Headlight & Turn Signal Gremlins, why do t signals indicatorsflash together very dim! Options

[evan]

So for a long time my turn signal indicators flash once then both at same time very very dimly. Was told to get a turn signal relay. Got a square relay with four prongs. Took out old one, put in new and still the same except headlights did not work. Replaced original relay and headlights work but high beams do not. Also, the original four prong relays had four wires connected with a fifth wire jumping from one terminal to another. Any ideas?

the Bean
ps--turn sig. indicators do flash once very bright then both dimly

[peteyd]

So for a long time my turn signal indicators flash once then both at same time very very dimly. Was told to get a turn signal relay. Got a square relay with four prongs. Took out old one, put in new and still the same except headlights did not work. Replaced original relay and headlights work but high beams do not. Also, the original four prong relays had four wires connected with a fifth wire jumping from one terminal to another. Any ideas?

the Bean
ps--turn sig. indicators do flash once very bright then both dimly

I had the very same problem last night! All I did was rotate the bulb in its socket. It was a poor connection, so maybe you have the same problem. Hopefully its that simple!

Pete

[toolguy]

I'll bet you have the wrong wattage bulbs. . this happened to me and fortunately I was changing out all my bulbs for new ones. . when i got finished i had the same turn siginl problem. . . i changed back to the old bulbs and it was fixed. . . then i checked the wattage on the new bulbs and they were just a little lower than the required. . . go new ones in the correct wattage and all fixed. . and for the life of me I still can't figure out the "why" of this happening. . Best guess is probably something in the 4 way flashers that was backfeeding to the indicator bulbs. .
GOOD LUCK. .

[Sea Dragon 914]

Not sure why it would affect the headlights but I had a similar problem with my car and I changed the turn signal relay. I replaced it with a URO relay and while it works better, there are still problems with it (both turn dash signal markers blink when the parking brake light blinks). Spend the extra money for a Hella replacement.

I thought there was a different relay for the headlights.

So for a long time my turn signal indicators flash once then both at same time very very dimly. Was told to get a turn signal relay. Got a square relay with four prongs. Took out old one, put in new and still the same except headlights did not work. Replaced original relay and headlights work but high beams do not. Also, the original four prong relays had four wires connected with a fifth wire jumping from one terminal to another. Any ideas?

the Bean
ps--turn sig. indicators do flash once very bright then both dimly

[Valy]

The king of issues you describe are usually related to bad ground in the circuit.
When this happens, the current will find its way to the ground through other circuits so you may see other lights go on.

[Haudiosolutions]

I have the same issue. Usually when I use my right signal. The front signal will not flash and the dash indicators will flash together. sometimes with my left but not often. hmmmm gonna dig into that sometime soon.

[Prospectfarms]

I recently came across a thread in this forum where Jeff Bowlsby describes in detail the headlight / turn-signal indicator circuit. It is not as straightforward as you might think and as you've discovered there is a deliberate relationship between the various bulbs and connections that helps determine their status.

I'll look it up and post a link.

[904svo]

When I installed a 914 wiring harness in my kit car the turn signals would not work.
What I found was the turn signal flasher measure the current flow when activated
if not enough current flow thru the relay the turn signal indicator would not flash.
It was design this way to let you know a bulb was bad on that side, either front or back. Thats why if you remove the side marker lights you may have this problem
also if the ground was missing from the Tach or bad light socket connection you will also have this problem. I had to add load resistors to the front turn signals
lights to get it to work properly.

[Prospectfarms]

I got the author wrong, but here is the post I mentioned. It should help.Lapuwali turn signal circuit description

[Cap'n Krusty]

It affected the headlights because he pulled the headlight relay, not the flasher relay. The flashers may be malfunctioning because there's a bad ground somewhere in the system (and the bulbs may be grounding into another circuit), wrong bulbs, bad bulbs, corrosion, or a ground wire in the wrong location. '74 and up blink both indicators in the dash at the same time. Could be a bad flasher, but that's waaaaay at the bottom of the list of things to check.

The Cap'n