Weird lighting problem

[Neejay]

My driver's side blinker works fine, but my passenger side blinks fast, like a bulb is out...only all the bulbs work. Also I've noticed that my passenger side headlight is slightly more dim than the driver's side (shinning on a garage). Also noticed (via clear part of jdm turn signals) that the passenger side is also slightly more dim than the driver's side (shinning on a garage). With the passenger side blinker on, the clear part of the jdm signal blinks, not the amber. IIRC, the lights blink as they're supposed to with the emergency flashers on.

I thought maybe a ground until I just witnessed the turn signal being slightly more dim too. Or is there a major ground for the whole passenger side lighting? I didn't see any blown fuses and like I said, ALL bulbs seem to be working properly, even the brake light in the rear.

[supreme_1]

i am nearly certain its a ground. thats the same symptoms that i had on my s10 and caprice, untill i hooked up the ground and vuala. the fast blinking bulb issue could also be that u got a wrong bulb somewhere.

[g6civcx]

What's up, neejay?

The turn signal circuit on a stock S13 operates independently of the headlight and parking circuits.

Power goes battery-acc relay-turn signal switch-hazard switch-flasher relay-bulb-ground.


I suspect that the JDM corners are making your flasher relay think that a bulb is broken. The JDM corners use tiny little 194 wedge bulb as opposed to the bigger 11-series bulbs for the US turn signals.

A small bulb draws less current than a large bulb, and the flasher relay is detecting this current drop, and it thinks that a bulb is out.


My suggestion is to do this:

1) Figure out what part of the corner light you want to flash. The S13 Silvia lights have 2 bulbs: 1 with clear lens and 1 w/ amber lens. It really depeds on how you want to set it up. There's really no correct way since the lights are not DOT-approved. It sounds like you want the amber to flash.

2) Make sure the bulb you want flashed is hooked up to the right wire. Check the FSM for the correct turn signal wire colors. For the S13 Silvia lights, the bulb holders for the turn signals are smaller than the US turn signals due to the smaller bulb. The parking light bulb holders should be the same size.

Just go to the junkyard and snip off the wire harness from any S13 front side marker and go wire them up in place of your stock turn signal harnesses. It sounds like you've already done that, but FYI.

3) Get the correct bulb you want to flash, even if they flash quickly. Check all your grounds. Don't worry about the flash rate for now. As long as all the lights you want flash do flash, you're good.

4) You'll need a replacement flasher relay. Go to Google and find your favourite brand. Usually I recommend Libertek, Gregg's Custom, or Trick/Magic Flasher. Your local custom motorcycle shop should have these in stock. I know for a fact that ATL has a bunch of these shops from my last visit there.

5) Remove the old relay and install the new relay. They should come with instructions to let you know which wires to hook up.


Consult the FSM for location and wires. PM me if you have specific problems.


P.S. Check your fender harness, alternator output, idle speed, and battery voltage as well.

[Neejay]

Hey g6civcx. It's been over a year now since you became a primie :(

Forgot to mention that this was happening before I installed the jdm bumper lights. Thanks for the info, I'll definitely check the ground, harness, and flasher relay.

[g6civcx]

Hey g6civcx. It's been over a year now since you became a primie :(

Forgot to mention that this was happening before I installed the jdm bumper lights. Thanks for the info, I'll definitely check the ground, harness, and flasher relay.

That may do it. The US bumper light has the bigger dual-filament bulb that does both parking and signal, and the JDM light has 2 separate bulbs for each function.

I'm not sure what the resistance drop would be, but I'd look into grounding first, then check the resistance.

If you unplug all the jdm stuff and plug back in your us turn signal and it works correctly, you know the flasher relay has to go.

[Neejay]

Well, ground + bulbs are all ok. The only ground I see is the one that bolts behind the headlight (at least for the lights).

I'll unbolt my lower dash part tomorrow and look for the flasher relay. I would think though that since one side of the car works and the other doesn't, it wouldn't be the relay, but we'll see.

[Neejay]

Ok, so I finally found the flasher and replaced it with one that wouldn't blink fast when a bulb was out (2 prongs). So now the flasher still blink wrong, but at least slow now. Now the passenger side front and rear blink opposite each other. Hazards also allow the bumper signal to blink wrong. So it wasn't the flasher. I also replaced all the rear tail light bulbs on both sides. The only bulbs I left to replace are the front + rear sidemarkers. After that, if that doesn't work, Im done and will just let it blink as is.

[D1GP]

make sure the contact points on the bulb and the harness itself is clean. mine was doing the same thing, i just pulled the sucker out and wiped it down.

[FaLKoN240]

Yeah, I was gonna say contact points, I had the same problem as well.

Well, at least when I still had JDM turn signals.

[Neejay]

I didn't see any sort of build up/corrosion. I got one of those LOUD flasher relays that doesn't blink when a bulb is out so it will at least flash normally. I'll just have to check my bulbs every-so-often.

I got some canadian daytime running lights in the mail...we'll see how this goes.