Blinkers "on the blink"

[Jimaiah]

We bought a 1981 Toyota Huntsman mini (72K) about a year and a half ago for $2700. I LOVE IT!!! I take my grandsons on trips and camping. I love the ease of handling and getting around in traffic and parking, AND THE GREAT GAS MILEAGE! While on our way home a couple of months ago, I was pulled over in Nevada just at dusk. The officer said that his concern was that on a 75 mph speed highway, my speed of about 55 - 60 on the uphills put me in danger of getting rearended by someone not paying attention. Just prior to getting stopped, I had decided to put on my emergency/hazzard flashers for this very same reason. The in-cab indicator was showing them as not operating. I was hoping that it was wrong, but alas, evidently not. I had noticed a couple of times in the recent past that the blinkers sometimes would not work immediately and had to be turned off and on a couple of times to work. Now they are just plain dead. My husband tried to replace the gizmo (I think it was a relay switch) under the dash, but that did not work. Any ideas out there? I really love to use it but am a little leary of driving without blinkers. I absolutely don't need an accident or any road rage episodes aimed at me, especially with the kids along! Thanks for any input!

[Derek up North]

Sounds like a flasher relay to me, but you say you've already replaced it. Were they dead before your husband replaced it with no change? Of course there's a possibility that the new one installed was defective right out of the box. It happens!

BTW, are 'blinkers' what I call 'turn indicators'?

[Jimaiah]

Yes and Yes! They were dead before he replaced it and no change. I'm calling blinkers what you probably refer to as turn indicators. Any idea what else it might be?

[Derek up North]

Well, like I said, the new relay you installed might be defective. If not, then you're looking at either a switch problem or a wiring problem. A lot of problems are caused by something as simple as corrosion on a ground point.

BTW, you've checked that it's not simply burned out bulbs?

BTW #2:- I hate electrics!!

[5Toyota]

does that have the knob on the dash for the four way flashers it was common that the reg sing nals left or right would not work a couple of pulls on the four way knob would most aways fix that i think was caused by crossion in the knob switch as it does not get used very often . but if nothing works i would try another flasher and the trouble could be in the turn signal parts on the whell it is all tied togeter. as DEREK SAYS CHECK ALL BULBS AND SOCKETS. SOME OF THEM USE A SEPERAT FLASHER FOR THE FOUR WAY AND A LIGHTER DUTY FLASHER FOR THE TURN SIGNALS MAKE SHURE YOU REPLACED THE RIGHT ONE

[waiter]

As 5Toyota says, common problem with dirty contacts on the button. My 4-way button is on top of the steering column and the 4-ways would not work. Spray WD40 or Contact cleaner into the knob and cycle it for a minute or two, spray more in. Mine now works OK.

ALSO - Verify that your turn signals work (check the lights, and also the brake lights.

John Mc

88 Dolphin 4 Auto

[hawk]

Jamaiah, I have a '90 with a somewhat similar problem. My left side turn signals quit working. Right side worked. Here's a bit of what I've learned and it may help you diagnose what you're up against. First, I checked the bulbs, because a turn signal that blinks quicker than normal indicates a burnt out bulb either front or rear. I found not burnt out bulbs. So, I tried taking out the flasher relay under the dash, having been told by a mechanic that that was the problem. I bought a new flasher/relay from an auto parts place that said that it would be a suitable replacement for the Toyota flasher.

Here's where the parts get weird. The original Toyota flasher was constructed in such a way that one prong was switched to an opposite side by using a connection that went from one side to the other. Really strange design. The auto parts guy, who seemed electrically savvy, said that the replacement took this switched polarity into account. However, the replacement does not work. If this makes little sense to you, likewise with me.

However, a friend who teaches auto shop at the local high school said to first see if your emergency flashers worked. If they do, it's not a flasher/relay problem. It could be another switch. And the only way to really find it it to follow each circuit and test each part. It's painstaking and therefore expensive if you have to have it done for you.

