Fast Blinking Left Turn Signal
 

My left turn signal blinks 2x the right. Based on my extensive use of the search button, I have:

Checked G106 and G116 grounds, both good
Checked fuses 9&10 on fuse block #1. Both good
Checked continuity and function of all bulbs. They all work/none has a broken filament.

The hazards and right turn signal work fine. Based on this, can I assume the blinker relay is good or do they fail partially?

With the hazards on, the right front bulb flashes twice as bright as the left, but all corners blink in unison at the normal speed.

With the key off but the turn signal witched to either left or right, the appropriate parking lights are on, however the left front is twice as bright as the right front. I get the same result when I swap the affected bulbs.

Any suggestions as to what to try next?

Thanks,

Mark,

I'm in your same boat, except both of my turn signals do this. Its very annoying and I can't seem to figure out why it is happening. My running lights all work perfectly at the proper brightness, but for some reason the marker lights (when that particularly turn signal is activated) do not light up with their corresponding blinking turn signal.

I hope someone has the answer for other people in this same situation.

-Matt

Good luck, Matt,

I been living with it for a while - I just assumed it away as a bad bulb but now that I know it's not, it'll drive me fricken crazy. In my case, I have had the bumper off when I put in an oil cooler scoop and I haven't torn it back down to double check all those hard to reach connections behind the bulb reflectors. I'm not sure that that's when this started anyhow. I was hoping someone would point to a gaping fault (as usually is the case) in my diagnostic process so far.

Blinker
 

I think it's a ground problem. Clean and sandpaper all the contacts. If that doesn't work try to make ground (temporarily) as near as possible to the blinker and see if that solves the problem.

Kees.
SmileWavy

Sounds like ground problems to me. I had similar problems -- especially when I was using the brakes. I took apart the tail light assemblies, cleaned all of the grounds and put everything back together and that pretty much resolved the problem (except when the assemblies have gotten wet.)

Thanks guys,

I'll check the grounds again. They both appeared dry and clean but they do both have several other things on them and it's worth a second look.

cheap relays can do that. the official porsche unit usually fixes it. just fixed one on an '85 yesterday. the dimmer front light can also do it if the ground or power connection is poor.

John,

That's interesting - the relay that is in there is a VW/Audi part. Could that be the problem?

Thanks,

My turn signals blink crazy-fast in the Winter. But normal speed in the Summer. I guess I should check the ground connections as well...

later carreras used a 3 prong 111 953 227D relay. even the original ones can get wacky.

I've developed the exact same problem last night. I had a burnt bulb in the left front marker and put in another bulb of different variety, now it blinks fast. so I did a search and came up with this
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67332&highlight=fast+bl inker

I think my "different" bulb is loading the blinker incorrectly. I'm picking up a new bulb on my way home this evening and will try that. I also have a burnt high beam as well so that bulb will also be replaced, whether that is raleted to the problem is unknown.

John W. Your avatar: '53 Buick, right?

48 buick convert. one of my herd. it has a '42 grille though, which i like better.

John,
Looking at our host, the later model relay has three prongs, while the earlier relay has four prongs. I have the four prong style. Is there a way to easily switch to the later style.

By the way here's a picture of my relay (as I just thought to look for it and have a look at it).
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1160072235.jpg
The damage is a result of who ever converted my car did not re-mount the relay's "socket". So it was exposed to water entering my turnk via the swiss cheese holes in the bottom deck. Just another thing I've got to fix with this car.
-Matt

That's the One
 

Thanks, JW, that's the part number I have on the one in my car which I'll go ahead and replace, because I can.

As a quick comparo, the sub-$11 part from our host (on par with the same part from my local VW dealer) is $18 and change from the Stealer, which, of course, is not in stock . Why the hell does Porsche demonstrate time and again that they don't want my parts business?

One other possibility:

Bulb wattage issue: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/242578-dim-indicator-bulbs-both-illuminated.html?highlight=bulb

John Walker - Not the same problem but related and I wonder if you've ever had any luck fixing it:

My right turn signal indicator arrow in the dash gauge flashes bright the first flash, then immediately flashes dimmer. Doesn't do it on my left inicator arrow. No idea where to start with that one.

See the note above. I believe this is a wattage issue, but will defer to Mr Walker's expertise in the event he contradicts me.

I had similar problems that bugged me for months. Similar to Dan, in Pasadena, my turn signal would flash bright once, then both sides would flash together, but dim. (on the gauge, not on the actual lights.)

My suggestion is similar to many: clean the bulb sockets and make sure the spring-loaded parts are working correctly. Make sure you have EXACTLY the right kind of bulbs in there. Turn on the signal, or the reverse lights, or whatever, and then put the bulb in; that way you'll know when you got it right. Make sure it's seated correctly. Go all the way around, one by one, and make sure every lamp is working, not just the one youre worried about.

