Turn Signal & Hazard Flashers - Location/Troubleshooting

Just read through here and I have similar symptoms as others. left signal gets stuck in the down position. outer light doesnt illuminate. I replaced all the bulbs but I will check out the outer tailight bulb and see if its still good. I think it is because before I put the STS sequence module in, it worked fine.

I have a problem with my turn signals as well. Flashers work, but neither of my turn signals seem to work, unless you leave them on for a long time. Then they finally flash. Literally like 1 flash per minute at most. The left turn light stays on at night when my lights are on and is a little dimmer than normal (i know this is normally an indicator of something wrong with the system, like burnt out light and what not, but figured I'd list everything).

My left signal is weiiiird, one run it will blink every 2 seconds (each 2 seconds feel like forever) and some runs it will blink every second.

I know it's something dumb that I am just overlooking and I still need to test the voltage of the blue wire on the STS-3 Module just to rule it out. Too fuggin' cold to do anything outside right now. That's my excuse..

charlieRobinson wrote:

My left signal is weiiiird, one run it will blink every 2 seconds (each 2 seconds feel like forever) and some runs it will blink every second.

I know it's something dumb that I am just overlooking and I still need to test the voltage of the blue wire on the STS-3 Module just to rule it out. Too fuggin' cold to do anything outside right now. That's my excuse..

Forgive me if you already addressed it but I thought we had some other thread where we were questioning your voltage as well. Do you have steady voltage?

Is it only on the left turn signal? If so it could be a bulb with a broken filament somewhere, but the broken filament is resting on the tower so it works right sometimes. I've seen this happen before.

What do you mean, questioning voltage? In general, or the voltage of the STS-3 module? There's a few things I need to check to rule the obvious out.

Haven't looked into it yet but how does one go about changing the bulbs in the front signals? The back tail lights and marker lights were a piece of cake. I remember reading that the fronts make you pay for it though? Hope that's not the case.. Can I just get to them from under the bumper and pop them out and change them or do I need to take things off to access them?

charlieRobinson wrote:

What do you mean, questioning voltage? In general, or the voltage of the STS-3 module? There's a few things I need to check to rule the obvious out.

Haven't looked into it yet but how does one go about changing the bulbs in the front signals? The back tail lights and marker lights were a piece of cake. I remember reading that the fronts make you pay for it though? Hope that's not the case.. Can I just get to them from under the bumper and pop them out and change them or do I need to take things off to access them?

The way I did it was remove a few fasteners from the wheel well liner, pull the liner away a bit, and put my hand in there, twist the socket, remove and replace the bulbs. There is a 194 in there also, besides the double filament turn signal bulb. It wasn't that difficult.

LARRY70GS wrote:

charlieRobinson wrote:

What do you mean, questioning voltage? In general, or the voltage of the STS-3 module? There's a few things I need to check to rule the obvious out.

Haven't looked into it yet but how does one go about changing the bulbs in the front signals? The back tail lights and marker lights were a piece of cake. I remember reading that the fronts make you pay for it though? Hope that's not the case.. Can I just get to them from under the bumper and pop them out and change them or do I need to take things off to access them?

The way I did it was remove a few fasteners from the wheel well liner, pull the liner away a bit, and put my hand in there, twist the socket, remove and replace the bulbs. There is a 194 in there also, besides the double filament turn signal bulb. It wasn't that difficult.

YOU MEAN THE SAME 194 BULBS IN THE REAR MARKERS?!?

Yes. Look carefully at the front turn signals. There are two bulbs in there, a 194 marker, and a 3157 turn signal bulb. There are also 194's in the rear tail light lenses, and markers in the left and right rear quarter panels.

Still haven't gotten to this, but I was wondering..

1 of the bulbs in the yellow turn signal on the front passenger side is out. Would that affect my back driver's side turn signal?

