Flashers Do Not Always Flash

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Bruce Wingate

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My flashers don't always flash. When I first got the truck, they worked fine, but over time they got more problematic. More likely than not, they will flash at the begining of the first trip of the day and then at some point, the turn signal lights will light, but not flash. I don't know if the hazard flashers work (because I didn't think about it until I was typing this out.)

I'm going to pick up a new flasher unit and see if that helps, but if not, any suggestions?
 

SirRobyn0

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Make sure all the lights work. Brake and signal are the same bulb. If possible get electromechanical flashers. Will flash regardless of a bulb being out and can handle extra loads such a trailer lights.


For guys like me that tow a trailer a lot the electromechanical flashers are the way to go. @Bruce Wingate sounds just like the flasher unit is heating up and stops working. The turn signals and hazard flashers use separate flasher units, so you could always swap the two for testing.
 

Bruce Wingate

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@SirRobyn0 That generally was what I thought. Today was much cooler and the flashers worked on the 45 minute drive to work. I am going to skip the test and just get a flasher that is good with LED bulbs, because eventually I want to switch all the "little" bulbs out to LED
 

fast 99

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May want to research that decision. Others have tried LED's some with success others not. A LED bulb is a computer circuit. These old trucks were never designed for LED's and may not provide a dependable circuit.
 

SirRobyn0

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@SirRobyn0 That generally was what I thought. Today was much cooler and the flashers worked on the 45 minute drive to work. I am going to skip the test and just get a flasher that is good with LED bulbs, because eventually I want to switch all the "little" bulbs out to LED

May want to research that decision. Others have tried LED's some with success others not. A LED bulb is a computer circuit. These old trucks were never designed for LED's and may not provide a dependable circuit.
Ya, my first though was oh, my another guy looking to cause himself problems.

If you do decide to go LED research it and know what you are getting into. I'll say this again though, when we get an older rig in the shop that has a lighting issue and someone has installed aftermarket LEDs, the first thing we do is pull all the LED bulbs out and install incandescent. 9 times out of 10 that solves the problem...
 

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