I'm having some major issues with the blinkers in my 83 Park Ave. Even though its a Buick and not an Oldsmobile I was hoping you guys could still help me out. (It's Oldsmobile powered anyways).

About a week ago my left blinker started blinking slow. I assumed a bulb was blown out but I also noticed I could not see the bulb in the dash flashing. I tried out my four way caution flashers and both blinker bulbs lit bright in the dashboard.

While ignoring the problem for a couple days, I happened to notice that when I turned on the left blinker it blinks at a normal speed at first and slows down over a period of about 5 seconds. I also noticed that the bulb in the dashboard would light dim and grow dimmer with each blink until I could no longer see it.

I checked my outside blinkers while the left blinker was blinking slowly and I noticed my front left blinkers in the bumper as well as on the front corner were not blinking. My left rear blinkers were bright and working fine, although blinking much slower than normal.

I assumed one of the front left blinker bulbs was blown out but I found something even more baffling when I went to test them. I removed the front bumper bulb and socket from the lens and watched the bulb with the left blinker on. The bulb was still good, except the blinker filament inside the bulb glowed so dim with the blinker on that it could not be seen through the lens.

Normally, when I turn on the headlights in this car an interesting thing happens. The blinker bulbs on the front corners of the car come on solid. They are single filament bulbs. When I have the headlights on and I turn on the blinkers, the front bumper blinker light and the front corner lights blink opposite of each other. Now, with my slow blinking problem, when I turn on the headlights and the left blinker, the left front corner lights stay lit and become slightly dimmer and brighter with each blink. When I turn on my caution lights, all bulbs on the car light correctly, with and without the headlights on.

I was able to find a "fix" for the problem, with some unsettling side effects. In my collections of junk I found a "ultra heavy duty" blinker can which is twice the size of a regular blinker can but still uses the same two pin system. I unplugged my old, once faithful blinker can and plugged in this huge sucker. Now, both blinkers work at the same speed. The bulb in the dash for the left blinker is slightly dimmer than the one one the right side, and the front blinker bulbs are slightly dimmer on the left side, but at least now they are clearly visible. The blinking never slows down and the bulbs never become progressively dimmer.

I was content with my half a$$ed fix until I took the car for a drive and got stuck at a red light at which I wanted to make a left turn. I turned my blinker on and sat for about a minute with the blinker running. The blinking never slows down, and although the left bulb in the dash is slightly dimmer than the right bulb, it is still clearly visible and does not fade out. As I'm waiting for the light to turn green, I notice small puffs of smoke coming out of the blinker switch hole on the steering column. I realized I need to find the real problem before my car catches fire.

Throughout this entire problem with the left blinker, the four way caution flashers and corresponding bulbs always worked perfectly and every bulb lit with full brightness that was equal to every other bulb. Also throughout this entire problem, the rear blinker bulbs in the left side always lit with full brightness that was equal to the brightness of the right blinker bulbs.

I'm thinking maybe the left side terminals in the blinker switch are burnt and causing an extra high resistance?? Would that also explain the smoke? If this is true wouldn't the rear bulbs be significantly dimmer on the left side than the right side?? Any help you guys can offer me might keeping me from going insane!! It will also be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!!!

 

Hi Stephen,

Do not use the blinkers anymore, as you are releasing too much of the "magic smoke"... Let out too much and it will not work at all!

Sounds like the smoke is coming from your problem part - the turn signal switch. I do not know how similar the 83 PA is to the 86 Olds B-body, but i am guessing they are similar. The 86 B-body turn signal switch has four independent switches in it - LF, RF, LR, RR. Yours may be similar. The instrument panel blinker indicators run off the LF and RF circuits. So many switches in one are so the 4-ways and the brake lights would stay independent also. This explains why the rears work (kinda) but not the front or dash. Also, not enough power to pass through the flasher means slow or no flashing (it is a bimetalic strip that heats with combined bulb current and cools with each flash.)
It is not the easiest thing to replace, but at least you do not have airbags to worry about!
Before tearing into the column, check under the front of the car and look for pinched wiring, bad ground points, and whatnot. I am pretty sure it is the switch, but I like to look for easy stuff first. I bet Rockauto would have your switch...

