[Flick]

So I am driving home last evening from the beautiful Black Hills of SD. I begin to notice that my left turn signal sometimes works and other times not. When it is working in addition to my front and rear blinkers I also have a line of small lights down the side that blink as well.

Tonight I got a closer look at what is happening as I compared to the right side blinker. Under my dash is a small relay (I think) in a glass jar. When the blinker is on the right side that clicks. If I go back to the rear panel where there is a left and right Relay (again I think) the right one clicks and all the lights blink. Now when I try the left one the relay up front seems to click differently and not in any constant rhythm. When I go back and listen the the rear left relay it clicks only occasionally. Meanwhile sometimes the rear lights blink and the side lights just stay on. Or the rearights stay on the side lights blink.

I am told Steve Priarieschooner may have had a similar issue in the past. However, looking for suggestions from anyone.

[whatsnewell]

Hey Todd, now with a little more information it may be that your rear turn signal relay is going bad. My right one went bad a year ago, and I was able to obtain a replacement relay at a local auto parts store. One way to test the theory (and this is what I did) is to unhook the wires from the one that is working (mark them, of course, so you can reattach them properly) then attach the wires from the left one....if the left blinkers now work then you know you problem.

[prairieschooner]

I am told Steve Priarieschooner may have had a similar issue in the past. However, looking for suggestions from anyone.

No my problem was with the Brake Lights, sounds like your problem is a Loose Ground, Flasher or Relay.

[Flick]

    .

Ok gurus I replaced the left relay switch on the back of the coach and it did not change anything. The blink is different when it blinks. Sometimes it doesn't blink and different flashers work and don't work. Now up front under the dash I find this relay as well that clicks when in the right turn or left turn. It does not keep the correct cadence when on left turn so maybe this is the culprit. Anyone know where to source this. Can't find it by the model number on it.

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    Here is the underside as well.

[Flick]

So tonight driving to storage for the winter I have no running lights in the rear. Only the passenger side rear brake and turn work. Drivers side rear does not work at all. However, the running lights on the drivers side that previously would blink once in a while or just freeze worked just fine.

Also called Newell to source the flashers up front because no auto stores in town can figure them out and got no help there as well. Parts looked at the pics and just said they don't carry it anymore and had no suggestions for replacements. I talked to service (mind you this was before things changed this evening) and their idea was that I should make sure that I had no burnt out bulbs anywhere because since they are wired together that could cause less amps to flow to the back which would cause issues.

Good thing it's in storage now cuz I don't have clue where to go with these electrical issues.

[encantotom]

basically flashers and relays are generic. just have to do some homework. the rectangular relays are easily replaced with modern ones. i am sure the flashers are the same.

tom

[Flick]

The guys at the auto shops would just pour over books clueless. Do you think a relay could cause all of these issues?

[whatsnewell]

When I was in Vancouver, WA in August of 2012 the right rear flasher relay went out. I was able to replace it with a much smaller, modern one at O'Reilly. You have to go in knowing what you want. It seems to me that there was a small diagram on the old relay that helped me (with Tom's help) figure out what to ask for at the parts store. If you just bring in the old relay they will have no idea what it is, or what to replace it with. I was able to wire in the new one, and it worked the first time. I think I still may have the old relay.....when I get to Salt Lake and unload the car from the trailer I'll look around for it, and see if my memory is correct about the small wiring diagram on it.

[encantotom]

all a relay does is turn things on and off. if it is a dual 87 relay, it has two outputs that it turns on or off. though you can splice as many as it will service adequately.

the relay just has contacts in it that are put together or held apart by an electrical solenoid. the solenoid is triggered by whatever is the providing the on/off signal. the reason for the relay is current handling. it can handle ALOT more current than a regular switch can in most cases. the relay can be normally open or normally closes. (NO or NC). that just means if it is normally open, that means you have to activate the relay to have your lights come on. if it is normally closed, your lights are on until you activate the relay to turn them off.

the relays are 5-6 bucks or so and will not be the metal can ones like you likely have on your coach now.

the flasher is just a switch that turns on and off at a certain interval. the regular cheap flashers are thermal and make that ticking sound as it cuts in and out. normally all things that are attached to the output side of the flasher should either go on or off together. the one thing that might happen is if something on the output side requires a certain amount of current to operate and something else on that same side requires less current to operate, then you might have two outputs of the flasher operating differently. that would likely be mostly with something "electronic" like led lights. a regular filament bulb just gets dimmer with less power.

didnt really answer your question, but some info to chew on

tom