New LED bulbs, now dash turn signals don't blink

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390FE1972
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New LED bulbs, now dash turn signals don't blink

Post by 390FE1972 »

I have a 1972 F250 with the printed circuit on the dash, I put in new LED bulbs that are replacement bulbs for the original 194 bulbs. The LED's make a big difference in the dash lighting but now my dash turn signals don't blink. My front and back turn signals on the truck blink fine but the dash turn signal lights don't light up or blink, they worked before I put in the LED bulbs. I put LED bulbs in all the light sockets including the turn signal dash bulbs. My front and back turn signals on the truck are the regular bulbs and are not LED's. I installed a new electronic flasher for my turn signals, and a new electronic flasher for my emergency lights, this did not make a difference, my dash turn signals and dash emergency flashers still don't light up. My question is with my printed circuit on my instrument cluster (dash) can I use the standard 194 bulbs for my turn signals/flashers and still have the LED bulbs for the other lighting? Please let me know what I need to do to make these work. I don't want to spend the money on front and back truck LED bulbs for my turn signals and find out they still don't work. Any help is appreciated!
1972 F250 Sports Custom 390 FE C6 2WD Dana 60 4:10 gears
71Fe2O3
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Re: New LED bulbs, now dash turn signals don't blink

Post by 71Fe2O3 »

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that having LED bulbs in a circuit with incandescents caused the LED bulbs to burn out. Because your signal bulbs are incandescent, they will be drawing more amperage than the LED bulbs that, if my memory of the circuit is correct, precede them in the circuit. This can happen when you put too many strings of Christmas lights together-the long string draws a lot of amps and the bulbs closest to the end where they are plugged in can overload and burn out prematurely.

You can test my hypothesis by putting known good incandescent bulbs in the turn signal sockets, and by putting the LED bulbs you had in the turn signal sockets elsewhere on the cluster.

If my idea is correct, you would have to either go all LED on your turn signal circuit or put incandescent bulbs in your turn signal indicator sockets. That should not cause problems in your instrument cluster because the backlights and turn signal bulbs are on different circuits-check the wiring diagram to verify.
Fred

1970 F100 4WD short bed, 360 engine, very rusty plow and yard truck

1971 F100 2WD long bed, 302 engine, on the road

1968 F100 2WD long bed, 360 engine, stripping for parts
dave1972
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Re: New LED bulbs, now dash turn signals don't blink

Post by dave1972 »

They should work together fine. Didn't need to install electronic flashers. Only do that if you're all LED. My guess is that your 194 LEDs are installed backwards. LEDs have positive/negative terminals. Pull them out and turn them 180 degrees in the socket and try again.
390FE1972
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Re: New LED bulbs, now dash turn signals don't blink

Post by 390FE1972 »

Thanks dave1972 and 71Fe203 for the inputs!!! I am currently working on installing my carpet and will gives these a try as soon as I am done with that. Will let everyone know how it works out.

Regards
1972 F250 Sports Custom 390 FE C6 2WD Dana 60 4:10 gears
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