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Phantom Blinker! Anybody preform vehicular Excorcisms?

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Old 07-17-2010, 12:11 AM
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Default Phantom Blinker! Anybody preform vehicular Excorcisms?

Okay guys, I just bought a 99 Cherokee today. The blinkers were working fine when I test drove it, but on my way home they stopped working. Upon arriving home, I turned on the hazard flashers and started tapping on relays in the passenger kick panel, hoping it was a stuck relay. No change. I went inside for the night, forgetting that I had left the Hazards on, and at about 12:30am (a couple hours later) I noticed that the front driver turn signal was flashing! I went outside to investigate, and upon arriving on the scene, I realized what I had left the hazard switch on. As I started to unlock the truck, both rear hazards came to life as well! Just the driver front and both rears were blinking...not the passenger front. I shut off the hazard switch, doused the truck in holy water, and went back to bed. What could possibly be causing this? Could it be a faulty relay? or some wiring problem? or possibly a bulb out? I really don't know where to start...Maybe I should call a priest?
Old 07-17-2010, 12:47 AM
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On an old ford I had, I'd come home, shut it off, and ALL the lights would flicker and pulse, unevenly and randomly, especially the dash lights. Freaked me out at first, but it turned out to be a bad voltage regulator, but I think the ecm controls the alternator on your rig..
Old 07-17-2010, 08:57 AM
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I recommend replacing the turn lever assembly.
Old 07-17-2010, 09:23 AM
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Originally Posted by warthog
I recommend replacing the turn lever assembly.
Fair enough...any explaination? Or just a hunch?
Old 07-17-2010, 09:28 AM
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I had a similar type problem on mine and looking at the schematis and the assembly, Hazards and blinkers run thru that assembly and when you open it up. There are a lot of connection points and if the right spot is not connecting when it should be, It COULD mess up the whole assembly. i think it was like 20 of 30 bucks at the parts store. You could also try to take it apart and clean it, but make sure you know how it goes back together. thats why i ended up buying a new one. Good luck
Old 07-17-2010, 09:34 AM
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Originally Posted by warthog
I recommend replacing the turn lever assembly.
x2 All of my jeeps that i have owned have had this problem ( current xj has had two replaced and about to do the third) and it all come down to the turn signal assembly in the steering. Best of luck.
Old 07-19-2010, 06:29 PM
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Good call guys! For anybody who has a problem with this part, It took me about an hour and a half or so to pull this out, rebuild it, and put it back in. Apparently the factory blue dielectric grease just gets old and wiped out of the way from thousands of cycles, then the copper corrodes slightly, causing bad contacts. I just took it apart and cleaned the terminals with a pencil eraser and some alcohol on a q-tip. Then I liberally coated the contacts with new dielectric grease, and carefully re-assembled it. That was the only part that was challenging. The hard part is getting the turn signal contacts back in and aligned. It will take a few tries the first time.

Well worth the trouble! and it only cost me some time, and a couple of bucks worth of Electrical grease. Works like a charm. Thanks so much for suggesting that!
Old 07-19-2010, 07:36 PM
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No problem,

Glad to help out and thanks for keeping us updated
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