The turn signals on my 1998 Ford Crown Victoria stopped working all of a sudden yesterday. When I flip the turn-signal lever, I don’t hear the familiar “clicka-clicka-clicka” sound, nor do I get the usual blinking-arrow display on the instrumental panel that shows the signal is engaged. Instead, nothing at all happens.
I parked the car, turned on the signal lever, then got out to look at the signal lights at the rear of the car. I was hoping that the signal lights were still working, and just that the feedback to the instrument panel was screwed up – but no dice.
All other electrical elements of the car work fine (headlights, power windows, radio, power locks, etc.)
Well, at this point, I’m hoping it’s just a fuse, and that maybe I can fix the turn signal problem myself (if I knew where the fuses were on this car). Also, I am somewhat certain that there’s no issue with the signal lights’ bulbs, but not 100% certain.
If I have to bring this to the dealership, what kind of a bill am I looking at? Intuitively, this would seem to be a cheap, quick fix – but when dealing with auto repair, who knows?
Most likely a fuse .10, a worse case a relay $4-5 (maybe). Maybe the switch, but not likely. The fuse box should be under the hood, or under the dash or both places.
I’d say check your owner’s manual and find the location of the FLASHER. Part is fairly inexpensive and most are accessible so you could do it yourself. Good luck.
MizGrand has identified the most likely failure mode. If the detents of the indicator lever on your steering column still seem to be mechanically sound (not loose or failing to click into place), my money’s on the flasher control unit.
Here’s a quick and simple test. Cycle your four-way flashers. Do they function and provide the clicking sound? If not, it’s your flasher circuit. If your four-ways work, then you may be looking at the fuse (cheap) or the column lever microswitch (expensive).
im no mechanic but that has happened to my car before and I just opened the trunk and pulled back the covering and found the wire that went to the bulb that is the turn signal and I just wiggled the wires around and the position of the bulb and it started working again…might be worth a try
Regarding point #2, I was always under the impression that when a bulb went out, it DID prevent your dashboard display from working. I had a car where the dashboard light just stayed on steady instead of blinking. That was the clue that a bulb was out somewhere.
In many cars, if a bulb goes out it will keep the turn signal on that side of the car from flashing. The other signal light on that side and the dash indicator will still come on, but not flash, and it does not affect the turn signal on the other side of the car.
I parked the car, turned on the signal lever, then got out to look at the signal lights at the rear of the car. I was hoping that the signal lights were still working, and just that the feedback to the instrument panel was screwed up – but no dice.
If this means none of the four signal lights came on at all, then the fuse is the prime suspect. The flasher and the turn signal switch are also possibilities. If the above means the lights came on but didn’t flash, then the flasher is the main suspect. On some designs, a problem with the hazard light switch could also be the problem.
Some cars use one flasher for both the turn signal and the hazard lights, some use two separate flashers for those. If the turn signals and hazard lights went out at the same time, it’s most likely a single flasher that failed.
I’ve found a couple times that when one bulb goes the rest all fail soon afterward… I’m guessing the missing bulb blows the fuse, as often happened to old christmas tree lights.
Try locating the blown bulb and replacing and see if that doesn’t fix the problem before you replace the microswitch.
If your fuse is blown then you probably have bigger problems then just the fuse. Typically fuses don’t go unless there is a problem with the wiring. Also I have never seen a car, though there are way to many, that if one bulb is gone that they don’t just flash faster. I know my Ford Escort does this as well as my motorcycles. I would suspect that a switch has gone bad or a relay.
OK, after reviewing figures 7 and 8 on this site, it appears that there is no flasher relay on my Crown Vic.
Rather, there is a fuse in the interior fuse box that is the overwhelmingly likely culprit. Figure 8 indicates that it is fuse #5.
After the advice I’ve gotten here, that seems weird, but OK. Perhaps figure 7 is marked incorrectly – four relays are indicated in the engine fuse box, but none are marked as controlling the flashers.
…
Edward the Head, you’re scaring me a little. The car has had two other electrical problems within the last 6-7 months:
a) the steering lock would not disengage upon starting, whcih the dealership said was an electrical problem (over the phone). There was an available work-around to start the car in neutral, so I never took the car in, and the problem “fixed itself” within hours. This problem has never reoccured for me, but had occured a few years ealier for the car’s previous owner.
b) the rear driver’s side power window does not go up easily, only down. The only way it goes back up is if the window is already going down, and you quickly toggle the switch back up to make the window go up. If you lower the window and pause, you cannot get the window back up. I’ve just been keeping this window closed at all times. Oddly enough, the other three power windows work flawlessly.
According to my manual, the flasher is built into the lighting control module. Ain’t progress wonderful?
Check fuses #4, 5, & 8. Fuses sometimes go from old age. If a fuse is out, and the replacement doesn’t blow, that’s likely what happened. If the replacement goes out (which might not happen right away), then there’s a further problem.
Make sure the hazard switch is not in the “on” position.
If all the above are OK, it’s pretty much got to be the lighting control module or the turn signal switch (actually part of a multifunction switch, it appears). Time for electrical testing.
