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On my '98 Vette, the blinkers stopped flashing. I installed LED bulbs in the rear and an LED Hyperflash Harness a few weeks back.
I tried to turn on the hazards on and off many times as people have suggested on here. They do flash then. But when I turn the hazards off and try the blinkers again, they will only blink for a few times, before staying stuck either lit or unlit.
Sometimes my headlight, mostly the passenger side, will be lit once I turn it on, but at some point will turn itself off. I also hear a whirring sound from the drivers side, possibly a ballast? The previous owner put in HID's as well. The headlight deal has happened for a while now, but the blinker issue is brand new.
Also, my drivers side headlight just started to go down and then come back up and stays up when I turn my headlights off. This first happened about a week ago.
Any ideas on what I can do to fix these issues?
Last edited by AndyPfucterpus; Jul 24, 2018 at 11:08 PM.
That black part with the red and black wires coming out is what I suspect is making the "whirring" sound
I've been working on trying to clean the ground connectors that seem to relate to my blinker issues, I believe they are G101 and G401. G101, by driver side front up by the lights, I cant get the clips off to pry open the connector to see how corroded it may be. Any other tips? I have tried holding onto the loop with a vice grip and then poking and prying with small flat screwdrivers but have not had any luck getting them apart.
For G401, it seems to be behind the drivers side wheel, a very hard spot to get to. Do I need to pull off the wheel to clean that one? Also, what is the cleaning process for something like that? I want to be prepared for when I try and tackle that one. All I can see is a bolt, no connectors or anything.
I am truly lost.
Last edited by AndyPfucterpus; Jul 24, 2018 at 08:08 PM.
Update! I got the connecter apart! It didnt look very corroded at all. No blue or green discoloration. Just looked a bit dirty so I cleaned the male end. I'm not sure how I'd clean the female. But I cleaned the inside of the nut and the loop and hooked it all back up and I am still having the same blinker issues.
Very common problem. Do a search on turn signals many posts and possible solutions.
I recently replaced hazard switch which can be a cause. However that did not turn out to be the problem as it happened again after install.
I did notice that one of my halo tail lights was loose as well as the where the bulb ballast went into the light was also loose. I tightened everything up and so far so good.
Electronics in these cars are very finicky and often need to be chased.
The headlight up/down is controlled from the multifunction switch. When you turn the heads on, the motors get power to raise the lights. When you turn the lights to "off", the motors get power to bring the lights down. Sorting electrics out is very hard if you don't have the circuit diagrams, as the wiring is pretty tortuous, and as peteinpa says, with a lot of electronics in the mix.
One example is the hazard switch/flasher unit. I just had to change mine as the brake lights stopped working - except for the center high mount which is on a different circuit. Because the brake lights and turn signals use the same bulbs at the rear, the whole lot is wired through the hazard switch. Strangely, the turn signals still worked perfectly - depends which part of the hazard switch internal circuitry bit the dust, I guess. Oh for an old fashioned plug in flasher unit in the fuse box.
Last edited by jackthelad; Jul 25, 2018 at 09:23 AM.
...Sometimes my headlight, mostly the passenger side, will be lit once I turn it on, but at some point will turn itself off. I also hear a whirring sound from the drivers side, possibly a ballast? The previous owner put in HID's as well. The headlight deal has happened for a while now, but the blinker issue is brand new...
...Also, my drivers side headlight just started to go down and then come back up and stays up when I turn my headlights off. This first happened about a week ago...
It seems you have multiple things going on.
Regarding the headlights, when you say that sometimes after a while they turn off, you mean the lights go off while the headlight assemblies remain open, or they go off and close? If it is the former, coupled with the whirring sound you are hearing from the ballasts, then it seems you need to troubleshoot your HIDs.
The other issue that's happening to your driver's side headlight, where when turned off it closes but immediately bounces back and stays partially open, is typical of damaged or missing rubber bump stops. Have you checked them? You might need to replace them (4 per side).
In addition to that, there is a TSB addressing those symptoms that calls for shimming the driver's side motor.
Turns out to fix my blinker problem, I had to replace the flasher that I just bought a month or two ago from radioflyerinnovations. I bought an EP35 flasher from my local auto store and that solved it!
Thanks for your help everyone! Peteinpa, I think it was a thread you posted in that I had read to try and replace the flasher and luckily enough that was indeed the issue with my blinkers.
Now onto troubleshooting my HID's like GCG said. It seems like both sides are having issues. The passenger one blinks a bit and then turns off. But yeah what I mean is that when I have the lights turned to the ON position, the light will be lit for like 10 seconds and then the light turns off. Usually I can flip off the lights and turn them back on and it will be lit again. But it seems like lately that trick hasnt worked as well as it did before.
I need to look for the bumpers to see why the drivers side light will pop back up after the lights go down. I think I only see 2 on the drivers side? I need to find the location of the others.
Last edited by AndyPfucterpus; Jul 25, 2018 at 05:06 PM.
Unfortunately I dont know jack about the HID's. The previous owner installed them. But im sure I will get it chased down eventually. Im not sure if I need to look for a specific ballast? (Not saying thats the issue yet cuz idk)
Looking at the stopper bumps on my headlights, the drivers side does seem to be missing at least one. I still have not found a spot where the 4th one might be?
I will do some research.
Very hard to see, but when compared to the passenger side, it seems as though the black nipple sticking out, just above the bolt along the right does not have a bumper on it. Where the passenger side clearly has one.
On this passenger side, I can clearly see the off-white bumper.
...Looking at the stopper bumps on my headlights, the drivers side does seem to be missing at least one. I still have not found a spot where the 4th one might be?
I will do some research...
...Very hard to see, but when compared to the passenger side, it seems as though the black nipple sticking out, just above the bolt along the right does not have a bumper on it. Where the passenger side clearly has one...
...On this passenger side, I can clearly see the off-white bumper.
Yes, it looks you're missing at least one. It is the same one missing in the picture of the driver's side I included in my previous post (the bump stop at 10 o'clock from the motor shaft). That would explain its behavior. Don't forget to follow the TSB as well, since you're going to be working on that side.
Apologies for bringing this back from the dead but need either support or be shot down on thought. Of all things, on my way to get the 04vert inspected this morning for annual registration renewal and out of nowhere, the turn signals and flashers do not work at all. entire circuit appears dead. Brake lights are all functioning and I have lights when turned on at the stalk. I did install Radioflyer LED halo taillights last year along with the hyper-flash harness. All good until this morning. In reading several other threads, this one stood out for post #8. Whilst a PITA to get to the harness, Andy referenced the flasher "EP35", which does not state that it fits our cars, but assume it must be the correct config for the by-pass relay.
Swapped in the EP35. No change.
Pulled the harness and reconnected to oem. Hazards and turn signals work again, albeit hyper-flash.
Ordered a new harness from Corvette Envy. Not sure who I purchased the old one from, but who knew the harness could go bad??
Will update to confirm this solves my issue.
Harness arrived this morning and I just plugged it in on my lunch break, (Andy-I did swap in the EP35 flasher in-lieu of the one that came with it). Hit both sides and the hazzards. Working as expected.
It was the harness after all. I guess these looms can blow out, even after just a couple of years or less.
Blinker Problems and Headlight Issues
