Mechanic gurus please check in!

[JinLien]

My Taurus right turn rear signal light didn't want to turn on and the front right signal blink at 2X the normal rate. Replacing the bulbs didn?t help.

All signal lights didn?t turn on after I play around with the fuse (all fuses good). And all signal lights work perfectly after I jitter the turn lever several times.

It couldn?t be a short circuit, because the fuse didn?t break.

What could cause the problem?
Could it be a malfunctioning relay?
Could it be a broken lead at the steering column?
Or, could it be a dirty contact at the steering column?

 

[bunker]

Usually when one goes out (on a Ford at least) the signal will "blink" twice as fast to let you know a bulb is out, but since you said replacing the bulb didn't help, I'm at a loss.

I know on an older (80's) Ford I had the flasher went bad. It was a small round metal looking thing that plugged in near the fuse panel that controlled the flashing. I have a feeling those aren't used any longer though but it's something to look in to.

 

[Pepsi90919]

turn signal switches on tauruses suck the big one. on my 95 i had to put the lever in exactly the right spot to get the left (or was it right?) to work correctly and not blink fast

 

[AmdEmAll]

Relay

 

[JinLien]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
turn signal switches on tauruses suck the big one. on my 95 i had to put the lever in exactly the right spot to get the left (or was it right?) to work correctly and not blink fast

If that is the case I'll try WD-40 this weekend to see if that would clean up the dirty switch.

 

[fitzov]

Originally posted by: AmdEmAll
Relay

what he said, could be the wiring, but unlikely.

 

[James3shin]

relay or FUSE folks.

 

[allanon1965]

it will not be a relay or fuse, the fuse works ALL of the turn signals, not just one, (sometimes there is a seperate one for each side, but not each bulb)same for the relay, you have a bad multifunction switch(thats where the turnsignal switch is at) at my shop I replace at least a dozen a year on various ford products, usually taurus or pickups, the only other possibility would be an OPEN circuit in the ground side of the affected turnsignal. If the bulb looses ground, it will not light, often too many people go after a power issue, when it is in reality a ground issue..

 

[Zenmervolt]

It blinks double-time when there is increased resistance in the circuit. It's a short somewhere. Not all short circuits blow fuses.

EDIT: What the guy above me said.

ZV

 

[JinLien]

Originally posted by: allanon1965
it will not be a relay or fuse, the fuse works ALL of the turn signals, not just one, (sometimes there is a seperate one for each side, but not each bulb)same for the relay, you have a bad multifunction switch(thats where the turnsignal switch is at) at my shop I replace at least a dozen a year on various ford products, usually taurus or pickups, the only other possibility would be an OPEN circuit in the ground side of the affected turnsignal. If the bulb looses ground, it will not light, often too many people go after a power issue, when it is in reality a ground issue..

Thanks I'll try to locate the common ground line (both rear lights share the same ground) clean/tighen down the screw (wost case I'll screw the ground line into the frame at another spot). I'll try to clean the switch to see if that clear up the problem, other wise a new switch isn't that expensive or hard to replace.

 

[JinLien]

The signal switch was the cuprit. It is working perfectly now and only took me about 1/2 hour to repair. I use 400 git sand paper, WD-40 & tooth brush to clean the green oxidation built up on the copper contact and it work just fine.

Thanks for the help.