I have a 97 Ranger with only about 70,000 miles and the left blinker starting working all by itself without having the switch activated. It wouldn't stop until I pulled the flasher relay, even with the ignition off. My question is which part is defective, the flasher or the switch mechanism on the steering column? I've already taking the covers off the steering wheel and externally the switch looks OK. Any ideas?

 

Maybe you have gremlins running around in there somewhere's. Anyway, though Ive never heard of this kind of problem, my gut tells me the (make or break) switch inside the column is probably stuck. Maybe you could try jiggling the directional stick up (right turn) and down (left turn) a few times while spraying some electric parts cleaner in the hole there.

 

Welcome to FTE!!!

I agree, pull it apart and check the switch out with a meter, also look at the connector.

 

Sounds good, I'll pull the switch, check and clean it and go from there. I called the dealer today and they have 3 switch assemblies in stock, but not a single flasher relay. Kind of tells me that they are ready to handle replacement of the switches.
Thanks for the reponses to my question.

 

I have to agree with the above suggestion on the switch. There has to be something like a short where power is still in affect w/o the ignition turned on. Can you also get the right side lights to fire or is it just the left side? With every vehicle I've dealt with you couldn't get the directional lights to work w/o power from the ignition switch being on. Some Ford ignition switches have a bad reputation for doing stuff like this. I'd look it now! A co-worker lost her Lincoln to an ignition switch fire a few months ago. I'd look at both switches!

At least it stopped after the flasher was pulled! I once knew someone who couldn't stop their defroster fan from running. Even after every fuse was removed from the box it still ran. The only way of making it stop was disconnecting the car's battery. It mysteriously stopped acting up after that first day though. .

 

The dealer had 3 replacement switch units on hand. At $62 each, I thought I would take at shot at fixing mine. Tried using contact cleaner externally spraying into it the switch, but switch still didn't work right. So, I removed the 5 screws holding it together, and it "popped" apart. The copper contacts were heavily oxydized with a green coating, but cleaned up nicely with contact cleaner and a small brass brush. Also took out and cleaned the contact assembly for the high beam switch, which was a little hidden. Then came the challenge of putting the switch back together. I had my doubts, but I was able to reassemble it. If you try this yourself, hold the switch assembly together as you remove the 5 screws, and then slowly seperate it. This is so you can see how to put it back together. It was a fun little puzzle, but not too bad. Enjoy! and if you fail, $60 isn't too bad a price for a switch this complex.

 

Thanks for letting us know how you made out. Ill keep this post in mind if I ever have the problem myself. Congrats on your fixing it yourself.

 

My 2003 ranger is doing this. Key is not in the ignition. Blinker relay is clicking randomly, turn signal stick is in the center position, but if put it up the right bliker goes on and off with the relay clicks, same for the left, on and off randomly - a lot. And ideas where a short might be and how to address it?

thanks

Sam in Hawaii

 

Welcome to FTE.

Seeing as how you have lots of saltwater close by, review above post #6 to see if you think trying this fix is for you & if you try it, how it goes..

 

Thanks, I put a new relay in, no change, still clicking randomly with ignition off, if the switch is engaged, left or right, the left or right bulb lights randomly with the clicks.
I've not pulled the multi-function switch apart but I did spray it out w contact cleaner to no avail. I found that pulling one of the two connectors to the multi-function switch stopped the relay from clicking. So, I did put a voltmeter on the connectors and found:


Top middle connector to white w/ red tracer wire with the engine not running showed 6.5 volts, with the engine running it bumped up to 7.6 volts.
Directly to the right of that connector solid blue wire with the engine not running showed 0 volts, with the engine running it bumped up to 6.6 volts.


Bottom right connector to blue w/ red tracer wire with the engine not running showed 12.6 volts, with the engine running it bumped up to 14.7 volts.
none of the other wires showed any voltage at all

All of them dropped to zero with the relay pulled.





Any idea if this is meaningful? Does it reveal a short somewhere?

I checked the ground wire connected to the inside of the wheel well, looks clean and secure, I looked for any wire to have a nick or pinch, nothing. All the bulbs appear to be intact and normal.

Thanks

 

pics of the connector that got a voltage reading
connector 1 https://wp.me/as2QB-lc
connector 2 https://wp.me/as2QB-le
connector 3 https://wp.me/as2QB-ld