Those are my two issues right now and I am wondering if they are related. I might have some garage time tomorrow to further investigate.

charlieRobinson wrote:

Thought this was the best thread for my question:

My turning signals have become increasingly SLOW. They are slow and lag sometime before clicks. At first I thought it was because of my rear marker lights. 1 went out and then the other. But doesn't that generally increase the speed of the signals and not slow them down?

I replaced both rear marker lights and now i'm all lit up, I think. But my left turning signal is still slow. Right is fine. I just installed sequential tail lights and my right is fine but the left still lags and the outside left lamp never illuminates. Any idea what I am missing or should investigate?

Most likely it's a bum flasher. All the thermal flashers change speed with age. Many of the electronic flashers do too for other reasons. Even a junkyard flasher will probably work better. HOWEVER while you are at it, time for some preventive maintenance. I would also check bulb sockets and wiring for corrosion and fix any I found by replacing the sockets (you can get replacements at, say, a NAPA or other full-line parts place that caters to the auto repair trade); I would check battery voltage (it's probably OK but I'd check anyway) and if it's low find the root cause and repair (bad cell in battery??!? or bum alternator).

Ok, I'm new...but I've got to chime in on the blinker / flasher subject.

My 98 had the left blinker stop blinking. I could manually move the lever up and down to make it blink. The interior left arrow light on the dash would also stay lit on occasion, even though the outside bulb would not.

I was told by a reputable Buick dealer that the multi-function switch on top of the steering column needed to be replaced for about $1K.

I scoffed at the idea. That was about 4 years ago. The thing never worked correctly again until...

about 2 months ago I had the control head and control module for the climate system replaced, and the blinker has worked fine ever since.

Maybe someone accidentally whacked something with their elbow while making repairs to the climate system.

Who did the work on the control head and module?

I had the local Chevy dealer do the work since it is within walking distance from me.

eieio wrote:

I had the local Chevy dealer do the work since it is within walking distance from me.

My guess is a "gearhead" did you a favor and you should drop off a case of root beer at the dealership in appreciation.

wvman2374 wrote:

Hi.  I'm looking for any help or advice on troubleshooting my turn signal problems for my 99 Riviera.

Symptoms:  when activated, turn signals would blink erratically (i.e. in a random pattern, not in a rhythm)  but would otherwise work fine.  then they stopped working altogether.  then a couple weeks later they worked again (still erratically) but just for a little bit, then stopped again altogether.  Hazard lights work fine and blink normally.  Turning the switch to activate the turn signals does not turn on any lights, nor is there any clicking sound (even once) coming from under the dash.

Troubleshooting so far:  I've replaced the turn signal fuse in the box on the dash on the drivers side.  I've replaced the flasher unit under the dashboard (which was a literal pain in the neck).  I'm unaware of any other fuses or relay switches that would affect the turn signals.

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but this thread and the post above helped me to quickly diagnose my car's turn signal problem. While testing and replacing my flasher units I caused another problem.

I thought the flasher unit wiring would disconnect easily, so I did not disconnect the battery. The wiring connection on the hazards unit did not disconnect easily. While trying to pry the harness loose with a screwdriver, I created an arc/short to the steering column.

After the arc, the previously working hazards flasher would not work in the turn signal position or the hazards position.
After replacing both units, my turn signals worked, but my hazards and brake lights did not. Turning on the hazards would result in the interior red hazards indicator to light and stay lit, but neither the taillights or the green indicators would light or blink.
When pressing the brakes, no brightening of tail lights, but the interior red hazards indicator would blink as if the hazards were blinking and the flasher would click as if the hazards were blinking, even though they weren't and the green indicators did not light.

After checking all fuses inside of the drivers door, under the hood and an additional 2 amp fuse under the dash, I returned here and searched the forum. Another thread mentioned an additional fuse panel under the rear seat... Well that was news to me...

The fix: I had blown a 20amp fuse that is clearly marked "brake lights / hazards" in the panel under the rear seat.