Turn signal question/problem

I did a search but didn't find much info... My left turn signal isn't working (I get the rapid blinking everytime I signal for a left turn) and I thought it would be a quick bulb replacement. So I pulled the headlight assembly out (I'm really not a DIY'er but I thought this would be an easy one) pulled the turn signal assembly out and the bulb looked fine. I cleaned the contacts, put it all back together and same problem. My right turn signal funtions properly...so I thought, let's just swap left and right turn signal bulb and assembly the bulb fits into (hoping that the problem would switch to the right side) and after doing so, I still have the same problem, the left side is out and continued rapid blinking. So I know it's not the bulb and bulb housing. Could it be something in the actual headlight assembly (contacts, etc). Any words of wisdom? The other weird thing is that it is an intermittent problem. Sometimes it works perfectly (like earlier today) and sometimes it blinks rapidly. I have a 2002 Targa with Litronic headlights. Thanks in advance.... Chris

Sounds like a short, someone else here had the same problem not too long ago. Get a test light to trouble shoot it. Good luck.

Does the left REAR signal blink? If not, check the bulb back there. Since they are on the same circuit, one bulb out will cause the rapid blinking.

I think I got it...I gave the housing a good turn on the left side and it's working now. I wonder if it was not fully seated in the headlight assembly and that is why the thing would work sometimes and rapidly blink sometimes. I'll take it out tomorrow and see what happens, but it's working now! Thanks for the suggestions....it has been driving me crazy! Chris

bend the tabs out on the bulb holder and clean the contacts

Ok I'm having the exact same problem, any other tips?

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The socket the bulb screws into will fit in the housing either way, i.e. you can rotate it 180 degrees and it will physically fit, but will not work. Try removing the socket, rotating it 180 degrees and reinserting it (assuming the bulb is good). I just went thru this on my 2002.

Thanks for the help. The mechanic doing the inspection on this car was stumped. I read him all the recommendation from here and he got the turn signal to work. Which solution cured it I'm not sure, but it was one of the above in this thread!

I too am having this problem. When I re-seat the headlight it works for a 100 or so miles then goes off again. The contacts in the connector look really small to me, not much margin of error to get a proper contact. I tried shimming the assembly by wrapping two layers of duct tape around the metal arm that locks the assembly into place, but that hasn't done it. Tonight I'm going to loosen the bolts holding the docking plate and see if I can slide it forward a little bit to see if that gives a more solid connection.

Mine did this a couple years back. I had changed the bulb up front not long before. Pulled out the front assembly and made sure it had a good connection. Fixed it. I suppose I hadn't seated the front assembly back in properly.

Jeep has the same deal with bulbs that use more ohms. Less ohms faster flashing. Not sure if its your same problem but companies that sell bulbs like for jeep but aren't the ones jeep sells are different. hey fit but not the same bulb. If more than one bulb is in series it might be confusing to chase down the problem bulb.

Last night I removed the headlight assembly and also removed the plastic mounting plate. I cleaned all the contacts in the recepticle with alcohol. Once I removed the mounting plate I noticed that there were adjuster nuts under it. I turned the adjusters lower by one turn and re-installed everything. The turn signal worked right off which is an improvement because in the past I've had to wiggle the locking lever to get the signal to start working. We'll see how long it works.

Interested, I have the same problem - replaced the left front bulb (old bulb looked fine), signal worked for 10 minutes then failed as I drove. Removed assembly, inspected everything - contacts on the bulb seating surface look like new, replaced, tightened everything - FAIL. Will try rotating the bulb housing in the headlight assembly 180 degrees and see what happens. Headlight assembly is firmly seated in the car, not sure what else to do. 2003 targa with upgraded lights, suggestions welcome! LB

So far the light is working okay. I'm afraid to post this because I don't want to jinx it. What I finally did was: Every time I reseated the light it would work for a while, but the turn signal was dim. And to get the light to work I had to really twist the mounting bar hard. After a couple of days it would stop working again. I removed the housing, cleaned the contacts in the connector on the base plate and on the light housing. Then I had noticed that the last bit of the turn of the mounting bar the front of the housing would push downwards. The contact pin for the turn signal is on the bottom left when looking at the connector throuh the hole in the fender from the front, so it is the last to go in if the docking plate and the head light housing are misaligned. There are adjuster nuts under the docking plate and I gave the two front ones one turn upwards to raise the front of the headlight. Now the turn signal is not so dim and it has been working well for about 3 weeks now. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed and dread turning on the left signal hoping it doesn't blink fast. One other thing I noticed is that before making that adjustment the left headlight was pointed lower than the right one, I could tell this by pointing the car at a blank building wall and shining the beams on it. The other thing that practically guarantees that this is fixed for me is that I bought a new docking plate which was to be my next step in trying to fix this. The plate cost me $130 and is sitting in a box in my garage as 'insurance'. Just like the old adage, you won't find a lost item until you buy one to replace it.

Where did you get the docking plate for $150? Is that the piece that the headlight assembly slides into with the male connection at the back? Looks like that's what I need to fix my broken plastic piece that holds the electrical contact pins. TIA

I got it from Pelican. http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/..._pg2.htm#item7