The suggestion to spray the contact points and switches with electrode cleaner does sometimes work. It's always worth a try.

[Boots]

Hi,

Here is my experience - 92 Ithasca Toy. Notice one day that rear brakes lights were not working properly, so I start the process of finding out what might be the problem. Some of the things I noticed:

When driving in normal daylight conditions, and no lights on, no problems. When driving with the headlights on (day or night) and I stepped on the brakes, I noticed that the shift selection indicator light dimmed when I stepped on the brakes (aha!) When I was driving with lights on and had cruise control on and stepped on brakes, cruise control would release (hmmm)

Here is what I did to fix this:

Inspected main (engine) battery: Battery connections clean. Measured battery voltage while engine was off (rig has been sitting all winter, 12.2 volts - so battery charger on for four hours)

Then rechecked voltage (14.5 volts DC)

Started engine, measured battery voltage, while engine was idling (14.3 volts DC), checked Amperage to both engine battery and coach battery (3 amps DC)

Removed lenses from the rear light assembly (numerous bulbs blown) and replaced all rear light bulbs.

With engine running, stepped on brakes, had someone watch rear brake lights (they came on)

Then, stepped and held on brakes, and turn on left turn signal, on the left rear brake light, (one bulb element went out, the other dimmed)

Then turned on parking lights (and clearance lights come on as well) and stepped on brakes and left signal (brake light, turn signal went out)

Measured amperage draw at the fuse panel (dc voltage went from 14.0 volts to 10 volts) this works out to about 3.5 amps of current draw.

Turn off all lights, turn signal worked, turned off signal, stepped on brakes (brakes lights worked) and released brake, turned on clearance/park lights (they all worked)

Conclusion:

Battery and charging system are in good shape.

Individual lights are in good shape.

Suspect it is the grounding connection to rear lights. Measured wire connection from light to ground, high resistance or no continuity.

Solution:

1 - I renewed or cleaned all of the grounding components (or as alternately you can buy a new rear light assembly) and repeated test. Improved light bulb performance, but still some diming on brake/park light (this is because this bulb draws a lot of wattage (26 watts or 2 amps).

2 - Went under the rig, and traced the factory installed ground wire from rear assembly lights towards front of rig. This single wiring harness comes from the front to a point about three from the rear of the rig, as a single wire group and then splits into two (left and right light assembly wiring harness) and this is where I found a factory problem. All of the wires in the wire assembly are the same size. So I assume over the ages these wires have aged, been abused, or suffered some form of heating (some sections of wiring insulation damaged) and cannot properly carry the electrical load to ground (the frame of the truck) and the ground wire needed replacing.

Cut open the plastic sheath protecting the (branching) wiring harness, found the dedicated ground wire (my color was purple and green) and replaced that original wire (AWG 16 guage) with an (larger) AWG 12 guage, ground rated wire. I did this to both the left and right side wire harnesses, note that I took the free end of the new ground wire and ran it to the frame and attached it to frame by drilling a small hole in the frame and fastened the ground wire with new stainless steel nuts and bolts to the frame. Problem solved.

The results are very good, I measured the voltage supply at each light, (14.3 volts) and re ran all the above mentioned tests with lights, brakes and turn signals on, all performed flawlessly. Measured the to ground voltage and current and all matched up with the design specifications.

As an aside, there is a wiring schematic on this site, which help clarify the wiring design and greatly shortened my efforts, so thanks to whom ever found and post it.

While this repair is not directly related to your problem of flasher failure, the approach I detailed here can be used to systematically find an electrical fault and fix it (hopefully).

I was quoted an estimate of 300 dollars to trouble shoot and fix this problem, which i think is reasonable considering how much time and effort it took me to do it, but by doing it myself (and with some luck), I still have my 300 dollars.

Many electrical faults (particularly lights can be traced back to poor grounds (particularly in old vehicles) so start there and see if you have good connections to the frame and or to the engine battery negative.

Boots