Signal Lights from Hell

[Jayson]

I had Anzo after market tail lights installed on my 2008 Expy. Noticed a month ago that the blinker started blinking a lot faster and the driver side tail light started to lose brightness. Yesterday the whole light is out, I went to put in a factory bulb in to get by for a little.

Immediately after I installed the factory bulb, the right tail light (signal) will not stop blinking even when in the neutral position. When I put the signal control in the left position the blinking stops, but still nothing on the drivers side tail. Brake light, hazards and reverse lights work on both sides.

I been at this all weekend and I am lost any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Bedrck47]

Welcome to the forum

 

[Jayson]

Thank you

 

[Denethor]

Are the Anzo's LED? LED have a lot less power drain and resistance than standard bulbs. The car senses this mismatch and could be making things go haywire.

 

[Jayson]

Yes, they were LED

 

[Denethor]

Put both original bulbs back in and see if that fixes the issue. I'm not very familiar with how the expedition handles the mismatch but I have seen it cause all sorts of strange things in other cars and applications like pinball machines, people try to replace the bulbs with LED and then wonder why the game acts funny. They even sell special LED now with diodes and resistors for games so they don't give errors

 

[Jayson]

Even with the original bulbs same issue. Just bought a LED flasher relay, but having a tough time locating the old one to replace. Thanks for your suggestions

 

[docraymund]

Before you buy any more parts, check the circuit first for resistance. Start from the tail light going back to the fuse. You need a repair manual for the wiring diagram. You can also download an owners manual for free to locate the fuse and relay. And watch videos on how to do a voltage drop test.

 

[robertdogul]

Hi Jayson,

I had a similar issue when I replaced the incandescent tail light bulbs with LED's on my '10 Limited. I finally had to install resistors (one per side on the flasher circuit) to correct the fast flash problem.

BTW: Don't know about your '08, but my '10 did not have a flasher that could be replaced. The flash function was controlled by one of the electronic modules.
,
One last thing; almost everywhere I used crimp connectors, I've had issues with the connections. Take the time and solder the connections.

 

[Gareth676]

Hi J
You will def need resistors for your first problem - it is possible that the signal indicator on your dash will still flash at double speed - but the resistors will make the actual lights flash correctly. With regards to the second problem (continuous flashing with normal bulbs) - that sounds like a mis-wiring problem when you replaced the LEDs for normal - did you take out any wiring to do this?

 

[Jayson]

No I didn't take out any wiring, Anzo lights were plug and play. I appreciate all the recommendations from the forum. I will try some of the suggestions this weekend and update you guys with my progress. Thanks again

 

[The Swagonmaster]

Since a computer is involved try rebooting (as in pull the battery cable for 5 mlnutes). I have had at least one car that a *it can't do that* issue was only solved by restarting the puter.