***COWBOY ALERT*** ***COWBOY ALERT***

[Roadkill]

Been using the Coupe DeVille for a couple of days now and one thing that immediately struck me was how damn slow the indicators were !

It'd had a nasty conversion done - big-ass amber units bolted to the back panel . . . not to my taste - I prefer keeping the original red flashers and just dealing with the MoT man when the time comes . . . .

Anyway . . . .

In my limited knowledge of elctrickery I was thinking . . . . If taking a bulb out speeds up the flashers - would adding two new units to the original circuit slow them down ?

I just went outside, started her up, turned on the indicators and, sure enough, a brief look under the rear shows the original indicators unplugged from their sockets, dangling loose but merrily still flashing away with bulbs insitu !!



I'm now thinking I'm gonna do this properly and see if I can get the indicators flashing at a speed faster than a traffic-light cycle !

[Roadkill]

Interesting . . . .

Took out the original, larger, bulbs and the lights come on, but don't flash . . .

Next plan is to refit the original bulbs in their holders and take out the "new" bulbs . . theoretically going back to the original set-up.

Alas, I need some torx bits as the light fittings are held in with S/Steel torx screws.

[EDGE]

you can often get the flasher unit from another vehicle and wire it up independantly, replacing the cowboy spesh....

[Motorama]

i get this a lot with the American pickups, have seen some awful jobs

usually its because the brake lights and indicators were combined and have to be seperated, also frustrating is they use the reverse lights for indicators meaning its a nightmare backing up at night

[FUBAR]

Quoting: Roadkill

Alas, I need some torx bits as the light fittings are held in with S/Steel torx screws.

I've got loads of these you're more than welcome to borrow.

[Roadkill]

I should have the bits at home . . . the "alas" part was directed to the fact that we were really quiet at work earlier so I was hoping to do it here, today, in daylight.



It's quite a small torx screw so If I get stuck i'll give you a holler.

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: Motorama

also frustrating is they use the reverse lights for indicators meaning its a nightmare backing up at night

easily cured by a small discreet reversing light to mirror the fog light that inevitably has to be added. if the vehicle has a tow bar, its really easy to integrate that neatly.

a lack of reversing lights is a major pain though, especially on a vehicle with tinted windows as a lot of SUV's have...

[Roadkill]

Ahh, F*ck - it's worse than I first thought !!

Seems someone started removing the original bulbs and holders - used choc blocks to splice new wires and lights in then decided after testing that the resistance wasn't right and added a complete, new, extra set of bulbs and holders and left them dangling under the car !!

Basically there's the originals still inplace but apparently disconnected, then there's the new amber units, then another, utterly redundant but still connected new set, there, too (producing a very bright white light under the car at night when indicating) !!



At this point I reckon it's beyond me !

[ianjpage]

Ah sounds like a real bodge job then!!!

[EDGE]

oull it all out and start again, its the only way with bodged things like that...

you can usually wire a brake light switch to the pedal manually, use that for the stop lights, then find the signal wire that should flash the turns, splice in to it with a relay flasher unit and use that to flash new turns.  If the flasher unit is a euro one, from a fiesta or whatever, the load from 3 bulbs will give the right flash speed

job done....

[philoldsmobile]

i reckon it will be easier than that...

pull out the extra bulbs, and tidy the wiring, then add a bike LED indicator resister each side - they are designed to mimick the load of a bulb.

[EDGE]

that might help...

[EDGE]

tell ya what though, i hope theyve got heat sinks on them, because all that loaded resistance ends up as heat !!  I burn out a few resistors doing this on the saleen, until i ripped it all out and did it properly....

[Roadkill]

Quoting: philoldsmobile

then add a . . .  resister

*(Note to readers that the Resistor idea was actually mine)

[philoldsmobile]

Quoting: EDGE

tell ya what though, i hope theyve got heat sinks on them, because all that loaded resistance ends up as heat !! I burn out a few resistors doing this on the saleen, until i ripped it all out and did it properly....

they are for exactly this type of job....  they don't get significantly hot.


http://www.startright.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=15148

by putting these in place of the extra bulb holders, it mimics the resistance (the LED indicators they are for have no real resistance as such, and therefore flash uber fast without a resister - in just the same way it does when a bulb is out)

first things first we'll see what's there, because it really shouldn't be a difficult job...

if all else fails, and with the resisters it flashes too slow, add a heavy duty flasher relay, and it will be fine (you set them according to the flash rate you require)

[philoldsmobile]

Update.... there is a whole world of oddity in the rear lights...

As far as I can see, the basic layout of the wiring is about right, but its been badly done (chock blocks and scotch locks). the low flash rate appears to be down to the number of bulbs - the extra bulbs are substituting the fact that the rear corner markers would flash along with the indicators at night (well, opposite them) as the front side markers often do on american cars.

being a 5w bulb, this means the 2 21w bulbs (one tucked behind the panel) are presenting a different load to the flasher unit than the original setup of 2x21w and 1x5w at the rear. american flashers flash the opposite way to europeans, meaning the more bulbs you add, the faster they flash (if a bulb fails on a yank they stop flashing all together) as its already a nightmare, the best solution is to remove the extra 21w bulbs behind the rear panel, and correct the flash rate with an electronic flasher unit.

this is what I used in the Astro, they aren't load sensitive, they just flash at a set rate. before fitting one to the astro, the flashers would flash at double speed when a trailer was connected (increased load on the indicator circuit), the solution was this unit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Turn-Signal-ELECTRONIC-Flasher-Relay-32-EF32-25-Amps-/110463385306?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19b8217eda#ht_1967wt_1265

should be suitable for 1 - 8 bulbs IIRC...

-edit- flashes 1 - 12 bulbs...

http://cecindustries.com/user/_ProdFlasher_view.php?editid1=EF32

[Roadkill]

ALL SORTED - For £9 and about 10 minutes !



Ordered the electronic flasher unit from the states (£9 including shipping) - took about a week to arrive.

Fitted it on saturday and removed the extra bulbs dangling down behind the bumper.

Indicators now flash evenly and at a much more acceptable rate.



Just needs a clean, now, and it'll be ready for sale . . . .