Blinker ticks like bulb is blown, it isnt.

[rangerbum]

I need some help here. My 97 ranger has a very annoying issue with the turn signal. The left one works perfect. When i turn on the right hand signal it only works properly about half the time. It ticks and flashes on the dash very fast, but i know 100% the bulb is good. Ive had the issue for quite a while. Ive changed bulbs multiple times, with quality nulbs just to make sure i didnt get a defective one.

Any ideas on this one?

 

[adsm08]

Bad flasher maybe. Could be bad contact in the switch too. Fast flashing is caused by high resistance.

 

[martin]

First things first, turn on the four ways and see if you have lights flashing on all four corners.

 

[gw33gp]

It has been my experience that when a bulb is burned out there is no blinking on that side. A higher flash rate is typically caused by increased resistance as noted already. Hooking up trailer lights will many times cause the turn signals to flash faster unless the flasher is designed to work with trailer lights.

My guess is you have a short somewhere or the flasher is bad.

 

[Rangurr]

I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. For instance, my truck blinks quite a bit slower with a trailer attached. It goes based on the current that the bulbs draw, not the resistance of the bulbs. More bulbs = more wattage. Basically the flasher heats up which causes the connection to break and then cool back down once current is lost which will re-connect the flasher. With less bulbs working, more current goes to the flasher and it heats up faster. Hope this makes some sense.

LED bulbs can cause this because they draw less current - that's why they make load equalizers for LED bulbs.

I'd look at the flasher going out or something wrong with a bulb/connector. Good luck man!

 

[bigmark303]

Its most likely the plug. Every time I would take my bed off (which was often) id have to be real careful when I plugged the light back in. The bulb was always good but it just took a few times of unplugging and plugging back in to work 100%.

Most of the time id just hit the tail light housing multiple times with my hand and it would start working.

 

[Harley]

sounds like a grounding problem...check your grounding points or jump them with a cable and see if it helps....

 

[gw33gp]

I'm pretty sure it's the other way around. For instance, my truck blinks quite a bit slower with a trailer attached. It goes based on the current that the bulbs draw, not the resistance of the bulbs. More bulbs = more wattage. Basically the flasher heats up which causes the connection to break and then cool back down once current is lost which will re-connect the flasher. With less bulbs working, more current goes to the flasher and it heats up faster. Hope this makes some sense.

You may be experiencing something different than I have but it is not uncommon to have the turn signal blink faster when hooking up trailer lights.

Here is a link to a sight that sells flashers for use with trailer lights and they talk about this problem. http://www.tjtrailers.com/store/turn-signal-flashers.html

I hope this link is not against the forum rules.

 

[rangerbum]

Forgot about this thread. After investigating the issue I've found that the blinker is flashing fast, all bulbs are working. So I have been driving with it because as long as the indicator is working I feel safe. However it drives me insane knowing that I look like an oblivious owner that doesn't know how to change whatever bulb is out lol.

 

[Allen And Brandy]

My lights do the same thing. Most likely a small short in the wire some where. If you hit a bump and its shorting out. Hit another bump wire repositions and it's not shorting and working fine. Someday when it's flickering quickly again, run a meter at different spots in the wire. If the voltage changes from close to the switch towards the taillight, there's your short,

 

[Explorin94]

I just filled the resevoir with blinker fluid. I think mine has a slow leak!

 

[Casper98]

Does your truck have a tilt steering wheel? if so the plug on the back of the multi-function switch could have cam loose.

 

[rangerbum]

Okay, my issue is gone. I would have never guessed what the problem was but I stumbled upon it by coincidence. My headlight assemblies were in desperate need of replacement after getting cheap crap off ebay, so I ordered a set off rockauto. The rockauto ones come with new bulbs, and even though mine worked fine, they are several years old and I figured I'd keep them as spares. After several days of driving with the new housings and bulbs, it struck me that the blinker hadn't given me one single issue since the swap.

I guess somehow the headlight bulbs I had in it caused enough resistance in the circuit to trigger the fast flasher. The only thing I can think of is that the last time I bought bulbs, I got high output rather than standard replacement. But that doesn't seem right being that the problem didn't start until just this summer.