My 4 months on and off of checking grounds, cleaning my turn signal stalk switch, chasing wires, etc. turned out to be a few mismatched PO bulbs and some dirty bulb sockets.

Thanks Gogar, A horse sense fix. One by one, cleaning sockets with sandpaper and using a die electric grease, cleaning the grounds meticulously. I'll do a search, I don't know where all the grounds on a 911 are. Anyone?

P.S. Forgot to mention, your description...Flash bright once then both flash dimly...on the guage...that is EXACTLY my problem. You say this fixed yours? I'm on it. Thanks again, Dan:D

AFAIK, the grounds for each corner assembly are tied together and ground to the frame near each assembly. Of course, there's a zillion ground points in the car.

I guess if you think it may be a ground issue, you could do a continuity test with a meter and just use a known good ground or your battery ground or something, then go around and touch the ground point of each bulb socket and see if you have continuity.

Yeah, I like it too, especially as I just spent 30+ mins. cleaning the darned grounds (they really did need it) without success. I do have loose tail light sockets which I will address but I've been careful to make sure the bulbs all are seated well for the diagnostic phase. I also plan to check wattages/bulb numbers all around.

Gogar,
I thought there were like 6 or 8 main grounds spread around. Of course you're right that there are dozens in total.

My other biggest electrical problems are the left front signal socket has the wires disconnected because the diecast "socket" has "times" or stamped crimps (for lack of a better name) that don't hold the sliding plate with the wires on it - you've gotta see it. I think I've got to remove the whole bumper to get it out and decide if I can fix those stamped tines or if I need a new signal assy. I've tried over and over and can't get my fingers in there to fix.

Also my backup lights don't work. Hoping its as simple as a new switch on the trans?

And finally, my brake light pressure switches are losing it. Takes a little too much pedal pressure to activate them. They still work, but....puckers me up sometimes watching my rearveiw mirror to see if drivers see my brake lights!:eek: Otherwise everything's just great!

Yes, Dan. I'm not totally up on the specifics. Maybe someone who is can chime in.
As far as your front assemblies, they're not the same as mine, so I dunno.

My backup lights didn't work, so I put the car in reverse, took the lenses off, and wiggled the bulbs around and they came on. I lucked out, though.

The flasher needs to see a certain amount of current to work properly. I believe the inrush current causes the buld to draw enough current on the first flash, but subsequent flashes do not draw enough current to allow the relay to operate properly.

I am 99% sure you arenot drawing enough current through your bulbs, either due to resistance in the circuit, or the bulbs are the wrong wattage.

I got fast blinker fixed. It turns out the bulb was not making propper contact (as others have pointed out). I pulled it out, cleaned the contacts on bulb and socket and reinserted. Now it works. It may fail again because I can wiggle it and make it fail. There are two filaments in the bulb: I'll call them #1, closest to the socket and #2, taller and further from the socket. #1 is the blinker, #2 is the marker light. When the bulb is not making proper contact #1 does not light so #2 becomes the blinker and does so at a higher frequency. Hope this helps.

Root Cause(s) Identified, not yet fixed
 

Thanks to all the good help and advice in this thread, I've finally identified the causes of my fast left blink.

I was bummed this morning when the new hazard/blinker relay only yielded louder, faster blinking on the left side (apparently the blinker fluid in the new relays is reformulated and improved ;) ), so I decided to replace all the light bulbs as I could no longer read the numbers on several of them.

Through the bulb replacement process, I discovered that the PO had used the double filament stop/blinker bulbs in the front that are intended for the rears. I eagerly replaced those with the proper 7506 single filament bulb and was rewarded with no turn signal at all. Crap. On further probing, I saw that the rears were not working at all due to loose sockets. Once I tweaked the bulbs enough to work for testing, the signal ights worked perfectly. Now I just need to go back and read up on how to snug up those bulb sockets.

Thanks again for everyone's help nd advice!

Good info here, thanks everyone.

That's great and describes ALMOST EXACTLY my experience with my car (sans the relay part.) Congratulations! Now it's your turn, Dan.

BTW, the "solder blob" technique snugged the bulbs in the rear holders right up. I cut a hole in a small cardboard box to use as bulb holder while I soldered. Worked great.

O.K. folks let me throw another log on the fire. Just recently my turn signal indicators (79 SC) will both stay lit after completing a turn and cancelling. When I use the signal I hear a sort of humming noise. I'm thinking my signal relay is kaput. If that's the case, how do I get to the relay to swap it out? I'm guessing its behind the dash since that is where the noise is coming from. Thanks all.

Howie,

That's where it is. It's most easily accessible from the trunk. To locate, turn the key to "on" move the turn indicator up or down and follow the hum. Don't confuse with the door buzzer - they are close together.

Good Luck,

Thanks Mark. Got it!

No problem, Howie.

I see you're in Sacto - I got my replacement unit for $11 and change at Niello VW at Fulton and Arden if you need the part today.