Symptoms:

car off -- parking lights act as they should -- each side turning on depending on the turn signal stalk
-- also, the hazard switch will light up red and the exterior lights turn on, but they don't flash.

car on -- the dash indicators light up, the red light above the gas gauge lights up (the big one)
-- turn signals don't work, but they seem to TRY to work.
-- the weird part! -- turn on the parking lights and the flasher relay (the square one) starts buzzing! the headlights work and the parking lights light up.
-- another weird part! -- start moving the slider around for the vent / defrost thing, and i'll hear the flasher click.

I've checked all the connections, even replaced the flasher relay and the turn signal switch. checked all the round relays (if that matters). all of them are good. all new bulbs as well. I haven't checked the license plate lights or the luggage / dome light. I'll do that in a minute now that I thought of it.

Sound like a short? no fuses are blowing... but something seems to be preventing the flasher from working properly... even though all the other parts look right. If it's a short, where do I start looking? (under the dash, i'm sure, but i was wondering if anyone has seen this behavior before and can point me in a direction)

Okay, for starters, is there a way to test ONLY the flasher relay? I got a new one off of EBay, and it's the one showing the symptoms above.

Incidentally, when the car is running, the flasher relay clicks rythmically, but the turn signals still don't work.

Another question :

Can the ignition switch cause these issues? Can the handbrake 'switch' cause this... that little button thing the handbrake pushes in is loose and pretty much always 'open'

I'm so close to putting this car on the road! All I need is to get these dang turn signals going!

sounds like a ground problem to me. Also check the bundle o wires by the fuse box you will see a bunch of brown wires that is the where those wires ground! hope this helps? AL

yeah, it does sound like a ground problem, but i've checked them all... At least I'm pretty sure I have!

two by the headlights, the relay board in the engine compartment, the battery, and the transmission strap.

are there any in the rear trunk? I didn't see any in there...

Check te ones right by the fuse panel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This sounds dumb, but make sure the 2 wires are plugged into the brake master cyl. For some reason they affect the flasher relay.

QUOTE

Check te ones right by the fuse panel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I did that one too. I am going to re-check them all, and dremel-wire brush them all, though. Thanks.

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This sounds dumb, but make sure the 2 wires are plugged into the brake master cyl. For some reason they affect the flasher relay.

That I have NOT done yet! I'll do that and report back.

Thanks!

Make sure the bulb contacts are clean. Corrosion on the contacts in the rear assembly caused mine to quit blinking. Some fine sandpaper and a squirt of WD40 did the trick. You have a couple different symptoms though (like the vent slider...??) so I dunno... but it's an easy thing to try.

Another thing to check: I was having similar symptoms in my car. Turns out the Hazard switch was all buggered up. All of the signal lights are wired through it. If there is something wrong witht the switch, the signal lights won't work.

Got good suggestions from here and PP's forums...

checked the master cylinder... wires were connected. the hazard switch tested fine as well... the front right directional was dim... you could tell it wasn't getting any ground, but even fixing that didn't solve the problem... ugh.

So, I'm going to order a new flasher. Will fill you in on the results.

thanks all!

Well, new flasher from Pelican was the trick. So, now all the directionals work! Thanks again to all for the help! The flasher was definitely not the only problem. I corrected a number of issues along the way. Today was nice, though. Fixing an electrical gremlin has a certain satisfaction to it!

Remember, there are TWO different flashers, 3 and 4 pin, and they're NOT interchangeable. Forget the 2 pin one, it isn't right for any German car. The Cap'n

there are two wires on the mc??? i put in a 19mm and i only saw one wire.....on the side w/ a rubber cover, wheres the other?

I heard that the MC was 2-wire on some cars, 1 on others. Mine had two.

That mean I have the 17mm MC?