no Blinkers/flashers on Targa

[crliwa]

the blinkers and 4 way flashers are not working on the Targa and I think it is the flasher unit so I pulled the old one which has 4 terminals 3 facing north south and 1 east west..
At the Advance auto parts store they 2 small square flashers $7 & $12 that had the same terminal look, both 12v , one 30 amp the other unknown amps.
Mine/the original is large and round and has FV 26 stamped on top and says
SWF
BLINKGEBER
BOE 200852
12v 2/4?(Worn off) 21w
196
nic???erf?n
31?
all written on the side.
also 49 stamped on the opposite side

Any idea as to whether the store "fllasher" will work.. I looked on the opel gt source site and didn't see a listing fot the flasher.

ONE more thing when I pulled the flasher the drivers side taillight went on with the key OFF and went off when I turned the key on


Thanks.. Craig

[crliwa]

I went back outside and now both taillights are on... so I tined on the key on and they went off.. I put the original flasher in and expected the lights to go out but THEY STAYED ON ....so to get the taillights off I have to turn on the key (or disconnect the battery)
Help

[crliwa]

ok .. I realized that the left blinker was on so If I recall correctly the fact that the taillight went on with the key off is a safeguard so that the car can be seen when parked.. I turned the blinker off and turned the key off and the taillight(s) stayed off.

[namba209]

Craig, J. J. Wheatley (DESTEC) has a thread somewhere on the site that has instructions on how to use a 3-prong flasher in the GT. IIRC you have to switch the bulb location in the light panel and cut a wire or two. Another possible fix is to open the can and check the internal contacts of the flasher for pitting and corrosion. HTH.

[crliwa]

Ron,all.. I found the post it is the one about double fashing and in it there is a reference to what jj /Destec said which is to Ground the black/yellow (c) wire and replace the 4 prong flasher w/a 2 or 3 prong flasher. I used a new Ford 3 prong flasher and grounded the black/yellow wire but no change ... now I'm wondering if the flasher is the cause of the problem or if I'm looking in the wrong place.

[crliwa]

It's Fixed...................THANKS RON ..after trying the switch to the 3 prong and coming up empty my son decided to open the Original canister flasher unit.. after a few minutes he found the contacts that Ron referred to and took it apart to get a small point file in there to clean the contacts.. he then reassembled it and plugged it back in and on came the blinkers.. wa laaa. In the meantime I was leaving him alone.. he didn't want my "help"..so I was in the garage looking thru all my other Opel stuff as he strongly suggested that I replace the entire fuse panel.. I know I bought a new one at Carlisle (I think) but where I put it is still a mystery .. In case anyone knows anything about my family .. my son had moved to PHX, AZ to work for the city of Scottsdale but moved back last week to take a job w/the N.Y State DOT.. Just in time to get the Targa ready for Charlotte.

Next.. I'm a bit concerned about the Starter Motor ..seems when it's hot it doesn't always respond to turning the key.. I've bump started it more than a few times... I'm sure there's a spare starter in the garage too.. ????

[namba209]

Originally Posted by crliwa Next.. I'm a bit concerned about the Starter Motor ..seems when it's hot it doesn't always respond to turning the key.. I've bump started it more than a few times... I'm sure there's a spare starter in the garage too.. ????

Craig if you don't have an "OttoStart" system in your Targa, get one put in. It could be your ignition switch is on the verge of going south, or as you suggest the starter is on its' last legs. Another thing, I just thought of, the solenoid may need to have the electrical contacts checked out also, along with a cleaning of the piston inside it. Sometimes they just need to be cleaned to work properly again.

[crliwa]

Ron,Thanks again, I agree.. the ottostart is sitting here right in front of me.. That and doing all the solenoid/ starter repairs u suggested are next..
I live a few minutes from the Great South Bay and 10 more to Fire Island and the Atlantic Ocean so I took the Targa over to a show on the beach (actually in the parking lot) overlooking the ocean that is now a regular Saturday nite event. Of course of the 100+ cars it was the only Opel.. got lots of compliments and even a lead on another GT .. not that I'm looking for one.. I recently reduced my opels by 2..and I heard that one is already back on the road..Of course I needed a bump start to get home.

