Signal indicator in speedometer will not flash

[foamermetal]

Will using a lower watt signal bulb (5W) other than the 21W original bulb cause the 9 prong flasher relay to think there is a blown bulb, causing the signal to flash once then not again. Signals work and flashers work at all four corners. Flasher blinks in the speedo too. I shaved the signal housing off the top of the fender on this 67 bug and I'm running aftermarket headlights with the orange or amber running light in the bottom. I'm running my signals through that bulb instead of running lights. using the 12v 5W wedge bulb it came with.

[bw65vw]

watching as I will be dealing with this soon also...

[foamermetal]

Going to bring this back up because Im still living with it. I have tribar H4 headlighs with the running light built into the bottom of the light. I have routed the wiring to use it as a signal. It works great. What doesn't work great is the indicator in the 67 speedometer. It flashes and will not blink. From my research the flasher needs to see a certain amount of voltage. Stock would be two 25W bulbs for front and rear each side. These headlights will not accept a 25W bulb. It uses a 5W type 194 bulb. I need an additional 20W each side. I think. I purchased two 50W resistors from the auto parts store to show the load the flasher needs to see. I am no electrician so Im reluctant to mount it and if I did it would need to be in the headlight bucket. Is that a good place? My other thinking would be to just wire up a 20W bulb into the wiring for each side and hide it somewhere up front. I welcome any thoughts. Man thats a long post.

[Zwitterkafer]

Yes, the flasher needs to see an appropriate current draw, and the corresponding operating wattage range is often printed on the flasher. 5 Watts is too far from the usual 18 to 25 or so, to expect it to work properly. Some flashers may not be able to accommodate. Is the 5 Watt incandescent or LED? LED can be a further problem. 5 Watt is not to code for incandescent, it will not have the intended brightness.
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"Criticism comes easier than Craftsmanship"
- Zeuxius, 400 BC

[panicman]

I switched to all LED recently (everything- heads/tails/interior/speedo) and the kit included a new flasher relay. I also needed to remove the metal socket for the indicator arrows and replace it with a plastic socket.

I'll put a link in for my thread. It has some info about my troubles, and the contact for the guy who built my kit and was very helpful.

[panicman]

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

Bulb holder: https://www.wolfsburgwest.com/cart/DetailsList.cfm?ID=113957397

The system refused to work correctly until I got that plastic bulb holder. It exhibited odd behavior until I replaced that, and it fixed everything.

[EVfun]

You have one of those crazy 9 pin flashers that handled 4 way flasher functions too. (It has 2 sources of input power, connections to all 3 turn signal switch terminals, 2 terminals to the flasher switch, 1 connection to the dash indicator and 1 connection to ground).

The original front and rear turn signals are 18 watts each I believe. So 36 watts (or close) should make the stock flash function work…

You can gain a little more load by swapping out the 194 for a 168 or 168na bulb. They are the same size but the 168 series is 4.9 watts instead of 3.5 watts.

Since that 1.4 watt gain may not be enough, so another idea is to swap the tail light bulb (usually 1157 or similar) for a Bosch 1034 bulb. It is 23/8 watts instead of 18/5 watts. Then swap the brake light and tail light wires in the tail lights. The now separate top brake lights pop more for safety and you are up to 27.9 watts for the turn signals, closer to the stock 36 watts and maybe enough to get the flasher working correctly.

I did a quick search for a bulb that looks like it will plug into a 194 holder but kick out some light. The Hella 921 looks the part, a 17.9 watt bayonet base bulb, but it’s got a significantly larger glass top. There is a good chance it won’t fit in the available space.

The last option is to swap away from the stock 9 pin flasher. All the functions of that box can be handled by a normal flasher and a 3pdt relay and some wiring.
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[indianpeaksjoe]

I recently switched to a Grote 44030 and an LED in the indicator socket. I like the 44030 because it has two outputs so you get flashing in the speedo and the other output just plugs into the normal wiring.
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Adventures in owning a 66 beetle