Pelican Parts Forums - Both Indicator warning lights flash: Fixed!

Now that PORBOY is mobile I have started on the 100 or so small things that need sorting. The indicator warning lights have been bugging me when I turned left or right the correct warning light in the tach would flash once then both left and right would flash together. I read up the many threads on this common problem and pulled out the flasher relay to clean the relay contacts. Refitted and no change. Now all my light housings have good earths and all the bulbs are working fine, just that annoying double flash. I stopped in at my local auto electrician to buy another flasher relay, which the front counter man eventually found and was getting the price for me. (Genuine Hella unit) Then the shop owner got off the phone (old school auto electrician) and quizzed me about the symptoms. He told me to bring the car around and he would fix it in 2 minutes. He then showed me a genuine Hella bulb and a cheap chinese Narva bulb and he claimed that if I fitted genuine 21W Hella units it would fix it. He claimed the Narva bulbs from your average parts store may be marked as 21W but they are not up to spec, and I had to agree the filaments look more substantial in the Hella.

I went home having agreed to drive the Porsche around Saturday morning. Well I sat inside about 15 mins then just had to have a look and sure enough Narva 21W bulbs fitted all around. I searched out the original Hella bulbs I had replaced because they looked a bit corroded and gave them a tickle up with emery cloth and fitted them.

You guessed it, the problem is fixed and I swear the Hella bulbs are brighter, hence more current. This explains why the 1st flash was always good when the Narva bulbs were cold and draw max current. Once warmed up they draw less current and will not drive the flasher relay correctly causing the double warning light flashing. Brilliant. I will call by the auto electrician and tell him he was right and buy a full set of Hella bulbs from him.