Fast Blinkers - and the Fix

[lmdew]

I've had a couple of 98 Subaru Outbacks, a friends sedan and a wagon that the blinkers were all working but blinked very fast. The symptom and what led to the root cause was the front blinkers were very dim.

 

I pulled the bulb and bent up the contacts, + and ground. The bulb is not a tight fit in these sockets, which may contribute to the problem.

 

Once the bulb had good contact the blinker was back to normal brightness and the blinker speed was normal.

[johnceggleston]

I've had a couple of 98 Subaru Outbacks, a friends sedan and a wagon that the blinkers were all working but blinked very fast. The symptom and what led to the root cause was the front blinkers were very dim.

 

I pulled the bulb and bent up the contacts, + and ground. The bulb is not a tight fit in these sockets, which may contribute to the problem.

 

Once the bulb had good contact the blinker was back to normal brightness and the blinker speed was normal.

 

you probably know this and it may not even be your case but, a fast blink is due to a bulb being out, less load on the blinker? relay? so it cycles more often. do all your bulbs work? maybe some bulbs are too small?? IDK

[lmdew]

Yes the bulbs were working but as I'd said they were very dim, poor contacts. Improving the contact fixed the problem. The bulbs were fine.

[Fairtax4me]

Poor ground connection.

 

In my truck I have the opposite problem. All the lights work, but they blink sllloooowwwwwwww. It's about 3 seconds per blink on a warm day. When it was cold I counted to 10 seconds once before the right blinker starter, then it was about 5 seconds after that.

[Cougar]

Poor ground connection.

 

In my truck I have the opposite problem. All the lights work, but they blink sllloooowwwwwwww. It's about 3 seconds per blink on a warm day. When it was cold I counted to 10 seconds once before the right blinker starter, then it was about 5 seconds after that.

 

In your case make sure the flasher is getting full voltage to it. If that is ok then try replacing the flasher to see if that helps.

[samneric]

I've had a couple of 98 Subaru Outbacks, a friends sedan and a wagon that the blinkers were all working but blinked very fast. The symptom and what led to the root cause was the front blinkers were very dim.

 

I pulled the bulb and bent up the contacts, + and ground. The bulb is not a tight fit in these sockets, which may contribute to the problem.

 

Once the bulb had good contact the blinker was back to normal brightness and the blinker speed was normal.

 

Thanks for this! I was about to post a question about these exact symptoms

 

I thought a bulb had gone but hadn't - then I ran out of ideas - I will check out the front bulb tonight! (Already checked the rear which was fine) Must be a common problem because my front left is also dim...

 

Steve

[lmdew]

Glad you found it fast. Larry

[nipper]

Some cars use an electronic circuit to blink the blinkers. Each bulb acts a reisistor in the circuit. Every resistor removed causes the circuit to go faster. The blink noise is more of a sound effect from a tiny relay then anything else.

 

Others have the older-then-dirt bi-metalic spring. The "spring" is heated by voltage flowing through X number of bulbs. Having a bulb burned out is enough to keep the spring from heating up enough to spring (or make the blink blink noise).

 

And of course when all else failes there is the turning the signal on and off really fast

[samneric]

And of course when all else failes there is the turning the signal on and off really fast

 

The human relay!

[GeneralDisorder]

And of course when all else failes there is the turning the signal on and off really fast

 

That has happened on an EA or two that's I've owned - seems that if you get water in the flasher unit (leaking windhsheild, etc), they will just stay on all the time. Annoying but easily fixed.

 

GD