Blinker Light Stays on (but dim)

[ClayW]

<Seinfeld voice> What’s the deal with these blinkers?

 

i used the hazards for the first time in forever yesterday and, after turning them off, the “B” light on the dash will stay on, though dimly. When I use the turn signals, it blinks between full brightness and completely off, but returns to “dimly on” when I turn off them off. 

 

The wiring harness and blinker are early 12V (6 fuse), from a ‘69 1600, completely stock except for the blinker unit, which is the modern cylinder style. I’ll probably replace that first. 

 

Any ideas?

 

 

[adawil2002]

You have grounding short in the system. I'd suspect the flasher relay, as you have mentioned.

[Jbaumshelter]

I had a similar problem. Turns out, one of the screws that holds in the front blinker housings was just loose. I hope it that easy for you. I hate wiring problems. 

[ingramlee]

I had the same issue when I changed all of my dash bulbs to LED. Changed that one bulb back to the original and haven't have a problem since.

[Harv]

Mine does that. If I drive it for 30 minuets it goes away. 

 

John

[Mike Self]

The OEM flasher box has a pair of contacts inside--one for the outside lights, the other for the inside one.  Your aftermarket one may work in one of several ways.  It also may be built only to carry the load of two bulbs at a time; when you use the emergency flashers, that's four bulbs and you may be overloading it.

 

Suggest returning to the OEM flasher box; they don't go bad very often so you should be able to find a used one on the FAQ.  The problem with the OEM ones is the inside light will only blink once or twice, then go on strike.  But that's an easy fix.

 

mike

[Jim_75Sahara]

My blinker is intermittently and unpredictably staying lit and then mysteriously behaves for a little while. 

[g_force]

You must be low on blinker fluid. . .

[Jbaumshelter]

Did you inspect the screws holding in the blinkers? Make sure they are not rusty and they are tight. My car did this exact same thing.

Also check the wiring inside the housings of the lights, especially the front lamps. I’m 90% sure it’s a ground problem.

Remember, ”All roads lead to the hazard switch”

Edited June 15, 2018 by Jbaumshelter

[Mike Self]

6 hours ago, Jim_75Sahara said:

My blinker is intermittently and unpredictably staying lit and then mysteriously behaves for a little while. 

Probably the point set in the flasher box that operates the dashboard blinker.  Easy fix--bring it over and we'll get it working properly.

 

mike

[jgerock]

8 hours ago, mike said:

Probably the point set in the flasher box that operates the dashboard blinker.  Easy fix--bring it over and we'll get it working properly.

 

mike

I challenge someone here to show me the second set of contacts inside the stock relay. Picture or video pointing to both. I can only see one set inside my 69 and a 71 relay.

[Simeon]

Here’s one (not sure it is the same model relay as you have). 

 

 

Indicator lamp contacts circled at the top, the main contacts are underneath the large coil with the arrow. 

[Mike Self]

1 hour ago, Simeon said:

Here’s one (not sure it is the same model relay as you have). 

My '69 and my '73 still have their original flasher control boxes, and they look like Simeon's inside.  People have posted on the FAQ that theirs have only a single set of contacts, and those may be from another supplier--or possibly not OEM. 

 

I think the way to tell would be to activate the turn signals and either position a mirror or have a friend watch the outside lights while you sit at the steering wheel.  If the outside lights and the dash flasher blink in opposition, then you have the two relay points box; if they blink together, then there's only a single set of points in the box.

mike

[jgerock]

15 hours ago, Simeon said:

Here’s one (not sure it is the same model relay as you have). 

 

 

Indicator lamp contacts circled at the top, the main contacts are underneath the large coil with the arrow. 

I can post pics when I get back to the East Coast. Both my relays do not look like this one. Same BMW part number but have different dates on the plastic housing.

[ClayW]

On 6/15/2018 at 7:51 PM, Jbaumshelter said:

Did you inspect the screws holding in the blinkers? Make sure they are not rusty and they are tight. My car did this exact same thing.

Also check the wiring inside the housings of the lights, especially the front lamps. I’m 90% sure it’s a ground problem.

Remember, ”All roads lead to the hazard switch”

 

Interesting. The behavior didn't occur until I used my hazard switch for the first time in forever. I swapped out the blinker unit and now it blinks constantly (though, only the dash indicator, not the actual turn signals). I'll pull the turn signal housings and clean grounds their first. If that doesn't fix it, could it be in the hazard switch?