melhadri Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 My front right turn signal flashes extremely fast. However, after knocking against the headlight area with my hand, the turn signal flashes with normal speed. Is the bulb loose or dirty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUMan Posted February 3, 2005 Share Posted February 3, 2005 I just posted some comments about this problem earlier this week. I am assuming that the bulb is okay, i.e., it lights up. If so, then the problem is the connections between the bulb and the bulb holder or between the bulb holder and the car chassis. My car is a 94 ES. The 98 ES layout should be similar. The first thing you have to do is remove the plastic panel that is at the front of the engine compartment. (It is between the hood latch and the radiator.) This covers the bolts you will need to remove. The panel is held in place with clips that you will have to pull up to remove. After removing this panel, there will be three 10 mm (I believe) bolts that must be removed. When these are out, you can pull out the headlight assembly. The turn signal lights can then be accessed. Turn the bulb holder counter clockwise to remove it. Remove the bulb from the holder. Clean off (I used a nail file) the contact points within the bulb holder. There will be two at the bottom and one on the side. Also, bend these contact points up so there will be a tighter connection with the bulb. Also, you will see three contact points around the perimeter of the bulb holder. Clean these off with a nail file or something similar. Reinsert the bulb (push in and turn clockwise) and then reinsert the bulb holder into its hole. These steps stopped both of my turn signals from blinking too fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
es300ed Posted February 24, 2005 Share Posted February 24, 2005 Thanks CUMan. I did what you suggested on my 96 and it now blinks correctly. I actually failed a safety inspection in Virginia because of the fast blinking. One difference - I think I turned the bulb holder clockwise to remove it. Took me about 45 minutes but I'm extremely NOT handy. If I can do it, anybody can. Thanks again for saving me some $$$. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melhadri Posted February 28, 2005 Author Share Posted February 28, 2005 Unfortunetly, I didnt have the time so I dropped the car off at Toyota. They said that I needed to replace 3 bulbs. Now the signals are blinking just fine. HOWEVER, the black rubber outlining of the headlights were not positioned properly. I can see inside of the car. I called the dealer and they said that they really couldnt fix it and that I would have to purchase new headlights. I told them there is absolutely NO WAY I am purchasing new headlights. Any ideas? Should I speak to a manager and have them try again? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LexKid630 Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 ..Right when a sales maneger is trying to make a sale to a customer, go in and speek to the head manager. If he says no make a scene. Get loud and start yelling a lot. I guarantee that the manager will give in, and get you new headlights. The last thing a car dealer owner wants, is to lose a 35+ k car for a pair of 50 dollar lights. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
es300ed Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 First let me say that I am NOT handy. That said, you may want to reposition the headlight assembly yourself. I fould that to be a bit tricky when I replaced the assembly. After a few trys it fit nicely. You shouldn't have to do this after paying Lexus to do the job. But if all else fails it is a job that is fairly straightforward if you follow the instructions posted earlier.. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out. Ed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbinh Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 Kind of late for topic but here is my experience. I had the same issue in my '93. Left front signal blinker was causing the fast blinking. Opened it up and removed and reinstalled bulb. Worked fine and then it slowly came back. Starting blinking fast again. Funny thing is that the emergency lights worked fine. Thought about buying new blinker relay. I didn't think it was the issue but not sure. So, instead, bought a new blulb and replaced left front blinker bulb and all is fine now. When I inspected the old bulb, it looked fine but I am thinking the filament was getting old and losing electrical resistance. Well, the new bulb solved that issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUMan Posted March 1, 2005 Share Posted March 1, 2005 The problem with the fast blinking does not normally relate to the bulb - it is the connections between the bulb and the bulbholder and/or the bulbholder and the car chassis. In replacing the bulb, one might improve the connections and thereby fix the problem. Look for corrosion on the contact points and remove it. The usual problem in removing and replacing the headlight assembly is a projecting guide over which the headlight assembly fits. You can barely see it near the outside of the assembly. The hole in the assembly must fit over this, and then the assembly will slide into place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98OysterES300 Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 :chairshot: Well your first step is to forget about everything you had read about your signal concern...until now. Coming from an ASE certified Lexus technician, or anyone with any automotive common sense, REPLACE your blinker bulb. The front and rear blinkers are double filament light bulbs, which means there are 2 filaments in 1 bulb. 1 filament if for the parking lights the other for the signal. One of those filaments is burnt out and that causes your blinkers to flash faster. It is suppose to do that to let the driver know there is a light out. It’s really that simple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUMan Posted March 2, 2005 Share Posted March 2, 2005 Well, I'm not an "ASE Certified Lexus Technician," and I guess I'm also lacking "common sense"; but just replacing the bulbs did not fix my problem with fast blinking turn signals. As a matter of fact, I replaced the bulbs twice, and the problem did not go away. The bulbs burned fine, but they blinked fast. The problem went away when I cleaned the connections. I guess sometimes lack of common sense does solve a problem. Thanks for the uplifting message. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melhadri Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 Just to mention, the fast blinking initiated a light (shape of a car with a light beam) under the odometer. I believe its two slots to the left of the check engine light. Once the dealer replaced the 3 bulbs, this light disappeared. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ford212.809 Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 <_< I'm with you, CU!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zemoge Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Hello, I'm a newbe and my wife's lexus is having the same problem with her turn signal blinking fast. I have narrowed it down to the front blinker and I removed the front cover you mentioned and then removed the 3 10mm bolts ( two on the side one on the top) and I tried pulling on the assembly and it wouldn't budge... How much resistance should I experience when performing this operation? It's a 96. thanks much for the help, zemoge My front right turn signal flashes extremely fast. However, after knocking against the headlight area with my hand, the turn signal flashes with normal speed. Is the bulb loose or dirty? ← Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CUMan Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 It has been several months since I worked on the ES turn signals, but as I recall the headlight assembly was not very difficult to remove after the three bolts were removed. There is a pin which fits into a hole in the back of the assembly. This is apparently an alignment guide. I suppose there could be some corrosion in this. But this seemed to be more of a problem in reinstalling the assembly than in removing it. Keep pulling and prying on it. It should come loose. One more thing. I am assuming the 96 model is the same or similar to my 94. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chococat Posted September 21, 2005 Share Posted September 21, 2005 See...this is what I like about this forum...have a problem, come here, look it up, try to fix it yourself. :) I have a 2000, and mine just started the whole quick blinky thing about a week ago. My husband tried replacing the flasher, as recommended by somebody at AutoZone and that didn't work. So I told DH I would look it up here, and wa-la! Hopefully, at least one bit of advice somewhere on this thread will work. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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