1973 2.0 914 - Having driver side front blinker problem.
I've got a dull blinker, only one filament is working, switched bulbs in front blinkers and same problem so its not bulb. Eflashers, same problem. Looking close at the bulb, the front filament is the one that works, its smaller than the back bulb filament.
Inside dash, turn right, arrow works as it should, turn left, both arrows blink.

Can someone offer some suggestions on where to look. Thanks !!!

My first trouble shooting on these 45+ year old cars is the bulb contacts, the bulb, then finally the flasher. I've had instances where I added a bit of solder to the bulb contacts and/or clean and/or rebend the socket contacts to add tension. You have to take the gamble and buy a new flasher. I had a flasher that works perfectly, however, the indicator arrow on the gauge did not illuminate. Once I changed the flasher at the fuse panel, the indicator bulb worked as it should.
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case in point, I spent $40 for a new intermittent wiper relay, and found that there was nothing wrong with my original. So I'll have to re-visit the problem. That's part of the challenge owning a collector car. good luck

Only 1 of the filaments is for the turnsignal. The other one is for the running lights.

Does the running light work on the driver side? Is the running light dimmer than the turnsignal?

Removed bulb, cleaned contacts, rebend socket contacts - no change.
Looking for relay near fuse box under dash. Is the cant find any relays? Are the the round, black 5 pin type? Not sure what I'm looking for, can you give me some more detail. Thanks for your help.

So, the problem is on the drivers side, passenger side works great.
Drivers side only one filament works. So parking light, blinker light, all running on the one working filament. Second filament does not work on anything. Changing bulbs does not fix problem. On the inside dash light arrow indicators work correctly when turning right, but when turning left both arrows are blinking. Thanks for your help.

I had a similar electrical gremlin on my Karmann Ghia. Turned out the “dim” side bulb was not grounding well to the socket and was grounding itself through whatever it could find, including the other bulb. That was a brain-buster.

So, anyway, try cleaning the bulb housing socket as well as the side of the bulb To make sure you have a solid ground path.

Good luck.

So the flasher is ok and doesn't need replaced.


You have some wiring crossed up likely in the bucket. Electrically, the running light circuits and turnsignal circuits are independent from each other. The only place where they could interact is in the bulb base where both share the ground.

To get to the wiring behind the front turnsignal bucket, you'll likely need to remove the front wheel to gain enough access to examine the wiring.

You say running light and blinker use one filament.
Question: With running lights on, does the driver side turnsignal flash or does it stay on constantly?



Sounds like your flasher is working correctly and does not need replaced. Both L and R arrows blinking together is a warning that one of the outside bulbs are not working as you have indicated. This blinking together is an OEM safety feature to alert the driver that an exterior turnsignal bulb is burned out.

Dim light usually equals poor ground.

Have you tried this?

Click to view attachment

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. That one came right across the plate and I had to swing.

And don't tell me there weren't a bunch of you thinking the same thing!

Seriously, bad ground most likely. Can you put a jumper wire (2foot long with small alligator clips on each end) from the ground shell to body frame?

Hi Spoke, thanks for your help with this problem. Heres some more details.
Testing Drivers/Passenger side, and referring to filament #1, filament #2 while turning on running lights only/blinker only/running lights & blinker (both sides ).

Running L / Blinker / DS-RL&Blinker / PS-RL&Blinker
DS-filament #1 on blink blink on
DS-filament #2 off off off off

PS-filament #1 on off on on
PS-filament #2 off blink off blink

With the key off and running lights off, the turn shift lever will turn on both left or right lights, no blink just on.

It going to start snowing soon , so don’t worry about it till spring.