[tomking]

Originally Posted by crliwa It's Fixed...................THANKS RON ..after trying the switch to the 3 prong and coming up empty my son decided to open the Original canister flasher unit.. after a few minutes he found the contacts that Ron referred to and took it apart to get a small point file in there to clean the contacts.. he then reassembled it and plugged it back in and on came the blinkers.. wa laaa. In the meantime I was leaving him alone.. he didn't want my "help"..so I was in the garage looking thru all my other Opel stuff as he strongly suggested that I replace the entire fuse panel.. I know I bought a new one at Carlisle (I think) but where I put it is still a mystery .. In case anyone knows anything about my family .. my son had moved to PHX, AZ to work for the city of Scottsdale but moved back last week to take a job w/the N.Y State DOT.. Just in time to get the Targa ready for Charlotte.

I dont want to hijack a thread, but guess this post is appropriate. If mods think otherwise then feel free to move it. My blinkers dont work correctly either, but not quite the same as Craigs. With my headlights off the blinkers and hazard lights work fine. But when I turn on my head lights the dash indicators for both blinkers come on and stay on. The turn signals of course dont flash but stay on. If I dissconnect the park light feed wires to the front turn signal/park lights then the turn signals work properly. I have done the suggestion by DESTEC on his wiring diagram to eliminate the double blink indication. I am using the stock 4 pin flasher unit. Now I havent checked for all grounding points, but have checked some and that hasnt solved it yet. Any ideas?? Thanks.

[tomking]

Bump, any ideas?

[markandson]

Originally Posted by tomking Bump, any ideas?

Tom,
I sure am glad I rebuilt my entire electrical system, these posts just continue to pop up all the time. What I would do first is the same thing that Craig's son did. Take the blinker can apart. since there is a wiring connection between the park lights and the blinkers it is possible that a set of contacts is shorted in there which would create all kinds of havoc. The other thing to do is disconnect the wires that are used to turn the parkers on when the blinker stick is actuated with the key off, I don't have a schematic here at work so I can't tell you which ones those are. I believe that JJ (Destec) recommends doing this to avoid finding a dead battery if you leave them on by mistake, I just don't remember where the thread is.

[tomking]

Thanks Jeff. I did remove and check contacts on blinker and they were good. I did polish them with fine emory just as insurance, so I dont think that is the problem. I havent yet disabled the PARK function you spoke of but will do so next. Thanks.

[namba209]

Tom, I responded to this yesterday, but it got lost in ether land. If you disconnected the Black/Yellow wire at the flasher socket, you took out the ground for the flasher. With the lights on the system finds another ground through the lights and the flasher doesn't work. With the lights off, the ground is through one of the other lights, and the flashers work. Just a suggestion.

[tomking]

Ron I pulled out JJ's diagram to see precisely what his Note 2 said about removing that wire. It indicates to remove the BK/Y wire and take it to ground. I assume that is what I did, but will have to wait until I can check it out on the car. Perhaps his note also means that ONLY a 3 or 2 pin flasher will work then. I did a 3 pin flasher the other day when I was working on the problem and fried the flasher!! When I took the flasher apart the contacts had welded together. I put the 4 pin back in and it works as before; but not with the headlites on. Now the 3 pin flasher I tried was a used one and may have been bad to begin with, I suspect it was.
Back to JJ's Note 2 suggestion. It looks to me like that the BK/Y wire goes directly to ground anyway. If I recall correctly arent all those double pin connections on the back of the speedo going to ground? So the BK/Y wire is grounded with the browns on the back of the speedo; grounded at the fuse box attachment point.
Thanks Ron for the suggestion and I will look into that the next time I get the car out later this week. I dont recall precisely what I did, but if I followed JJ's note I would have just removed the BK/Y wire from terminal C and grounded it.

[namba209]

Tom, if you look at JJ's schematic, the Black/Yellow wire is not drawn in completly in the schenmatic. It stops right after the flasher connector, then is picked up again on the side of the speedo between the two terminal blocks and goes to the ground side of each light. That's what I referred to when I said that you had taken the ground away from the lights, and ultimately from the flasher. His note on this is for using a 2 or 3 prong flasher and not for the original 4 pin flasher. BTW, I'm still using the original flasher that came with the car. HTH.

[tomking]

Well grounding the C terminal as stock doesnt make it work either, with the lights on. It works fine with lites off.

[namba209]

Tom, if you're using the 4-prong flasher, just connect the Black/Yellow wire back where it goes, to the indicator light panel for the flasher indicator lights. That should cure the problem.