Not on a hotrod, it's on my 46 Willys Jeep. It uses a (not sure how old?) SIGNALSTAT 900 switch mounted to the column: It's always works perfectly for the 12+ years I've owned the jeep, except lately I've noticed that when I turn on the driver signal light, it turns on but it does NOT flash on and off. It stays on constant until I put the lever back to the middle position (off). Passenger side flashes just fine. When I put the hazards on, both sides flash on and off as they should. I've replaced the flasher, and it's still behaving the same. Any ideas on how to fix this? I don't even know where to start, since clearly electricity is getting to the bulb, I can't see how it would be a bad wire or a bad connection or whatever.
If the bulbs on the side not flashing aren't pulling enough current due to bad connections, you'll get that happening. If you pull one bulb out on the left side and reduce the current draw you should see it so the same thing when switched to that side too. Phil
thanks! I'll check the grounds! Does it make sense that they flash just fine when the hazards are on? that's what's confusing me!
first check that all the bulbs are good. That's the behavior when a bulb burns out, or loses it's ground.
With signal lights, usually, only TWO bulbs flash at once. When one burns out, the other is not enough resistance to cause flasher to operate. Assuming four ways are using same flasher, even with one bulb burned out there are three still working. You have a bulb burned out. Ben
You can get a pair of electronic plug-in flashers that do not depend on amp draw to flash... frequency set with a set screw... made for LED bulbs.. https://www.google.com/search?q=ele...droid-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
That circuit has different requirements. I tried keeping with bimetallic flasher units but the quality of them is poor these days- that and at extended idle the battery voltage would sag enough that the signals wouldn't blink until I revved the engine (mostly fault of the generator having an issue and my battery being past its sell-by date). I put in an electronic flasher designed for LED bulbs (rated 0.02W to 45W range) which switches the filament lights just fine- heck even the telltale in the dash is enough to make it flash- there are no contacts to burn out either. On the flip side, this particular type doesn't make any noise when it is on so you do have to remember to cancel it once you don't need the turn signal any more. The other disadvantage is if one bulb burns you know about it with a bi-metallic flasher because it does what you describe above; with an electronic one it gives no warning so you need to be more vigilant with your bulb checks. Phil
Like everyone said, check the grounds. Keep in mind this could be a dirty/corroded lamp socket, loose or rusty connection between the lamp assembly and the body mount, or a poor connection on a ground wire if one is used. An electronic flasher can 'fix' this, but only masks the problem. As both sides use the same flasher, if one side works it's not a flasher problem.
Have you gone out and checked the lights on the Jeep? Or just watched the indicator on the turn signal switch? Bones
A bad signal flasher will in some cases not blink on the side with the longest run of wire to the bulbs from the flasher and blink only on the side with the shortest run from the flasher. Any auto techs taking automotive service excellence (ase) tests this is a question on the test ,that stumps most.