C5 DRL and turn signal problem

[Pyro]

Hey guys,

Not sure if anyone has come across this or has any ideas but my front DRL/turn signal acts up intermittently

I have the LED switchback bulbs which worked perfectly fine for a couple years and last year i got some newer switchback LEDs and that's when i started noticing some issues. Car's been in storage over winter so finally getting around to trying to diagnose the issue.

So what happens is
Car on, DRLs only

• Sometimes one or the other DRL will not be on, haven't noticed a pattern to which one it will be
• turn signals may not blink, independent of whether DRL is working, if DRL is not working then signal doesn't work but sometimes the DRL is on but signal still doesn't flash, solid amber of the DRL

Car on, parking lights (one click on signal stalk)

• generally i believe the parking lights work as intended (white for switchbacks)
• sometimes if the DRL is not working then turning the parking lights on will result in an amber parking light rather than white
• turn signals may not blink, also independent of the parking lights

I already have the hyperflash harness installed which if i'm not mistake bypasses the hazard switch which i've read is a common culprit so I'm not sure if it's that.

I tried to put the old switchback LEDs back in and same issue appears. I have not tried putting the halogens back in.

Could also be the socket? the bulbs fit snug but maybe the contacts are worn and/or corroded? i didn't inspect them in too much detail last time so it's possible I need new sockets.

Just wondering if anyone else had an experience or ideas with this

Thanks

 

[Jeremiad]

I don't have a C5, but I suspect my 98 Trans Am is likely the same (wiring wise) as your Corvette. The issue that I have had since I purchased the car is that the standard 3157 bulbs get much too hot in the tiny housing that is my front turn signal. It is also a very poor design in that the socket is located in the bottom of the housing, so when all that heat cracks the casing and allows water in, it goes right to the bottom and collects in the electrical socket. I have been forever changing bulbs in the front of the car because they keep burning up, and also gumming up the sockets with crap. Die-electric grease just makes a bigger mess and bakes, giving you a hard or semi-hard grimey paste that is hard to clean and is not conductive.

I have replaced the sockets with new ones. Here are a couple of valuable tips for you on that. Direct replacement sockets from GM are $136 each and still require that you cut the wires and splice the new ones in. For about $18 each, I picked up some replacements from NAPA and changed them myself. My sockets were getting a little brittle, so I elected to replace them altogether, but here is a good trick for you if you can get away with it. The stock sockets have two tiny square holes in them that you can depress in and allows you to remove the inner socket from the socket housing. Some of the replacements that you purchase have the same thing. This allows you to replace the inner socket without having to cut and redo your wiring.

Switching out to LED switchbacks is a great alternative because they operate without causing any significant amount of heat. The drawback to this is that they do not draw anywhere near as much power as the lights are designed to use, so your signal flasher may stop working. I had to replace my flasher with an LED type flasher in order to have my signals flash.

So a few questions for you.

Have you changed the rear bulbs to LEDs as well, or just the fronts?

Have you replaced the flasher?

You should definitely pull the bulbs from the sockets and check to see how clean the sockets themselves are. LEDs are quite sensitive to the connections and need to be seated properly, and positively. You can bend the pins out a bit more to make better contact, and I like to plug the bulb in with the light switch already on so that I can change the polarity (flip the bulb around) if it doesn't work.

Also, your car should be the same as mine in that you have an independent flasher for the hazards. So if your hazards don't work, you may have to replace that flasher as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[Black 03 Z06]

Some good information in this thread.

 

[Pyro]

@Jeremiad Thanks for the information.

I did happen to pull the bulbs again after the post, the contacts didn't look corroded or anything, I hit it with some electrical cleaner spray while I was at it just to try. I did notice some discolouration on parts of the plastic that hold the bulb in place though. Again the bulb feels like it sits firm but like you said it's possible with my switchback LEDs that they are being a bit finicky. I may try your suggestion this weekend of bending the pins out a bit to attempt a better contact.

To answer your questions
I have switched to LED tail lights as well. Installed the hyperflash harness offered by various vendors that cures the hyperflash of LEDs.
flasher has not been replaced but this has not been a problem for me since recently and I've been running LEDs for about 4 years now.

 

[Jeremiad]

Yes, I would clean up the contacts and bend the pins out a bit and see what happens. I have also seen where snugging the bulb right down tight sometimes doesn't work and you have to wiggle it back out just a tiny bit. I'm not familiar with the hyperflash harness. I would expect something like that to have a resistor in it to create the load that the silly GM electronics are expecting, but it says it doesn't use one. It does look like it comes with a replacement flasher though. It is possible that it could be the flasher unit itself causing the problem, but I would lean more toward a bad contact on one of the bulbs. Trouble is, it could be ANY bulb, so you might want to check the rears too.

 

[Pyro]

Just an update, i had some time over the long weekend so i replaced the bulb sockets (looks like one of the sockets had already been replaced before)...pretty straight forward process, 3 wires to connect from the new socket to the existing harness. Also replaced the hazard flasher which was a bit tricky but wasn't all that difficult either.

So far i the symptons have not returned, although i haven't driven that much since then. I suspect it was the sockets and not the hazard flasher but i can't say for sure since i replaced them at the same time. either way, fingers crossed that it's the end of my issues.

 

[Rruuff Day]

Here's hoping Pyro!