Help! Front blinker gremlins

[The_Consultant]

[solved] Help! Front blinker gremlins

Backstory: '15 FiST that worked fine as stock. I wanted to "upgrade" to LED front markers so wound up w xenondepot xtreme LED blinkers w resistors. Installed them but noticed that the left blinker would never blink if the headlights were also running. It would appear to just stay lit. The left blinker would work normally if the headlights were off. On close inspection, the left blinker would very subtly flicker a few lumens brighter to the 'beat' of the blinker stalk activation, but it was so subtle that no driver could ever tell it was happening...

I got tired of confusing folks on the road w my non-functional left blinker, so wanted to swap back to stock incandescent.

Swapping back the bulbs and removing the resistors has me confused. Things I'm noticing now:

- unlocking the car, the left blinker blazes REALLY brightly while the right unit runs very dim
- locking the car, emergency flashers both lights work equally and as intended
- activating turn signal to the left causes hyperflash and no blinking of the bulb
- activating turn signal to the right is normal

I DID notice both sockets for the blinkers were 'loose' in that they would unseat and pop forward a bit into the housing and one connector tab for the right unit was slightly bent.

Anybody have similar issues before? There are 3 connections per blinker, are they position dependent? I noticed I could insert the blinker lights in different angles of 1/4 turn but some variations would not fully seat the bulb...

Wondering if to fix I need to replace both headlight units entirely....

thx!

 

[maestromaestro]

I am wildly guessing here... I'd check all the connections to make sure that nothing is loose or shorting. It may be a potential short. Hyperblinking would suggest that the resistor was either bad or there's a parasitic short somewhere. Try swapping the resistors or check them with a multimeter. Try removing both and see if both markers go into hyperblinking

I am assuming that the rear markers work properly?

 

[The_Consultant]

I am no longer running the resistors. Rear markers work normally, although they are Spec-D’s.

Removing and reinstalling the left unit in a different rotation angle to seat now has it start off blazing bright for maybe 1 sec after unlock but then actually self dims to match the brightness of the right side.

After that one change, the left blinker no longer hyperblinks but I’m getting the same issue I had running the LED’s where they dont blink when the headlights are running. Except problem now worse because neither left or right side blink when headlights on....sigh

 

[maestromaestro]

I am no longer running the resistors. Rear markers work normally, although they are Spec-D’s.

Removing and reinstalling the left unit in a different rotation angle to seat now has it start off blazing bright for maybe 1 sec after unlock but then actually self dims to match the brightness of the right side.

After that one change, the left blinker no longer hyperblinks but I’m getting the same issue I had running the LED’s where they dont blink when the headlights are running. Except problem now worse because neither left or right side blink when headlights on....sigh

I'm thinking that you have a short or a bad ground connection somewhere. Maybe some particulate got into the connectors? Corrosion? Check the harnesses closely. I'd do it systematically, disconnecting one thing at a time. Try swapping the bulbs, too - I wouldn't think that the o'clock position of the insertion would matter, but it looks like it somehow does.

 

[DangerMouse]

Idk if this will help but I did have one of the metal contacts on the turn signal bulb come loose and fall inside. I had to fish it out and get it back into place. Major pain in the ass. I only had the car a couple days, so I'm guessing the headlights aren't made the greatest.

Did you cut any wires? It could be a poor connection, solder them if you can.

 

[The_Consultant]

Thx everybody for the replies and suggestions. The cheesy splice 'connectors' supplied with the LED resistors indeed severed several strands of the blinker wires likely leading to altered current. Cut those and reconnected using crimp connectors on remaining lengths of un-frayed wire and shrink taped them up.

Regarding the bulb port, one problem was that between myself and the previous owner, the plastic ring that holds the metal connectors was very easy to dislodge from the port/lens housing and, as such, wouldn't allow the tabs of the bulb piece to grab on. I superglued the plastic ring to sit flush w the port opening and that stabilized it during the bulb insertion. Second problem was that, yes, there is actually a "correct" way to insert and twist the bulb. It's really hard to tell when the headlight unit is still mounted to the car, but can be seen if pulled out. Maybe my pics can help keep others from mangling their ports up like mine is.

there is 1 tab that is wider than the other 2


Wide tab goes into the (duh) wider slot at the 6 o'clock position


The correct final orientation of the back of the bulb once fully seated.


Now everything works as it did before I started monkeying around with it and I'm never going to try and wire something into it again!

PS - my LED bulbs and resistors will be going up in the FS page sometime soon. Keep an eye out for a good deal. Now that you have a ton of info on what can go wrong, your install should go great! lol

 

[DangerMouse]

Glad you got it worked out!