Last night on way home the left hand turn signal was blinking rapidly.

I realized what this meant and double checked and sure enough the left front turn signal was dark. The left rear was ok but of course, flashed rapidly when the left hand turn signal activated.

Stopped at the dealer this AM and got a new turn signal bulb installed.

Tech brought car around and I went to leave but decided to just confirm the light was flashing normal again.

It was not. I told the SM and he confirmed and went to get the tech.

The tech assured me he tested this in the bay and then in the car he called me over and showed me it was working for him.

Sure enough the left hand turn signal was blinking at its normal rate and the front and back lights were flashing.

I got in and tried it and it worked for me.

On the way to work the thing worked IIRC 100% of the time. But after this morning's drive to the office, when out for lunch and then on the way home the left hand turn signal blinked fast again.

So what's wrong?

I have not talked with the techs yet to get their input.

SM offered the opinion the turn signal switch might need to be replaced.

I am thinking -- without yet having checked to see if there is one -- a relay might be flaky.

 

I would guess socket problem but it could be any of the items you mention= will need to be diagnosed.

 

I would lean towards a socket problem as well. If you can replicate the problem while stationary, try tapping on the light housing and see if that fixes it temporarily.

 

The connection in the socket has a spring like aspect to it, try cleaning it and bending it back so it fits a little tighter.

 

Dielectric or Conductive Grease????

 

It is not the bulb, it is either the socket or the connector. Clean both of them and you should be good. I don't know why, but it is usually the front left turn signal indicator that does this.

Dan

 

Tech said the wiring looked good and the socket was ok, no signs of any water intrusion, didn't seem to have lost any tension, etc.

Maybe today at the office on my lunch break I'll pull the headlight unit and check things myself.

 

I've had this happen before and nothing "looked" wrong, but the problem was present nevertheless. After cleaning the socket and connector (both ends), the problem went away.

Dan

 

I would clean the socket and use dielectric grease, that should fix the problem.
I had a Dodge minivan a while back and the sliding door had a contact on it (it was a spring loaded plunger that touched against a metal plate). Every year or so, the doors wouldn't lock or lock intermittently and I had to take a pencil eraser and clean the contacts. It would then work fine for a while again. There was never a visible problem on the contacts, they just stopped working. Maybe this is a similar situation?

 

I have had intermittant contacts after replacing a bulb; sometimes the contacts just don't line up or meet as they should. Try a different bulb?

 

it's not the bulb, it's the tabs that make contact with the bulb. they get bent out of shape ever so slightly and need to be bent slightly outward as to facilitate a better contact. also there is the potential for the contacts to become fused. this is so simple ( usually ) that ANY Porsche dealer would know of this instantly. that you continue to go to them while they scratch their heads as if hearing their masters voice for this time astonishes me to no end.

I strongly suspect the solution to your intermittent fast flashing non blinking bulb will be found within the first few pages of this : http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/9...l-failure.html

 

I can only imagine what your dealer charged you to not fix the problem.

On an unrelated note, he just made a down payment on another boat.

 

In the case of my car the dealer didn't charge me anything. I didn't even get charged for the new bulb.

 

As several people have suggested, I suspect there is a contact problem at the bulb/socket interface.

Today I spent some time with the turn signal stalk and no matter what I did I couldn't affect the rapid blinking behavior. Therefore I doubt the stalk/switch is the problem.

I didn't get a chance to pull the headlight out today. Tomorrow I will.

Once I have the headlight unit out of the car then I think I'll be able to spot what's going on.

 

macster. just bend out the contacts inside the bulb socket/housing that make contact with the bulb itself. and you'll be able to signal again, i am strongly guessing. you don't need the dealer for that.
this has nothing at all to do with the stalk mechanism. if you read that thread i linked for you, i think you'll find a myriad number of us that have solved this same issue as suggested. good luck.