David;
Two things come to mind.
1.) Gradual drop in turn signal performance could indicate a
battery/charging problem coming your way. The ability of the turn
signal to blink depends on enough current going through the heating
element in the "blinker". Current can be sourced from the battery or
alternator. Usually we notice the problem at idle waiting for a light
to change - the time when you are running off the battery since the
engine is just barely ticking over and the alternator (or worse -
generator) is putting out a minimal current flow. With other lights,
radio, and heater fan on it would be even worse since the current is
being used to support other appliances in the vehicle.
2.) Modern "solid state" turn signal blinkers do not rely on current,
but have a little timing circuit that uses milliamps to work. They are
a little more expensive, but work much better, blinkers blink at the
same speed regardless of whether sitting at idle or making a lane change
at speed.
My advice would be to buy the blinker and see what happens. If you want
to check the alternator it is easy to do in the car if you have a
voltmeter (or even better, clamp on amp meter). If you want to know
more, email me off line.
Howard in Maine
David Page wrote:
>
> Before I go tearing into the wiring on my fairly new (to me) Spitfire, I
> thought I'd check to see if the problem I'm having is a common one...and
> if there is an easy fix. My turn signals have gotten to the point where
> they don't blink. When I activate one, the lights simply stay on, until
> I deactivate it. It seemed to build up to this; over time (say, a week)
> the blinking seemed to get slower and slower...until finally it just
> stopped. Any thoughts?
>
> Cheers,
> David
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