like the title says, on my 97 HD, the blinkers flash fast, and don't make the "clicking" noise inside the cab. all the lights are fine and working, just fast.

i was surprised to find out yesterday when i turned the hazards on that they operate normally, standard rate and making the clicking noise.

any guesses?

 

There are two flasher relays. One for the 4 ways and one for the signals. Switch the relays around or replace the one for the turn sigs. It's an easy fix. I would say your turn sig flasher relay is about to quit. They can be had at any parts store. I use Napa for there quality in electrical parts.

 

cool. where is the part? under the dash, in the engine?

are we talking $10 or $150?

 

one you can see in front of fuse box in cab, the other is directly behind it.

if i remember right the hazard is the hidden one on the back.

they are real cheap under 10 bucks.

 

just replaced it. part was real cheap, you're right. fyi, for my 97 250 hd, the hazard one was right behind the kick panel/fuse box. the one for the blinkers was right next to the fuses in the fuse box. the part looks like a big aluminum soda bottle cap with 2 plugs on it.

 

took some pics this morning. here's the one for the blinkers:


and the one for the hazards. this picture was taken looking up from near the brake pedal towards the fuse box in the above pic

 

Thats normal, the one for the hazards is almost always in the back side of the fuse box (unless it's in an early '80s van, then it's behind the instrument cluster and is rectangular...).

 

yep, just posting pics for other noobs that are curious

 

digging up my old thread. i blew another flasher like 2 weeks ago. i asked the auto parts guy what the issue could be and he assumed a short, and that the short would be impossible to find. knock on wood i haven't blown another, but is there anything else that would cause this? if not, where do i begin looking for the short?

i'm just glad each time it's only a $2 fix i can do with my eyes closed. it's just frustrating.

 

Put the turn sig on. Take a small compass and follow the harness as close as ya can. The compass will work through the floor and frame so ya don't have to dig the harness out. When ya get close to the short the compass needle will fluctuate madly.

 

i use a flasher from a big truck they have a small condenser and heaver internalls to work with the many lights a bigrig has it solved my problem with the quik blink problem and only cost 15bucks.just take your old one into a big truck dealer (ie,peterbuilt,frieghtliner,volo,mack) and they'll match one up.the new one will be a lil longer.those alcheapo flashers dont last long

 

I have a HD flasher in my truck .It clicks fast till I put trailer on then fine.

 

I don't know about a "short", but any time I have mysterious turn signal problems, I look at the bulb sockets. Start with the tail lights first, because they are very easy to get to. Pull the bulbs and inspect, then clean the base and the socket. I use a nylon sanding pad to clean up both the base and the socket as best I can. Give it a little dab of dielectric bulb grease and reassemble. While I got the lense off, I do all the bulbs, just so I don't have to come back soon. When I am inspecting, I'm looking for excessive corrosion, melted connection, loose wire, bent prong, etc. Basically anything that would make a bad connection and force the system to draw more amps than designed.
If the bulbs don't fix the problem, at least I know what isn't the problem, and then I start checking the grounds. Pretty much doing the same thing, remove clean , reassemble.
My experience has been that an actual "short", is pretty rare in modern automotive electrical. The results can be very dramatic, like flash boom fire, but much more likely to find corrision is making a bad connection either on power or ground.
Good luck Frank

 

He is wrong or you both are using the wrong terminoligy.

A Short would blow a fuse. This would happen right away.

A Short:
A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) allows a charge to flow along a different path from the one intended. The electrical opposite of a short circuit is an open circuit, which is infinite resistance between two nodes. It is common to misuse "short circuit" to describe any electrical malfunction, regardless of the actual problem.

Just step up to a heavy Duty flasher and the life of it will be much--much longer.

 

yea, i saw the HD ones. they were $10-$15. for that, i can buy 5-7 regular flashers. we'll see how often they end up blowing but $2 a piece is not worth sinking a lot of time and effort into