I have a 1987 Fiero GT 6cyl (thought I mention this just in case) Here’s the problem. my left turn signal light comes on once and a while and stays on, while in this state if I press down on the turn signal lever nothing happens it’s just frozen; pushing it up activates the right hand turn signal which operates fine. After driving for a while or turning the car off and back on (intermittent) the light will go off and the turn signal will start operating normally (left and right).

Question what could be causing this?

One more note: this started about two months ago.

Undo the tail lense open the connector for the light and bend the litlle blade that touch the bottom of the light to make the contact thight with it
Just fixed that on my car 2 days ago
Flasher was not working then i noticed that the light bulb was ok but sometime not lighting.
Watch out there is a lot of grease inside the connector
If you think there is much were the bulb stand , wait when you will open the connector

[This message has been edited by Robert 2 (edited 08-12-2009).]

quote Originally posted by Robert 2: Undo the tail lense open the connector for the light and bend the litlle blade that touch the bottom of the light to make the contact thight with it Just fixed that on my car 2 days ago Flasher was not working then i noticed that the light bulb was ok but sometime not lighting. Watch out there is a lot of grease inside the connector If you think there is much were the bulb stand , wait when you will open the connector

Robert do I do this for all the lights in the tail or just the left side?

I dont know the name of the part i think its a turn signal actuator or relay or somthing. dont quote me on this because i also dont know if the fiero has this. I have an accord that was doing this same thing and it was a piece that hooks into the fuse box on the car. again dont quote me on this. also look at your turn signal switch inside the steering colluem.

Thanks guys. I'll look into both things and if anyone else has an idea please post away as I need to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks in advance to all that help.

mine does the same thing when the parking lights are on. when i move the bulb socket wires around, it comes back on. i dont recall which wire it is, but its loose internally on the socket. i think its the one ground wire going in thats the loose one.

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quote Originally posted by 87GT2M6: Robert do I do this for all the lights in the tail or just the left side?

If you want too ,i think the little blade flatten after 20 years of pressure , like any spring .
Could not be that but i did it and the flasher is OK now
If i can i'll shoot a pic of this tonight .

[This message has been edited by Robert 2 (edited 08-12-2009).]

To narrow down the cause, you'll have to specify if it's the front, rear, or both left turn signals that stay on.

quote Originally posted by Bloozberry: To narrow down the cause, you'll have to specify if it's the front, rear, or both left turn signals that stay on.

Its the left side light that stays on in the dash. Like I mentioned above its intermitent meaning at any given time I start the car it might stay on or it might be normal and work fine, however lately its been happening more often than I like. I checked out all lights and none are blown. I'm about to go and try some of the suggestions already posted and I'll let you guys know what the outcome was tonight.

OK. Next step to narrow the origin of the problem down is to pull the TAIL Fuse and the Turn/B/U Fuse out and note which one ends up turning the light off next time it happens. Both provide power to the dash light under different circumstances so knowing which fuse is powering the light will eliminate one of the two circuits.

Ok I've tried everything mentioned in all post except for Bloozberry last post because I just read it. Now I'm going to try his suggestions and narrow down the culprit. I’ll be back… with the results in a while.

When the flasher stay on in the dash than go around and check if there is one light on the flasher that is not lighten . i you find one check the light and wiggle it in the connector , if it's lighting then there is a bad contact , mine was doing it even if the bulb was good .

[This message has been edited by Robert 2 (edited 08-12-2009).]

Ok I checked the fuses, the lights etc. I've done all that has been mentioned except for replacing the actual flasher. Now with that said after doing everything the light in the dash is out...I checked to make sure all lights on the outside of the car are on (and they are) then I tried the right flasher and it works and when I try the left it just stays lit and the outside left fender amber light goes out and stays out till I put the lever back to the middle. Then the outside left fender light comes back on and the dash light goes off.

Basically still have the same problem only now the light on the dash that was always on (left flasher light) is now off but my left turn signal is inop...still.

