flashers?

My turn signal lights up on all four sides but wont flash. What can i do to fix?

 

Does it light up only when the blinker is engaged?

 

yeh. when I engage the left blinker. the left blinkers light up but dont flash. same thing on the right.

 

I'm not an expert but I did spent a lot of time going through wires to get all my lights working. One of the problems I ran into was the fuse. When you engage the blinkers you should here a clicking sound inside the actual fuse. If you don't, you could try a different fuse which is a pretty easy/cheap fix.

I had many other adventures with the wiring. If you have a wiring diagram make sure you have all the wires running out of the signal switch to their proper connections. A few months back the wiring problem really got to me so you can do a search and find some of my posts. The guys on here gave me some great info and got me through it.

 

I don't think it's a fuse. I think it's a relay. Something that will open an close the connection to cause the light to turn on/off. Check your relay.

 

Yes, that's a relay. It depends a lot on the resistance of the light circuit to cycle. If the resistance gets low, it will cycle fast (ever pulled a trailer and your turn signals cycle fast That's due to the low resistance caused by the trailer circuit in parallel with the car circuit).

If they don't blink at all, you can replace the blinker relay, and if that doesn't help, check your grounds. Rust can cause this problem.

 

Probably just need a new flasher. Check this out.http://auto.howstuffworks.com/turn-signal2.htm

 

:iagree:
Except its actually called a "flasher"
Looks similar to a relay, but it should be round, probably silver in color.
You should find two, both sitting on the backside of the dash next to the steering column. Just reach around behind there, you'll feel them, lift them up and they'll release (they sit in little spring clips).
One is for the turn signal and one is for the hazards.

A quick check (if your flashers work) would be to unplug and switch the two flashers, if your turn signals start working then thats it, if not, switch them back and keep looking for your problem.
You can get new flashers and any FLAPS, just ask. like < $2 each.

Also, I posted the wiring for the signal and lights, you can double check that.
But sounds like a bad flasher.

http://www.earlycj5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=488121
(Please note my correction in the thread)

Edit: Thanks ROCKY
Edit #2: I defer to Tim, a Blinker Relay it is, all the same thing though

 

Interesting.....my flashers are plugged in to the fuse block.

 

Good Point.
I have a '73, the '75 may have them on a fuse panel.

 

I guess I'm callng a flasher a fuse. The silver round deal?

 

Yea, its the diameter of a quarter or so. Some fuse panels have the flashers integrated so you just run all the wires to the fuse panel when you install the harness. Mine I have taped on the steering column right under my zip tied horn button (and air horn button). I do this for easy access when my blinkers stop working. I had my blinkers just stay on instead of flash once. I bought a new flasher, and when I went to put it in, I realized the prong on the existing flasher went to the side of the female connector instead of in it. It was a bad connection. It my my blinkers stay solid instead of flash. I could see this being common. Take special care to make sure the two prongs on the flasher go in correctly.

 

Problem fixed! My Flasher plugs into the fuse box a new one from Advanced Auto and I was blinking properly.

Unfortunatly It helped me discover a second problem. My turn signal is clamped on to the steering column, it does not look stock. There is a short in my turn signal box. When I push it up to turn on the right blinker it works somtimes? I think I saw these clamp on signals on 4wd.com. Is this an easy pull and replace item?

 

What does it look like?
The original Spartan turn signal just clamps onto the column.
There is an after-market style that has more of a hose clamp style attachment to the column.

 

Mine is clamped on by hose clamp. It was spray painted gray at some point so I cant say what it looked like. It is just a box hose clamped to the steering column with a wiring harness running down the column,. The end of the handle has a rubber boot on it.

 

Does it look like this?


Or like this?

 

True, it doesn't matter what the model is, they are all pretty simple.
Just unscrew the case, clean it up, put it back together.
They are all mechanical, so its obvious and very serviceable.

 

Mine was like the one in the top photo above. My issue was the driver's side brake light was intermittent. Drove me nuts. Took the switch apart and finally found a cold solder joint at the terminal. Sneaky little devil. I dissassembled the switch so many times looking for the problem that I can now take it apart and reassemble blindfolded. Literaly. I tried it just for fun. It's easier than an M16. If I can do it anybody can.