here. Hope someone can help. Today my blinkers/hazards are blinking REAL fast. The relay that I find under the dash (making the rapid blinking noise) is a round, six hole female and, of course, the plug is male. It looks nothing like the part shown on Pelican parts (P903495) as the relay for this year, make, model. Am I looking at the wrong part? All blinkers blink (real fast) so all bulbs are working. I need to pass inspection so please help if you can.

Thanks!

[dshepp806]

I'd check for a lost ground at a bulb.....wrong bulbs will sometimes do the same.

Reseat 'em.


Doyle
'

[ncgator]

Thanks. Found the relay under the bonnet and it clicks/vibrates/blinks real fast. I pulled it and the hazards/blinkers stopped working. It has the same numbers & shape as the part shown at Pelican's. Guess I'll spend the twenty bucks and order it. I can re-seat all the bulbs while waiting for delivery.

Wish I had found this forum earlier.

Thanks again. Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcome.

[ncgator]

No sources. What else would you suggest?

[bfunke]

NCGator,

I have a spare flasher PN 914-618-303-11 brand new in box you can have free of charge. It's a black plastic rectangular with four terminals marked 31/C/49/49a. Send me you address and I'll send it to you.

[Superman]

Fast-blinking is often the result of either a wrong bulb, or a weak or disconnected ground. Usually the latter.

[ncgator]

Bulbs haven't been replaced in years so I don't think it's a wrong bulb(s). The biggest problem I see is the car sits in my basement a LOT more than I drive it. Bad bulb connection a possible problem.

Bryan - thanks for your generous offer. Let me check/reseat the bulbs first. I'll contact you via email if this doesn't work.

[ncgator]

pm sent?

[ncgator]

What?

[dshepp806]

Remove the bulbs individually,..and see if you've a reduction in flashing frequency...if you do u've ID'd the resistive ground connection.

Of course, if it's "relay-related",..that's another matter...

As Superman noted, isolate a possible bulb ground connection FIRST!

Doyle

[Superman]

I doubt it's the relay. Relays are pretty reliable. Connections....ground connections....are not. You could play around with an ohm meter, to look at the resistance between the car chassis and the ground connection to the bulb. But first, I think I'd just play with the bulbs. Wiggle them. Leave the lenses off until you find the problem.

Wait a minute. You say ALL blinkers are blinking too fast? Usually with a bad ground, one side behaves differently from the other side. Still, my money is on a bad connection somewhere. Wiggle them all.

[ncgator]

left blinker, right blinker, or hazards, all blink rapidly. How do I tell if it's a ground problem? Lights must have a ground to light, don't they?

[Gogar]

I agree with the other fellas;

take off all four of your turn/brake lenses, and remove the bulbs and clean them up, and clean up the socket as well. Contact cleaner, little wire toothbrush, or similar. The contacts of all the lighting elements on the car get dirty and start to cause problems.

Make sure to pull the relay and reseat it a time or two also.

[ncgator]

I removed, sanded, contact cleaner, ... all four bulbs as recommended. Still having the same rapid flashing. Today I received a new relay. Other than being a little smaller, all post are labelled like the original and the prong set-up is the same. When I put the new relay in, all four blinkers come on BUT none of them flash. I'm going to play some more but, again, all suggestions welcome.

[scottb]

Others have suggested this, but you haven't responded that you've done it: HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR GROUNDS? Even if they look OK, they could have corrosion. You should remove each ground connection and clean the contacts before reassembling.

[ncgator]

Have not "checked the grounds" as you describe it; I thought the suggestion was to make sure the bulb to holder had clean/good contact, hence the sanding, brushing, cleaners, ... which includes the ground - bulb to bracket. Other than an ohmmeter reading from bracket to chassis, is there a better way to confirm solid grounds? Thanks!

[scottb]

Originally Posted by scottb

You should remove each ground connection and clean the contacts before reassembling.

Do a search here on the board to find out the location of the grounds. There are several around the car, and our cars are known for having funky electrical problems causes by corossion on ground connections. Even if a ground "looks" good, disconnect and clean it.

[midnight911]

i had my flasher fail, replaced it and solved the problem.

[LIRS6]

After 4 mos asleep, my car now has same rapid blinkers issue; on both left/right sides. All bulbs light up. Bought a relay, will try to replace tonite.

[david.avrahami@]

one of your front bulbs is burnt...replace it and the fast blinking will go to normal...