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Old 10-30-2008, 11:07 AM
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Default LED issues

I've been running LEDs for my front turn signals for quite some time, and I installed an EL12 flasher a long time ago.

Today, I got LEDs for the rear turns (export tails, too! ), and the switchback LED bulbs for my front turns.

They only flash with the hazards on now, and will not flash for either turn signal.

Anyone else had this issue?

I checked to make sure I hadn't put the EL12 in for the hazards, instead of the turns, and I didn't. I can't even find the hazard flasher, but the hazards still work with the EL12 unplugged.

Everything worked fine this morning before I swapped the bulbs.
Old 10-30-2008, 11:24 AM
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Finally found the hazard flasher. Here's the deal...

EL12 as hazard flasher, Thermal flasher for turns...
Nothing works.

EL12 as turn flasher, thermal for hazards...
Hazards work, turn signals don't.

Maybe something fried that EL12? I don't know, but I have to have turn signals by tonite, and I really don't want to throw the regular bulbs back in.
Old 10-30-2008, 03:51 PM
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Nothing fried your flasher. Did you replace both the hazard and the turn signal flasher?
Old 10-30-2008, 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by Brian2006
Nothing fried your flasher. Did you replace both the hazard and the turn signal flasher?
Actually something did fry my flasher. Replaced with another EL12 and the turn signals started working again.

I have a thermal flasher on the hazards. Apparently, the extra load from running all 4 bulbs is enough to make the thermal flasher happy for the hazards. All is working well now, except for some reason, the bulbs now quit color changing while the turn signal is on. They were changing amber to white before the flasher died, now they are only doing amber to off. However, they still light up white when the turn signal is off and the headlights are on.
Old 11-02-2008, 03:48 AM
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that should be normal.... from what i have read about them it is. they should stay with the amber until the signal from the flasher isnt recieved any more. then will go back to white for steady on
Old 11-04-2008, 12:22 PM
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I never did get them working right. I thought maybe they had stopped flashing white/amber and went to amber/off as a result of installing the rear LED turn bulbs. So I tried swapping them out for the filament bulbs in the rear.

Now my new flasher is burnt out , and still no results. I'm going with some regular amber LEDs for the turns, these things are way too much of a hassle.
Old 11-04-2008, 02:25 PM
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I put LED bulbs in the Caprice and the thermal flasher
wouldn't go.

You could put a shunt resistor across the left and
right tail turns, there will be some value that makes
the thermal flasher happy. But that's probably 5-10W.
Maybe get a 2-pack of 10-ohm, 10W resistors at
Radio Shack (if they haven't gotten rid of that too)
and if that doesn't make it go, parallel two per side.




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