W108 Turn Signals Hyper Flash
 

All my light bulbs work and are all the correct wattage. Even the hazard lights flash faster than they should. Any ideas what could be causing my turn signals to hyper flash?

That used to be the signal that one light bulb had burned out. Nowdays with a warning light on the dash, it might not be so. But it used to be.

I had this issue when one of my bulbs was shorting the two positive leads together. Check for corrosion on the bulb terminals. On mine it was one of the front signal bulbs.

This is a good time to just go through all of your bulb connections. First start the car, turn on the turn signal, get the quick flash and then get out and walk around your car. You will see one of the lights not flashing. This is because it is burned out or not making connection.

I have found that when one of these starts doing this then another is not far behind. So I just take a day to pull each bulb, clean it and the socket, and then put a bit of dialitic grease on the metal part of the bulb and put it back in. Then, before installing the lens, test that bulb.

This is just one of those things you need to do every ten or fifteen years.

This is real good advice Idle.....I am overdue...thanks for this tip.

If there is corrosion, should I just clean it up with a wire brush?

With the car on, all bulbs work/flash and are all the correct wattage. Even the hazard lights hyper flash.

Since I'm on this topic. Is there anyway to "upgrade" the flasher relay so I can have LED turn signal lights? I know you can add a load resistor to each bulb but that'll be 4 resistors(1 per bulb on every corner of the car).

I’m thinking about replacing the flasher relay. It’s a 72 280SE with the pull type knob for the hazards. How would I go about removing it to replace the relay?

It pulls out from behind, so remove the glove box liner first.
Unscrew the black knob (with the red dot), and then unscrew the nut on the stem. If you have snap ring pliers, this will be easy. Once that nut is off, you should be able to pull it out - don't forget to unplug the large electrical connector.

The back of the radio and wiring won't get in the way? And will I have enough room to disconnect it going through the glove box? I would think I'd need both hands to disconnect it?

It's a mild pain to disconnect. Radio is easy to remove FWIW.

yeah... radio isn't too bad to pull out a bit. I would pull the connector off, before unscrewing the nut that hold the switch tight. The switch is bigger than I expected it to be.

Just replaced the flasher relay with a brand new Bosch relay.

Hazards and turn signals flash as they should now but the left turn signal flashes a little faster than the right. But not as fast as it used to with the old relay. Any ideas what it could be? Maybe a bad contact on either the front or rear left signal bulbs even though the bulbs do work? Again, the hazards and signals don’t flash as fast as they used to with the old relay, just the left signal is slightly faster than the right.

Could one of the bulbs on the left be of a lower wattage than the rest?