I was driving to the airport a couple days ago and noticed my left turn signal was flashing about 3 times faster than normal.

Back in the 70's this was an indication that one turn signal bulb had burned out. But every car I've owned since the 90's has a dash warning light for bulb-out. Hmmm... I was running late so I parked the car and went to Omaha.

I got back late last night and it was cold and rainy so I just slept. I'm going outside now to try and figure out what the problem is.

Has anyone else dealt with this yet? Are the bulbs easy to get to? Are they 'normal' 1156/1157 types or are they wedge based, or LED?

Considering my last car had a wheel come loose and dumped a transmission in the first week this isn't too bad at all.

 

Left Rear signal is out.

No tools required! 10 seconds, inside the trunk, lift the flap, twist, pull, done.

It's an oblong, amber coated, wedge-based incandescent bulb. The filament itself was intact but one of the little legs for the filament came unglued and left a big blackspot inside the bulb.

I've never seen this type. I hope Pep Boys has.

 

Page 367 http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/%7Enash/TC...s%20Manual.pdf

 

It's a good thing it was the turn signal. Other than the turn signals and headlights, everything else isn't easily replaceable, and the manual tells you to take the car to a dealer.

 

Interesting that page 365 shows a table with all the bulbs and the corresponding type numbers... there is none for the rear signal bulb.

I hope this isn't a "dealer only" item. That would suck.

 

My experience. I drove a 57 Chevy back in the early 60's. I started having a problem of blowing a fuse to the tail lights. I thought it may be a intermittent wire shorting out. After replacing the fuse a few times I tracked it down to when I would put in the brakes. Then I thought a ground in the tail light switch up under the dash. I talked to a friend that was a radio repairman. He suggest me to first replace both tail lights. These were the dual filament type. I drove it from then on and the problem was fixed. I could see a drooping filament in one of the old bulbs. Evidently when the brake lights were on, the filament was shorting to a ground side of the other filament. I still don't see how the bulb kept working like that.

Another was my 2003 Corolla. I had owned it a few years. At dusk I would check my outside lamps after filling my tank. I noticed sometimes the right front side marker light would be out. Living in Dallas I sure wanted the side marker light to work. I stopped at a auto store and picked up a small package of bulbs. These were the press in type bulbs. Still I had the same problem. I did notice the glass base of the new bulb was not exactly as large as the original and felt a little loose in the socket. I headed off to the toyota dealer only a few miles away. I bought 2 bulbs. I installed one in the side marker and the other I threw in the glove box. I noticed the new bulb fit the socket nice and snug. I drove it till I traded it a year later and the bulb worked fine.