Weird Turn Signal Issue
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From: San Luis Obispo, CA
Weird Turn Signal Issue I'm having a weird issue with my turn signals after installing all LED lights in the cabin and in the turn signals. I did buy a new electric flasher, so the left turn signal works fine. But when I try to use the right flasher, it seems to flash all of the lights on that circuit which includes the courtesy lights on the doors, HVAC, shift position, and the instrument cluster. The turn signal and DRL do not ever light up. With the headlights on, the right turn signal indicator lights up and trying the turn signal does nothing.
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? Is this just a short that I'm going to have to track down?
Thanks for any help!
Does anyone have any idea what this could be? Is this just a short that I'm going to have to track down?
Thanks for any help!
I wonder if your right flasher is short circuited across the parking light and DRL/turn signal filament? (Not sure - but I'd think this could cause the interior lights to flash and the parking light filament on your left side to flash.)
Can you try two things:
- Take the right side bulb out and put on the turn signal. Do all the other problems still happen? (Pray for this - it will be the easiest to fix.)
- Test your turn signals with the parking lights on and then off. Any differences? Does the left side still blink with the parking lights on?
Can you try two things:
- Take the right side bulb out and put on the turn signal. Do all the other problems still happen? (Pray for this - it will be the easiest to fix.)
- Test your turn signals with the parking lights on and then off. Any differences? Does the left side still blink with the parking lights on?
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From: San Luis Obispo, CA
Thanks wssix99,
I'll try to take a look at this in a couple days when I get my car back from the tranny shop. I have reason to believe that my HVAC lights may be shorted which I'm hoping is causing this problem. I almost had to destroy the housing to get a busted light out.
Thanks for your help!
I'll try to take a look at this in a couple days when I get my car back from the tranny shop. I have reason to believe that my HVAC lights may be shorted which I'm hoping is causing this problem. I almost had to destroy the housing to get a busted light out.
Thanks for your help!
Thanks wssix99,
I'll try to take a look at this in a couple days when I get my car back from the tranny shop. I have reason to believe that my HVAC lights may be shorted which I'm hoping is causing this problem. I almost had to destroy the housing to get a busted light out.
Thanks for your help!
I'll try to take a look at this in a couple days when I get my car back from the tranny shop. I have reason to believe that my HVAC lights may be shorted which I'm hoping is causing this problem. I almost had to destroy the housing to get a busted light out.
Thanks for your help!
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
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From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
Make sure you didn't mistakenly put a 3157 CK (SACK or SRCK) type bulb in one of the sockets. They are wired differently than a standard 3157 so they can cause cross circuit shorts if installed in the wrong application. They're used mostly in Toyotas.
Normally the parking/dash lights are not connected in any way to the turn signals so you must have some short that is connecting the two circuits on the right side. Since the bulbs were your latest installation, that's the first place to look.
Normally the parking/dash lights are not connected in any way to the turn signals so you must have some short that is connecting the two circuits on the right side. Since the bulbs were your latest installation, that's the first place to look.
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From: San Luis Obispo, CA
Make sure you didn't mistakenly put a 3157 CK (SACK or SRCK) type bulb in one of the sockets. They are wired differently than a standard 3157 so they can cause cross circuit shorts if installed in the wrong application. They're used mostly in Toyotas.
Normally the parking/dash lights are not connected in any way to the turn signals so you must have some short that is connecting the two circuits on the right side. Since the bulbs were your latest installation, that's the first place to look.
Normally the parking/dash lights are not connected in any way to the turn signals so you must have some short that is connecting the two circuits on the right side. Since the bulbs were your latest installation, that's the first place to look.
I guess I'll have to pull the bulbs and start putting them back in one by one to see where the problem is and maybe start by putting the normal bulbs back in and seeing if I still have the problem. I have the EL12 flasher in there so it should force the circuit to flash even without the load.
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Joined: Nov 2003
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From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
The CK type bulbs have only three pins compared to normal 3157 bulbs which have four. The base is the same but one of the pins is missing on the CK type bulbs.
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From: San Luis Obispo, CA
Sorry to revive an old thread, but I wanted to close this out in case other people have the same problem. It turns out I put the bulb into the socket backwards. When I turned the bulb around so the leads were switched around inside the socket everything went back to normal. Not sure if this was something I needed to be aware of with the LED bulbs, didn't remember having this problem with a standard bulb.
Thanks everyone for your help.
Thanks everyone for your help.
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 11,329
Likes: 346
From: Jacksonville, FL (originally from Toronto Canada)
You would not have the problem with standard incandescent bulbs because the filament will flow current in either direction. Some LED bulbs have built-in circuitry to handle reverse installation (like any diode, an LED will not flow current backward) but many are polarity sensitive. Reverse polarity will usually cause the light to do nothing as though it was dead rather than cause the symptoms you describe but anything is possible.