 

yeah I considered just not using my turn signals as a possibility....

That makes a lot of sense that the rear turn signals are separate from the front ones - explains why the rear blinkers have been working fine. The switch for the left front blinkers is probably burning out.

These blinkers are sooo much more complicated than my cutlass ones... I can't even imagine what circuit is employed to make the front blinkers blink opposite of each other when the headlights are on...some kind of transistor of some sorts I guess...I can't WAIT until THAT burns out....... and on top of that, theres yet another cornering light that comes on when the blinkers and headlights are on...weirdest thing is it comes on solid and doesn't blink...and thats when its working correctly! This is the most convoluted blinker system ever!!!

Anyways.....thanks for the very helpful info!

 

I concur that it's probably the switch. The contacts wear out and the resistance goes up. This results in heat, which leads to the smoke. Also, as the contacts heat up the resistance can increase, which can cause the change in blink rate just sitting there.

 

There are two MORE little switches in the turn signal switch that turn on the cornering lights - one for LF and one for RF! SOOOooo, when you hit your turn signal lever to the left, THREE independent switches are activated! When you hit the lever to the right, three DIFFERENT switches are activated! There are about 4 more for the 4-ways, but I wont get into that...

As for the opposite flashing parking light and side marker, it is not complex at all - just very clever engineering and wiring... No extra parts, transistors, computers, etc... It is basically making one bulb ground through the other bulb when the running lights are on. If you want an engineering explanation, just let me know... The only thing really to fail are the bulbs.
My 72 Cutlass and my 86 Cutlass both have this alternate flashing action. Neat and clever and safe!

 

Nice...that should make for about...60 wires going into my steering column...plus I have cruise control!

Yes I agree the opposite blinking lights is really neat so long as it doesn't cause me extra headaches...I was thinking that it might use a transistor to invert the blinking....but if its just in the wiring then it shouldn't quit on me. (I wonder if I can rewire my 70 cutlass to do that.....)

I had to rewire my drivers side door about a month ago...there were about 30 wires going between the car and the door. The wires had been chaffing on the hole in the sheet metal that they go through. Half of them were cut through and shorting across each other. Now THAT made for some weird effects!

 

I believe all you do is disconnect the grounds from the front markers from the chassis and connect them to the turn signal bulb wires. Do that on both sides. I am pretty sure of this, but if you are serios about doing this, I will double check on the schematic. VERY simple it was - I wonder why other car makes did not do that - a patent or something??

 

It looks like the switch with cornering lights is 28 bucks at Auto Zone. I worked at a trailer rental place in high school and I got to do all the temporary wiring since I sort of knew what wire to use for those blue wire taps. Half the time they would ground back and do the alternate flashing or slowly get bright then flash, I didn't care.

If you go to Auto Zone and register they have the repair guides online and have that one. Find the switch or anything for the car and the link to the repair guide for it is usually on the right. The chassis service manual has the best repair info and switch test procedures, all those numbers are on the connector for a reason.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/hom...questid=383457

 

Thanks for the great info!

Today the left front blinkers cut out for a while...but they came back alive after a few left turns

Personally I feel my mind begins melting when I walk into an Autozone...One time I was looking for metric brake lines for an 84 camaro, the guy pulls out a 1/4" line and says look! its metric! its 6.4mm! When another guy began searching for "Vale cover gasgets" over and over I became quite discouraged.

Besides the employees though, they seem to be pretty good and have a surprisingly large range of stuff that can be ordered if you search for it yourself online. I'm surprised they have the switch and it would be quite convenient for me to order it there. Thanks!!!