The flasher circuit is a complicated one that uses the front (not side marker) light bulb filaments as a path to ground for more than just lighting up the front bulbs. There's two filaments per bulb and both filaments have dual purposes. In some cases they are used simply as grounds, allowing some current to flow through them, but not enough to light the filaments. So, when one or the other filament in the same bulb is burnt out, you get what you described. The solution to your problem is to physically remove the LH front flasher bulb (not the side marker) and replace it with a known good one. Try it. You'll become a believer.

Thanks Bloozberry, I'll try it and I'll let you know tomorrow.

Thanks again

Just a thought are you sure there is not somthing shorting out/bridgeing inside of the socket?
Also does anyone know if the 4 way flasher system intertwines with the turn signal system. all my cars work like that but never got that deep into my fieros flasher system. just throwing out ideas. I'm stumped on this one.

[This message has been edited by pontiackid86 (edited 08-13-2009).]

The four-way flasher does intertwine with the system, and that's part of what I was referring to in my earlier post that the filaments in the front flasher bulbs serve more than one purpose. Sometimes to illuminate the bulbs, other times to serve as a ground with just enough voltage to keep them from lighting, yet allow other lights to turn on. But in 87GT2M6's case, it's not the hazard light system that's the problem.

Bloozberry I bought new lights and still the same thing. However this time I noticed the socket is a little loose, if I push up on the wires the light is nice and snug but with vibration or a little tug on the wires the bulb becomes loose but not to the point where it turns off. Anyways back to square one.

Now I'm thinking of replacing the socket and just in case also replacing the flasher. Whichever one it turns out to be I can return the other.

Well I'm off to the auto parts store.

Please feel free to continue to post ideas of what could be causing this, you never know the socket and flasher might not do the trick but I'm sure hoping it does.

I had this same problem, the cure was as Bloozberry said. The left front socket was defective. Replaced it and was still good two years later whaen I sold it.

HELP! THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY!

I’ve installed new lights, new light socket front left side and nothing still have same problem. The next thing to drain my pocket is the flasher itself. Does anyone here

think that can be the culprit? Depending on your opinion I’ll go ahead and purchase it. Then the only thing after that is the dash itself? Don’t know it that makes sense and or the lever mechanism going into the Steering Colum.

Please people keep sending your ideas in.... I need to solve this today if possible.

A big thumbs up for all who have participated so far.

Thanks again.

Not likely the flasher unit since it uses the same internal circuit for both the left and right sides... if it works for one side, it's gonna work for the other side too. Gotta be something else... hmmmm.

do the hazards still work or are they screwed up too? I know that in some cars a bad bulb in the back will effect the front. It sort of cripples the whole side to alert you that there's a problem. Usually it either works or it doesn't, but i have had a bulb that had a bad/broken filiment that would sometimes not work because the filiment was broken, but bump it with your hand and the light would come on and seemed "fixed" only to fail again after hitting a bump in the road and the filiment lost contact again. This may not be your problem but it doesn't cost anythign to take a CLOSE look at the buls to insure they are good. Just throwing it out there.

Hazards work fine, I walked around the car and all lights are working and the front, side and rear blink like they should in hazard mode... It is a mystery.

Angel---THIS is a bump



OR this one



OR

Thanks for the bumps Clem. I appreciate it, I'm sure someone will have a fix for this. I hope!

Everyone has been just great. Thank you all. I've tried all suggestions however nothing has worked yet.

I'm asking for anyone how thinks or knows what’s going on or has had this problem and has the solution to please help me out if you can.

So with that said I'm making a last ditch effort to resolve this turn signal problem by asking all to help out in this particular matter just one more time and believe me it is greatly appreciated.

Again to all who have participated, shared your stories, ideas and possible resolutions THANK YOU and a plus is coming your way.

I don't know much about this problem but have noticed that a bunch have had eletrical problems, and the general ride performance, fixed by adding a new ground from their engine to the frame, https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/043240.html --- I can't guarantee this will be your fix but you never know.

