Hello everyone,

So for the past few weeks, my turn signals have been working whenever they choose to do so. When I turn on a blinker, it may blink a few times then go on solid. It may happen every time I turn them on, or sometime not hardly at all while driving. It's very sporadic. The hazard lights have been doing the same thing.

I've tried to do some research as to what is going on and as such, I've tried replacing the flasher relay but as you can see from the attached photo, there are 3? Either way, I tried replacing each one with a new one at different times with no results.

Has anyone else got any suggestions? If so, I would greatly appreciate it as I've gotta drive back to school and can't afford to not have turn signals.

Thanks!

 

I would check your relay first. It honestly sounds like it's the multi function switch on the steering column. I have had to replace mine twice now.

 

Your multifunction switch is unlikely to be the cause of erratic blinkers, especially since the problem exists with both your hazards and blinkers which are controlled by completely separate parts of the multifunction and separate relays. The one commonality is the wiring and the bulbs, I'm guessing you have a short somewhere. Finding it is a challenge, I would start by checking the bulb sockets and work your way back to the fuse block/relays.

 

If there were a short on on particular socket, would it sill affect both the right and the left turn signals concurrently?

 

if you have really old bulbs with corsion in the socket then yes...

 

A short will essentially feed voltage back through the system and cause erratic blinking or no blinking at all (constant on). I'm not sure if your 2001 has an electronic flasher module or a load-based relay. I know that on a load-based relay, any fluctuation in load (eg. short or fried bulb) will cause your blinkers to flash faster. If it's a short-to-ground, the result is usually a constantly illuminated light rather than a flashing one.

The multifunction switch only determines where the flashing signal is directed (left, right, or hazards), not the speed or frequency of the blink. It is possible to have a short in the multifunction switch but that usually results in other problems like a failure to return to center after making a turn or difficult operation.

 

In this case, I will first check the sockets/bulbs and from there, start looking for shorts within the wiring. Does this sound like a decent way of diagnosing the issue my friend?

 

it does...

 

X2

 

report back after you do that