Why are my left headlights and taillights blinking faster than my right side?

Tiny
NILSKARSALIYA
  • MEMBER
  • 1999 FORD MUSTANG
  • 152,000 MILES
After I added aftermarket head/taillights, my left side head and tail lights have been blinking faster than the right side. The mechanics cannot figure out what is wrong with the car. Before I added the aftermarket lights, my blinkers were working fine and blinked at the same speed.
Thursday, October 6th, 2011 AT 9:10 PM

8 Replies

Tiny
RASMATAZ
  • MECHANIC
  • 75,992 POSTS
Check for an open circuit on that side
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Thursday, October 6th, 2011 AT 9:15 PM
Tiny
NILSKARSALIYA
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That's not the problem :( any other suggestions?
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Thursday, October 6th, 2011 AT 9:42 PM
Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,004 POSTS
YOU DIDN'T SAY, WHETHER ALL OF YOUR ARE WORKING (SIDE MARKERS?)

I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE WHAT YOUR BULBS LOOK LIKE, ON OLDER STUFF, THERE WAS A HIGH PIN AND A LOW PIN ON THE BULBS BODY. SOME PEOPLE HAVE A KNACK FOR CRAMMING THEM IN 180 DEGREES WRONG. THIS WOULD MAKE THE WRONG "FILAMENT" BURN/ BLINK.

SOMETIMES THE BULBS WOULD SEEK GROUND, THRU THE OTHER WIRE, NOT THE GROUND.

CHECK YOUR GROUNDS, EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO RUN A TEMPORARY ONE TO THE FIXTURE AS A TEST

NOW FOR THE "KICKER"---WILL YOUR LIGHTS BURN--BLINKERS OFF?

LETS INVESTIGATE, MAYBE AS IT GETS DARKER. DO YOU HAVE A LIGHT OR LIGHTS THAT BURN BRIGHTER THAN THE OTHER SIDE. MAYBE THEY ALL SEEM BRIGHT. ARE THE TURN SIGNALS DIMMER?

IF THIS IS THE CASE MAYBE YOU HAVE CROSSED UP, THE WIRE FOR THE TAILLIGHT(S), WITH THE WIRE FOR THE TURN SIGNALS OR STOP LIGHTS.

'NOTHER CHECK, HAVE BUDDY HOLD THE BRAKES, IS ONE SIDE BRIGHTER THAN THE OTHER?

RESULTS?

THE MEDIC
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Thursday, October 6th, 2011 AT 11:28 PM
Tiny
NILSKARSALIYA
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There are no bulbs because the lights are LED (sorry forgot to mention that in the description!) I'll still try out checking the grounds. Both sides light up the same. Thanks for the suggestions! I really appreciate the help.
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Thursday, October 6th, 2011 AT 11:45 PM
Tiny
NILSKARSALIYA
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  • 5 POSTS
Do you think it could be due to low resistance in the LED lights? I don't know if that would be the problem since the right side is working fine but the left side is blinking too fast.
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Thursday, October 6th, 2011 AT 11:47 PM
Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,004 POSTS
YOU MAY STILL BE ABLE TO CONFUSE TAILLIGHT WIRE WITH SIGNAL WIRE. BRAKE AND SIGNAL SHOULD BE BRIGHTER THAN TAIL

CHECK YOU INDICATORS ON THE DASH, BOTH BURN?

CHECK YOUR CONNECTIONS AGAIN, LET YOUR BUDDY PARTICIPATE---SOMETIMES YOU GET TUNNEL VISION ON WHAT YOU HAVE DONE.I GET "OVER-FOCUSED" SOMETIMES.(COME ON NOW, EVEN ME?)--HE MIGHT SEE THE LIGHT (SO TO SPEAK!). IF YOU SEE HIM IN A TRANCE LIKE MODE, TELL HIM TO GO TO THE LIGHT!

THE MEDIC
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Thursday, October 6th, 2011 AT 11:54 PM
Tiny
NILSKARSALIYA
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Haha! Great advice! So get this: when I turn on my hazard lights, both sides blink at the same rate. So does that mean the connections could still be swaped?
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Friday, October 7th, 2011 AT 12:10 AM
Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,004 POSTS
SORTA THINK OF THE OLD STYLE BULBS, THE ONES WITH 2 ELEMENTS AND 2 CONTACTS ON THE BOTTOM--GROUND IS THE ROUNDED BODY

I THINK (ALSO SORTA SICK, WITHOUT A LOOK, I MIGHT BE SWAPPING THE ELEMENT FUNCTIONS)SO LET'S SAY THAT THE TALLER ELEMENT BLINKS THE BRIGHTEST THE SHORTER WAS BRIGHT, BUT MUCH DIMMER THAN THE TALLER ONE

IF YOU HOOK "TAIL" TO THE TALLER ELEMENT, VIA THE CONNECTION ON THE BOTTOM (WIRE IN THE CONNECTOR). AND DO IT ON BOTH SIDES, TAILLIGHTS WILL BE EXTREMELY BRIGHT. BUT WORK, (WRONGLY)

ON THE SAME NOTE, YOU HOOK UP RIGHT TURN AND LEFT TURN, TO THE SHORTER ELEMENT. YES THEY WILL BLINK. BUT NOT AS BRIGHT AS THE TAILLIGHTS. THEY WILL BLINK UNIFORMLY

TO FIX THIS SITUATION, SWAPPING THE WIRES (SWAPPING THE CONTACTS) WILL REVERSE THIS. ALL WILL BE RIGHT. BRIGHT TURN AND BRAKES, DIMMER RUNNING LIGHTS

NOW THEN, LETS SAY ONE SIDE IS WIRED RIGHT----THE OTHER IS SWAPPED (BRAKES AND TAIL), I HAVE NO CLUE WHAT THE RESULTS WILL BE. BUT IT WILL NOT BE RIGHT!

I SEE SIMILAR STUFF HAPPENING ON TRAILERS SOMEONE DOES IT BY THE DIAGRAM, OR THEY DO IT TO MATCH THEIR "MIS-WIRED" VEHICLE (MESSES SOMEONE UP, BORROWING IT), OR SOMETIMES, IT'S A LOST GROUND SOMEWHERE

THE MEDIC
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Friday, October 7th, 2011 AT 12:35 AM

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