Need help troubleshooting which I think involves the turn signal relay (EP26).

Dropped the engine/trans to do some maintenance. Car runs fine after putting everything back except I noticed that the clicking from the signal relay intermittently goes on and off even after I release the ebrake. Btw, before dropping engine, the ebrake light and turn indicator light flashes when ebrake is engaged which I think is normal, and it does not activate the turn signal lights. But now, even when ebrake is disengaged I hear the relay intermittently clicking and the dash turn indicator also lights up in unison. Turn signals/lights work as before. So I suspect theres either a short or maybe a wire that I forgot to reconnect? Or perhaps the EP26 relay is going bad?

The EP26 is very sensitive to any kind of loading on the 49a pin. This is the pin that the ebrake and MC warning lights are on. A electrically leaky MC warning switch could cause EP26 to flash. The EP26 that I tested only needed about 7ma (0.007 Amp) to start flashing. A single 1157 or 1156 bulb draws a bit less than 2 amps when lit.

You can try disconnecting the MC warning switch wire to see if this clears up the phantom clicking.

BTW, the OEM flasher did not flash the turnsignal indicator lamp with the Ebrake or MC warning switch. But with EP26 the indicator does flash with the brake warnings.

-INTERESTING. I WILL CHECK OUT THE MC SWITCH AND LET YOU KNOW. IF CLICKING STOPS, DOES THAT MEAN THE MC SWITCH IS FAULTY? OR PERHAPS A DIRTY TERMINAL?

-I DID NOT KNOW THIS. IT SEEMS TO MAKE SENSE FOR FLASHER TO DO THIS BECAUSE IT REMINDS ME THAT EBRAKE IS STILL ON IF I MISS SEEING THE LIGHT. NOW WITH THE PHANTOM CLICKING I KEEP THINKING I LEFT THE EBRAKE ON.

THANKS FOR YOUR INSIGHT.. WILL KEEP YOU POSTED..

My 76 with the EP26 relay suddenly started flashing the turn signal lamp all the time.
Turn signals worked fine but lamp flashed without turn signals.
i took Spokies advice and checked the master cylinder warning switch wiring connections.
problem solved !
I never would have included the master cylinder switch in a trouble shooting routine, who would have thought that the turn signal circuit would include warnings of master cylinder or emergency brake lever functions. WTF.

It looks like I have a single connector MC sensor. After cleaning I reconnected the brown wire and same thing with the flasher being intermittently activated. If I disconnect the wire the flasher stops clicking. Seems to be working normal when wire disconnected with ebrake light flashing when engaged and not flashing when disengaged.

Does that mean that the sensor is shorted and needs to be reset? However I don’t see a reset button anywhere on my sensor.

Click to view attachment

I just replaced my MC switch for the same reason. Looks like you have a switch without a reset. Measure resistance between the terminal on the switch and ground with a DMM. It should read as an open circuit (infinite resistance) but it probably won't. That is your leak to ground triggering the relay. You can remove the relay and test if off of the MC to see it the plunger was just stuck, but most likely you'll want to replace the switch. You can still buy single and 2-pole switches from Porsche, but they are not cheap.

If the brake warning light is not coming on then likely the switch isn't fully on and may be electrically leaking current. Find this out by measuring the resistance of the switch to ground.