I just replaced the flasher unit in my '70 TR6. After installing
it, I still had no blinks until I fiddled with the rear bulb carriers to
give them a better ground (stupid design). That made the right side work,
in fact it flashes annoyingly fast. The left side, though, is about .5
hertz, or maybe .25Hz, and then only if the engine is running.
I woulnd't be confused except that the resistance for the left and
right circuits, measured from the flasher, is almost identical (~20 ohms
left, ~18-19 right). That _can't_ be causing the massive difference. I
measured voltage across the left bulb while it was on (and not flashing),
and it was about 9.x volts (seems low). Voltage at the flasher to ground
was about 12.3 volts on the left (right was hard to measure, flashing too
fast).
Battery voltage is ~12.6V, system voltage is about 14V with the
engine running.
To add to the amusement, when driving home at night saturday, I
noticed the lights were dim. Neither flasher would work, and trying to use
them caused the headlights to dim more. High beams came on slowly and even
dimmer than lows, it seemed. So sunday I checked everything. Battery
connections were good, flashers worked with lights on (and engine running),
lights seemed bright, alternator voltage good (14V). I'm stumped. Any
ideas?
(Obligatory PO story: the PO replaced the left rear flasher bulb holder with
one that doesn't fit very well, and butchered the harness in other places
as well, like the horn and the washer ciruits. Ugh. Oh, he also melted
half the wires going to the ignition switch, or at least made them bubble
nicely. Time to start undoing all his surgery...)
Randell Jesup
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