couple of questions (relay)
 

well...
I finally got my car back today... some of you may know, that i wrecked it about a month or two ago. Well, it doesn't look great, but it is straight. Still needs paint and a couple of amber lenses. One thing i have noticed though since the wreck, is that one of my turnsignals (right or left, can't remember) blinks rapidly. I thought this would be the relay, but am unsure where that would be, and how to check it. If anyone knows, that would be great. Also... if someone has some extra lenses (the 2 amber ones on the front passenger side) i would love to have them... i am just worried about the PoPo!!!
thanks guys, It is great to have the rex back!!!
jeff

if one blinker is blinkin fast i would think it to be a relay. i'm not sure if each are on a seperate relay though. anyways, a heavy duty relay will do that. they are under the dash by the fuse box. i don't remember ever changing one in my 7. but thats where it would be. it should be a little round cylander thingy with 2 or 3 prongs to connect it. just pull out. the one thats blinkin fast is probably a heavy duty one. anyways if there is 2 of them and are not blinkin the same, i would change both with the same new relay's so you know they blink the same. and if your worried about the "popo" just replace the bulbs with orange ones, you won't get a ticket. good luck.

Fast blinker relay is usually due to something much more simple than the relay going bad: burned out bulb.

At nighttime, go out to your car and turn on the parking lights and do a quick inspection of all of the exterior lights, namely the turn signal lamps, since these are the one's which will cause your fast blinker. If they are all lit correctly, now turn on the hazards, and be sure that all of the hazard flashers are working correctly.

The hazard flashers use the same 2-way bulbs as your turn signals on each side, so if all of the hazards are blinking correctly, you may have a relay problem.

My money is on you finding that one of your 2-way bulbs (turn signal) is burned out, either completely (no parking or turn/hazard) or just the 2nd element for turn signal/hazard lighting. Replace this bad bulb and you will find that your blinker now runs at the correct speed as before. After an accident, usually there are bulbs that burn out either due to direct contact (crush), or perhaps from impact when a bulb element will break due to shock.

The reason why this affects your blinker 'speed' is that the blinker relay relies on total system resistance to set the 'speed' at which it operates. When you have a bulb burned out or broken, this creates LESS resistance on the system, resulting in the blinker relay running at a faster 'blink-speed'. When you replace the bulb, you INCREASE the resistance on the circuit, thereby decreasing the blink rate of the relay.

Very simple fix - somewhat complicated explanation. Find the blown bulb and you'll find your problem. HTH,

LongDuck is spot on.

BTW, there is one flasher unit for all the turn signals and it's under the dash. It's a large black box mounted on a metal plate with an 18 pin plug going to it.

Or, it's a single black relay with a 3-pronged connector (in a U configuration), screwed to a metal plate bracket along with some other goodies, that's located in front of the "computer". This would be the case for a 1980.

If you have a Triton replacement relay, which is what Victoria British sent me (and what Schucks lists), it will not screw back onto the metal plate bracket like the OEM did. I'm planning to modify the old relay's case to allow me to hang the new relay properly.

I realize this thread is a bit old, but I saw this thread while searching about this same problem. I still have a fast blinker on one side after replacing the relay. I replaced a turn signal bulb several months ago, and checked them all then, but perhaps another one has died. Thanks for that info, LongDuck. I was thinking the turn-signal switch itself had built up some resistance on one of its contacts, but your suggestion is probably more likely (and easier to check).