# 4 way flashers and blinkers

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/4-way-flashers-and-blinkers/47726>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** thunderbird, ford\
**Created:** [April 20, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/4-way-flashers-and-blinkers/47726 "2010-04-20T11:40:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![lilajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba9def/32.png) [@lilajack](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lilajack)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 11:40am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/4-way-flashers-and-blinkers/47726/1 "2010-04-20T11:40:55Z")

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My flashers and blinkers don’t work. I changed the flasher, but they still don’t work. The car was not running for about 5 years. It’s a '95 Thunderbird with 15,000 miles.

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**Author:** ![nowmaybe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8edcca/32.png) [@nowmaybe](https://community.cartalk.com/u/nowmaybe)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:15pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/4-way-flashers-and-blinkers/47726/2 "2010-04-20T12:15:51Z")

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I have had some of those Ford turn signal switches have their 4-way switches “hang up” making neither the 4-way or turn signals work. The quick fix was just jiggling the 4-way switch, pulling up, twisting a bit, clicking it off and on, etc. I don’t know why, but they worked after that.

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**Author:** ![mshugna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@mshugna](https://community.cartalk.com/u/mshugna)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/4-way-flashers-and-blinkers/47726/3 "2010-04-20T12:17:53Z")

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assume you checked that power was getting from the switch to flasher and to bulbs, also checked the fuse, wire connectors, wiring, after 5 years anything from the switches to bulb housings could be corroded.

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**Author:** ![tardis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@tardis](https://community.cartalk.com/u/tardis)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/4-way-flashers-and-blinkers/47726/4 "2010-04-20T13:27:09Z")

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It’s almost certainly the multifunction switch. It was the cause of such troubles on my 93 T-bird.

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**Author:** ![eraser1998](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6de8d8/32.png) [@eraser1998](https://community.cartalk.com/u/eraser1998)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/4-way-flashers-and-blinkers/47726/5 "2010-04-20T15:42:53Z")

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Tardis probably has this right - pull the multifunction switch and replace it or clean it - it looks almost identical to the switch in my 97 Taurus from what I see online. I had never used the hazard lights until last fall when I had to make a trip to the hospital and leave the car at the entrance to the building - at which point I found only 3 of the 4 corner lights would flash with the hazards.

The problem was simple - the copper contacts inside the switch corroded over the years from non-use, and cleaning them off restored full functionality to the switch.

If you’re going to attempt to open it and clean it, just take careful notes as you disassemble it - it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to figure out how it goes back together, and you won’t find instructions anywhere - they expect you just to buy a new switch for $40 or more…