Although similarly, I pulled off on the side of the road, engine running, right turn signal on, to call someone and ask for directions. As I was sitting there my engine temp rose from 150 to 220 and I noticed my turn signal was slowly... dying. Soon enough, it just stopped completely. I activated my left turn signal and it worked, back to right, nothing. I turned the car off to prevent the car from heating up any further and eventually turned it back on and saw it still didn't work. I drove off, engine temp went back to 150 like normal, and everything worked afterwards. I have yet to try the new ground so I can't say it made a miracle cure but I was going to do it myself to see if that problem would come back or not. Though, seeing the turn signal just completely stop made me think of this thread at the time.

Here's a quick run down on how the circuit operates. The turn flasher module needs a certain amount of current to flow through it in order to heat up enough for it to flash. Normally, current flows through the flasher, then to the dash indicator, the front side marker, the front turn, and two rear turn bulbs whenever the flasher is turned on. All these bulbs place a high current demand on the circuit and cause the flasher module to heat up, and trip the internal switch, shutting it off momentarily until it cools off, closes, and starts the cycle all over again. If any of the bulbs are burnt, have faulty grounds, or have faulty power supply wires going to them however, there won't be enough current demand on the system to trip the flasher module.

In your case, you've said all the bulbs work since you've proven this in hazard mode. Since the bulbs use the same set of power supply and ground wires for normal turn operation and hazard operation, downstream of the turn lever, then you've proven that the fault lies between the fusebox and the turn signal lever.

You also know that the RH side works fine, which should mean that the fuse, flasher module, and RH side of the lever mechanism is also fine. That leaves only the LH side of the lever mechanism as being faulty, but not completely defective since it will pass enough current to the dash indicator and to the LH marker light (it goes out because the lever is providing 12V to one side of the marker light and the park light circuit is providing 12V to the other side of the same side marker, cancelling each other out). So, the only way I believe this can happen is if the contacts inside the turn signal lever for the LH side are corroded or just barely making contact. Enough contact is made to allow some current through to provide power to the two bulbs mentioned above, but not allowing enough current to pass through to light up the rest of the bulbs, and to heat up the flasher module.

So how do you test this theory? You'll need a multimeter set on volts, turn on the system so that it fails like you've described with the turn signal lever on LH turn, then pull out the front LH (not side marker) light bulb and probe the lt blue wire with one lead of the voltmeter and the other lead to a known good ground. You should get 12V, but I'm betting you'll see something less. If you get less than 12V, then it's the contacts in the turn signal lever. If you get 12V, then the theory failed and we'll have to figure something else out.

Zigaroo thanks for your input it is appreciated, about a year ago I installed a new ground from the engine to the frame. I figured it couldn't hurt.

Bloozberry thanks, and I'm on it...will post outcome tomorrow.

i hate to say it, but whenever you have an odd lighting problem, change the turn signal swith. very complicated circuit that can do strange things..

Well here's the finale to "The Mystery of the Turn Signal", (coming to a theatre near you). I finally broke down and took the car in to check the electrical system, $325.00 dollars later it turned out to be a $10.00 dollar flasher.

LOL, just kidding on $325.00 dollars, my buddy got back from his vacation and he tested the volts and showed same voltage drain for both left and right so he changed the flasher module and now both left and right turn signals work great and they flash faster than before.

Thank you all for helping me through this trouble shooting venture through the electical systems of the 1987 Fiero GT, thumbs up and a plus to everyone.

YOU GUYS RULE!

quote Originally posted by 87GT2M6: Well here's the finale to "The Mystery of the Turn Signal", (coming to a theatre near you). I finally broke down and took the car in to check the electrical system, $325.00 dollars later it turned out to be a $10.00 dollar flasher. LOL, just kidding on $325.00 dollars, my buddy got back from his vacation and he tested the volts and showed same voltage drain for both left and right so he changed the flasher module and now both left and right turn signals work great and they flash faster than before. Thank you all for helping me through this trouble shooting venture through the electical systems of the 1987 Fiero GT, thumbs up and a plus to everyone. YOU GUYS RULE!

lol thats the part that i was talking about that was in the fuxe box. guess its not in the fuse box on the fiero. nice job dude glad you got it fixed.

Wow. I don't doubt you, but I have a hard time explaining to myself how the flasher could work while routing power through the RH side but not on the LH, when everything else is good. Is Miami in the Burmuda triangle?