[Jughead]

My turn signals in my 70 Vette blink very fast, about almost once a second. I bought a new flasher unit and still no change.

Any ideas?

[302 Z28]

I'm willing to bet you have a bad bulb somewhere. What happens sometimes is the lower amperage filament of a dual filament bulb will break and move over and reattach itself to the higher amperage filament which doubles the load on your flasher causing it to blink faster. Pull all your bulbs and take a close look at the filaments to see if any have crossed over.

Vince

[mj_lover]

check your blinker fluid!!
(sorry, i had to )

i'm guessing bulbs as well

[Rob Keller]

where is my blinker fliud dipstick (be kind now) is it by the murphy joints??

sr66

[docvette]

Doc here,

Dudes....

Everybody Knows...on a 70 Corvette, the blinker Fluid is located just southwest of the lower granistan joint...

Now back to news and sports...

My vote is for a bad bulb..this includes side markers and indicators..followed up second only to a bad ground...in the flasher circuit..

When you replaced the flasher, did you get the flash unit..or the 4 way by mistake? a common error, the flash unit should be WAYYYYY up on top and the 4 ways on the bottom (at least it is on my Vettes, 3-78's and an 80) and a PITA to Change if your like me...chronologically Challenged...(an Olde Fa*t)

At any rate , one of those fixes should get you flashing with dispatch...(which may be Illegal in some states..LOL...)

Doc

[poncho62]

I found that a heavy duty flasher blinks more slowly than a standard one........worth a try.

[Jughead]

Thanks guys.

I'll check the filaments. I did have a bulb go out recently.

The flasher I replaced was the PIA one way up top on the fuse box.

[willys36@aol.com]

Actually, the higher the current passing through a blinker the slower it goes! Too little current and they flash frantically. Even less current and they won't flash at all. You probably have a burned out bulb in the system. Another change that causes this problem is switching to LED tail lights which draw so little current that flashers simply vibrate or quit altogether. They have come out with an electronic flasher to replace the electro-mechanical ones that don't rely on current like the old style.

The reason for this is in how the old standard electro-mechanical flasher is constructed. A thin metal strip composed of layers of two metals that are bonded perfectly together - nickle and copper for example- serves as one half of an electrical contact breaker. This 'bi-metallic' strip is wound with a coil of wire through which flows all of the current going to the lights, then the end of the coil is connected to the strip to continue the circuit. When current starts to flow, it passes through the coil, through the bi-metallic strip, through the closed contacts at the tip of that strip and on to the lights. This current at the same time quickly generates a lot of heat in the coil which in turn heats the bimetallic strip. Since the copper will expand farther per degree of temperature increase than the nickle (physical property of the metals), the strip must arch. This arching of the strip lifts the contact at its end, killing current flow to the lights and through the coil. The lights turn off. Then the coil cools, allowing the bi-metallic strip to relax its arch and reconnect the contacts, re-instituting the current flow. This happens over and over again, thus the flashing lights. If the current is high - lots of incandescent lights ('59 Caddy!!) the bi-metallic strip is heated a lot by the high current and arches a bunch during each fast heating sequence so it takes longer for it to cool and relax thus slow flashers. Conversely, with low current (burned bulbs or LEDs), there isn't enough current/heat to make the strip bend much so it cycles faster and faster until you install a system that doesn't pass enough current to get it hot enough to bend at all and the lights stay on and don't flash.

[crazy larry]

Originally Posted by willys36@aol.com

Actually, the higher the current passing through a blinker the slower it goes! Too little current and they flash frantically. Even less current and they won't flash at all. You probably have a burned out bulb in the system. Another change that causes this problem is switching to LED tail lights which draw so little current that flashers simply vibrate or quit altogether. They have come out with an electronic flasher to replace the electro-mechanical ones that don't rely on current like the old style.

The reason for this is in how the old standard electro-mechanical flasher is constructed. A thin metal strip composed of layers of two metals that are bonded perfectly together - nickle and copper for example- serves as one half of an electrical contact breaker. This 'bi-metallic' strip is wound with a coil of wire through which flows all of the current going to the lights, then the end of the coil is connected to the strip to continue the circuit. When current starts to flow, it passes through the coil, through the bi-metallic strip, through the closed contacts at the tip of that strip and on to the lights. This current at the same time quickly generates a lot of heat in the coil which in turn heats the bimetallic strip. Since the copper will expand farther per degree of temperature increase than the nickle (physical property of the metals), the strip must arch. This arching of the strip lifts the contact at its end, killing current flow to the lights and through the coil. The lights turn off. Then the coil cools, allowing the bi-metallic strip to relax its arch and reconnect the contacts, re-instituting the current flow. This happens over and over again, thus the flashing lights. If the current is high - lots of incandescent lights ('59 Caddy!!) the bi-metallic strip is heated a lot by the high current and arches a bunch during each fast heating sequence so it takes longer for it to cool and relax thus slow flashers. Conversely, with low current (burned bulbs or LEDs), there isn't enough current/heat to make the strip bend much so it cycles faster and faster until you install a system that doesn't pass enough current to get it hot enough to bend at all and the lights stay on and don't flash.

no no no. it's the hi-viscosity blinker fluid..... where do you come up with this stuff?

[willys36@aol.com]

They quit using that hi-vis fluid years ago. Found out it caused hemorrhoids in left-handed people. Now it is all silicone based.

[Mrwood]

I found i had a bad ground on my chevy, dont know if this is your problem, but you might check it out.

[docvette]

Originally Posted by willys36@aol.com

They quit using that hi-vis fluid years ago. Found out it caused hemorrhoids in left-handed people. Now it is all silicone based.

Doc here,

All Except Corvette...

for that you must use DOT5 or better Blinker fluid...or the seals on the master flasher will overheat and leak, Spilling thousands of Ohms out all over the passenger compartment..

You want to be careful here...having millions of Megohms loose in the passenger compartment can put a filter on your gene pool...

Just kidding..Couldn't resist..

Doc

[willys36@aol.com]

Well the explanation for that is very simple - left handers don't buy Vettes!

[docvette]

Originally Posted by willys36@aol.com

Well the explanation for that is very simple - left handers don't buy Vettes!

Doc here..

Dang! I JUST knew there was a Flaw in my logic....

<Left handed Doc, was unscrewing all the time all the other high school kids were screwing..>

Going out and putting up 4 sale signs on the Vettes...

Looking into a Hundai now....

Doc

[Rob Keller]

sounds like the mega ohms have discombobulated and warped something i need to adjust my flux compasitor i think i left it next to my radiator cap jack yep just another day in paradise
F.U.B.A.R.

SR66