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HELP! My blinkers are dead!


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88 DL SPFI

 

Ok so a while back the heater blower stopped working, and I'd had trouble with the speed switch for it before, so I took off the front of the dashboard (black plastic that holds all the swithes and stuff) to replace the switch. That didn't help, so now I'm gonna go after the fan itself, but that's not my main concern anymore.

 

After I got the dash off, I tested things to make sure it was still road-worthy. All essential systems worked fine. Then after about a week or so of driving, I suddenly have no blinkers.:eek: Move the switch and nothing happens. Fuses are good. Replaced fusible links - no change. Pulled steering wheel and replaced entire blinker switch unit with a known good one - no change. I pulled out from above the fuse box what I think are the things that make the blinker blink (4 round silver canisters with a plug on each.) Replaced them with no change.

 

The front of the dash is still removed. Could this affect the blinkers? They were working without for a while. Is there a part of the system I havent checked? I'm at my wits end. Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Edited by nickolai
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Turn on the Emergency Flashers. Are the dash indicators lighting up?

 

If they don't, a connector has came loose. Most likely on the back of the dash unit itself.

 

I don't recall at the moment just how the dash indicator lights affect turnsignal operation. But they do have an impact on how the system works.

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Yep. You need the switch for the hazards plugged in or you won't get any blinkers at all. This is true for most every car out there. The wiring goes from the relay, to the hazard switch, to the blinker stock.

 

Your fan speeds not working is probably the resistor pack.

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Your blinker fluid is low:grin:

 

Dang I knew there was something I was forgetting to check!:rolleyes:

 

No but seriously, thanks for the replies. I plugged in the hazard switch and they work fine. I'm still baffled as to why they worked for a week without the hazard switch...

 

Isn't the resistor pack in the heater core? I hope that's not the problem. I get no fan operation on any speed, which leads me to believe its the fan itself, but I could be wrong.

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Dang I knew there was something I was forgetting to check!:rolleyes:

 

No but seriously, thanks for the replies. I plugged in the hazard switch and they work fine. I'm still baffled as to why they worked for a week without the hazard switch...

 

Isn't the resistor pack in the heater core? I hope that's not the problem. I get no fan operation on any speed, which leads me to believe its the fan itself, but I could be wrong.

 

Even if the resistor is bad you should still get the fan on highest speed. The resistor pack is on the bottom of the heater box by the fan. but you can remove it with just two screws. Testing the fan is easy, unplug it and give it power.

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Even if the resistor is bad you should still get the fan on highest speed. The resistor pack is on the bottom of the heater box by the fan. but you can remove it with just two screws. Testing the fan is easy, unplug it and give it power.

 

Good to know, thanks. I think I will go start testing things shortly. I don't know if this is relevant, but with the old speed switch I had, it used to work consistently on any speed except full, on which it would cut out randomly, but wiggling the switch ever so slightly would make it come back on. I figured it was a bad connection in the switch.

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Good to know, thanks. I think I will go start testing things shortly. I don't know if this is relevant, but with the old speed switch I had, it used to work consistently on any speed except full, on which it would cut out randomly, but wiggling the switch ever so slightly would make it come back on. I figured it was a bad connection in the switch.

 

Either the connector is bad or the switch died. I've actually seen a few posts on here about the fan switch going out.

I wouldn't pull the resistor pack out unless I knew it was bad (easy to test with multi-meter). They're really easy to break.

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Dang I knew there was something I was forgetting to check!:rolleyes:

 

No but seriously, thanks for the replies. I plugged in the hazard switch and they work fine. I'm still baffled as to why they worked for a week without the hazard switch...

 

Isn't the resistor pack in the heater core? I hope that's not the problem. I get no fan operation on any speed, which leads me to believe its the fan itself, but I could be wrong.

 

Boy I thought for sure it would be the blinker fluid! Glad ya got it fixed! :-p

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If you don't have 12V at the fan switch(blue wire), your blower relay is probably bad, but it could be a shot motor too. Its one of the silver little cans up behind the fuse panel. Instead of replacing it with a stock style, use blade connectors and run a standard 30A 4 or 5 blade automotive relay. You can find them by the thousands at JYs on any domestic car or truck.

 

If your relay and motor is OK, and you need a fan to get you by, you can run a jumper off the ground wire on the fan motor. Unplug the socket and test to see which one is dead, thats NEG.. Plugged in both sides should be hot, but if you back probe a ground wire to the NEG. side, it will turn. Only speed you get is high, but it will get you by.

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