Two weekends ago, on a sunny evening with the car freshly cleaned, we piled the kids in the back (getting tougher all the time - 8 and 12 years old) and took a short ride to Dairy Queen. So the turn signals quit working. A multi-page search yielded "replace the relay" as the most common advice. A quick call to Ian at 944online got a new one here in a few days and I installed it tonight, along with cleaning the contacts. No dice, so here's the rundown: all lights work and none have been changed; emergency flasher, which shares the relay, works (worked with the old relay, too, so that isn't the problem); when turning the signal on, left or right, the light in the guage cluster comes on, but is steady (doesn't blink), and nothing happens with the turn signal lights. I'm thinking a bad ground (but where?) or bad signal switch. One other owner I found while searching posted the exact same problem (a couple of years ago), but no one answered. Thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

Hello?

 

could be a problem w/ your column stalk, or your flasher not reseting completely. When you turn the signal on do the outside lights come on but not flash?

 

No - the outside lights don't come on when the signal is engaged, but they do work as parking/running lights, so the bulbs are good.

 

Fuses?

 

the grounds for the front lights are on the driver's side frame rail below the headlight. you'll see a bunch of brown wires. the rears ground in the trunk, i think.

 

Because your hazzards work, I wonder if this is something related to the contacts in the steering column. Mine is similar where sometimes the light stays bright but stops flashing, then goes back to flashing again.

 

Check the hazard switch.

 

Fuse is good - even took put a new one in and cleaned the contacts, just for fun. Hazards work, so how could it be that switch (are all of these parts daisy-chained together like the window switches?)? I guess I'll pull the wheel tonight and clean everything and see if that fixes it. That worked for the wipers when they wouldn't turn off.

 

When they don't flash it's a ocontact issue 99% of the time. Clean contacts or not, they sometimes don't make good enough contact. If they didn't work at all I'd say it's the ground, but they do.

 

The hazard switch has to connect correctly internally when turned off in order for the turn sig.
to operate. Try turning the hazard switch on and off repeatedly to clean the contacts.

 

Went ahead and ordered a new hazard switch, based on the help here, advice from my local independent shop (props to John and John at Charleston (WV) Import Service), and a peek at the wiring diagram in the Haynes manual. Should be here today or tomorrow. That switch panel with the hazard and rear defrost just pops out, right?

 

Depends on the model year.

Another possibility is the turn-signal / wiper combination switch isn't making good contact. You should remove the steering wheel (disable ABS previously, if you have it) and clean the contacts.

 

Update: None of the above. Last year when the clutch was done, the mechanic evidently didn't reconnect the backup light switch. I knew that the backup lights didn't work, but since the car is not a DD, I wasn't that concerned about it. While tracing the turn signal issue, I noticed that the fuse for the backup lights (and the side mirrors and rear wiper) was burned out. Replaced it and it immediatedly burned out again. Long story short - the loose wire that should have been connected to the backup light switch had fallen to a spot where it was shorting out. The 2 circuits (backup lights and turn signals) share some common wiring, which snafu'd the turn signals. Cleaning and reconnecting the backup switch fixed everything. Arrgh - I HATE electrical stuff! $ for the relay and emergency switch was wasted. I'll be able to send the turn signal stalk swith back (I hope), since it was never taken out of the package. Oh well.......

 

Thanks for posting the answer for future searchers! Nice work resolving the issue. Have fun signaling without your arms! Cheers.

Eric