Turn Signals No longer working

[FlyboyHPD]

I have a 1999 International and the original turn signals used to work just fine. I replaced the front bulb and rear turn signal lights with LED versions.

I remember reading somewhere that people who do that to their older cars have issues because the newer LED's do not pull enough current to make the turn signal relay work correctly.

Could this be my issue as well, and what do I need to do to fix it?

 

[s2mikon]

You need to add a resister to the circut. And your cruise control may not work if you changed the brake lights.

 

[BeNimble]

Had same issue when I put led tail lights in the vintage motorhome. You need to get an 'electronic' flasher, instead of the old style current-heat-up-a-wire-and-bend-it style.
The tiny amount of current in a LED will not trip the old school flasher.

 

[Truthseeker4449]

Had same issue when I put led tail lights in the vintage motorhome. You need to get an 'electronic' flasher, instead of the old style current-heat-up-a-wire-and-bend-it style.
The tiny amount of current in a LED will not trip the old school flasher.

I second that this is what you need, but also have a tip, many sellers list their flashers as "electronic" but they are in fact regular mechanical flashers. I learned this the hard way, then learned the lights in my engine compartment are part of the circuit and the one bulb left on the right side had burned out.

You're looking for a flasher with an extra ground wire coming off of it.

I would not expect an electronic flasher to fix any issues with the cruise control tho if you have it and are now experiencing problems.

 

[BeNimble]

Here are the ones I used in the motorhome. btw, I modified led trailer lights, took out the circuit board and put them inside the housing, so I kept the vintage lens.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JFPXM21/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Truthseeker4449]

Here are the ones I used in the motorhome. btw, I modified led trailer lights, took out the circuit board and put them inside the housing, so I kept the vintage lens.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JFPXM21/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Ooo so they do actually make these. I've tried looking for these and after finding so much misrepresented junk, I gave up.

 

[FlyboyHPD]

Here are the ones I used in the motorhome. btw, I modified led trailer lights, took out the circuit board and put them inside the housing, so I kept the vintage lens.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JFPXM21/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Awesome, I'll try that. So my next question is on my International AmTran does that replace the old one under the dash somewhere or outside in the driver side electrical box?

 

[s2mikon]

I did the same thing. changed to LED turn signals and had to buy an electronic flasher at NAPA (No American Parts Available) It worked long enough on a Sunday morning to park on the side of the road and connect my tow dolly and load the car. Went back in the house to make sure it was locked and every thing turned off, came out and the flashers were off. Napa being closed I needed a quick fix. So I pulled an injector dropping resister off a car going to scrap and wired it in and re installed the old made in USA mechanical flasher. That was over 2 years ago and I’m still using it. I later had to do the same when I changed the brake lights to LED to make the cruise control work.

 

[FlyboyHPD]

Where did you add the resistor in the circuit? Direct in line with the 12v power?

 

[s2mikon]

In the drivers side electrical box 2 resistors from power to ground. One resistor for the left and one for the right. If I remember they were about 10 ohms each. I did the same for the left and right brake light.

 

[Elliot Naess]

Back in the Late Paleolithic Era when I was an automobile mechanic, we replaced regular flashers with "Heavy Duty" flashers when we installed trailer hitches on cars. They looked the same, but were marked "Heavy Duty".

The issue was exactly the same -- with the extra turn signal bulbs on the trailer, the lower total resistance in the circuit would make the regular 4-bulb flasher "act funny".

Why were flashers originally designed to be dependent on the "correct" resistance in the circuit?
Because... [draws breath ;-) ] when a bulb burns out, the remaining one does not blink, thus alerting you to the problem.

These days, I imagine everything is different. But I wanted to mention that the concept is very much legitimate.

 

[Unpluggedone]

Actually on many pre LED circuits when 1 bulb burns out, the remaining one blinks fast to alert you, pretty ingenious actually

 

[Elliot Naess]

Thanks for the additional detail... yes, either blinks very fast or stays on completely -- depending on various nuances such as charging voltage, phase of the moon, etc.

This was the American system, where the rear turn signals doubled as brake lights.

(Caution -- anecdote approaching.)

My first year of auto mechanic school was in Norway. One time, an American Ford Mustang came in with a turn signal problem, and of course it was simply one burned-out bulb. But even the instructor had never learned about American cars and could not figure out the problem for a long time.

 

[Zork-SKO]

I have a 1999 International and the original turn signals used to work just fine. I replaced the front bulb and rear turn signal lights with LED versions.

I remember reading somewhere that people who do that to their older cars have issues because the newer LED's do not pull enough current to make the turn signal relay work correctly.

Could this be my issue as well, and what do I need to do to fix it?

Amazon has the load resistors 50w with the splicing components. You splice one end to the positive wire, the other to the negative. One per bulb. Then you use sheet metal screws to attach it to something metal to dissipate the heat, which will be quite a bit. That solves the problem.

 

[Dirtdoctor]

First get new bulbs amd check the ground. Most old ground wires have corrosion and simply fail. Did you check fuses?

Cheers.