1996 Crown Victoria

The left turn signal is having an intermittent problem. When I turn on the left turn signal, the flasher operates very fast. The exterior lights do not appear to be working in this condition but the dash indicator is blinking (at the same high speed). The problem has gotten progressively worse over the past 2 or 3 months. Initially, I could turn the signal off and back on and it would probably work but now, it will quit for a day or so. Today, I could not get it to work until I got it into the garage and was going to troubleshoot but as soon as I got out the tools, they started working and I could not make them fail.

The second problem is not really a big deal and I don't think that it is related because I have had this issue ever since I got the car (3 years). The hazard flasher does not work. When the hazard switch is engaged, neither of the turn signals work (as expected) and all the lights are off and there is no 'relay' sound coming from under the dash.

Steps Taken:
So far, I have checked all of the fuses on the inside of the car (all are good) and there are no other electrical problems with the car. All of the bulbs are working, including turn, tail, and cornering lights.

Observations:
I have not been outside of the car when the problem happens but I have been in it at night and I did not see any of the turn signal lights working when the problem was happening. The cornering light does come on.

Questions:
What will the flasher do when a light is burned out (i.e. circuit is broken)? I would assume that this action would be the same if there was a dirty connection somewhere. Does anyone else think that this is a possibility and a method to troubleshoot this idea?

Thanks in advance.
-Bill

 

Replace the front and the rear turn signal bulbs on the left side. You have a bad filament, which instead of burning out completely, is occasionally making contact and working. A bump or the expansion / contraction of the filament can cause it to open.

Once you get the turns operating, you can check out the hazard flasher socket for voltage. If there is voltage, replace the hazard flasher.

 

Thanks, I didn't even think of that. I'll give it a shot.

 

When you turn the hazard lights on, grab the button and wiggle it. Do the same thing when you try to use the turn signals. The multi function switch ( that is essentially the entire lever and push button assembly for the lights ) goes bad frequently. If you notice a difference in performance doing those things then you know it is the M/F switch.

 

Thanks for the second tip, some tough love on the hazard switch got those working (not sure for how long but don't really care) but I could not get the turn signals to fail. I am going to heed the previous advice and replace all of the bulbs and see what happens. Now that the hazards are working, when it starts to mess up, I guess I can turn those on and see if all of the bulbs are on. All of the bulbs are 12 years old anyway (dad had the car since it was new so I have the history on it).

 

Ok, changed the bulbs a couple weeks ago and haven't had the problem since. I will post again if it reappears. Thanks!