LED Compatible Flasher Relay

[mowog73]

Presently, the turn signals in my '95 F are extremely dim and when the sun shines on the rear light you can't even seen the turn signal flashing. I've clean connections but it has made no difference. The ambler LED lights are very bright but flash very quickly.

I bought LED amble bulbs and a LED compatible electronic flasher relay, but the spot in the fuse panel where the existing Lucas flasher relay plugs into is moulded in such a way that a square relay won't fit, it has to be a rectangular relay like the original Lucas relay.

Does anyone know of an LED compatible relay that will fit in place of the original Lucas unit?

[MNRipley]

Hi, not in Canada but you could try a specialist UK company to see what they could offer

Sales@classiccarleds.co.uk

[Notanumber]

+1 for Classiccarleds as a company. I have just bought their uprated MGB headlamp bulbs, not the cheapest but arguably have the best build quality.

Personally i would tackle the flasher issue with a DIY conversion; As we know the old relay fits the socket I would open this up, remove or disconnect the existing circuit and solder new wires to the connectors. Run these out through a hole drilled in the side (or top) of the relay to suit . Clip or velcro the new flasher relay somewhere convenient near to/ around the fusebox.
Crimp the extended wires to the appropriate terminals on a relay socket and plug the flasher unit in.

[mowog73]

That's what I have done, but didn't sacrifice the original flasher relay.

[Rob Bell]

The faster flash likely reflects the lower electrical load on the circuit - I'd imagine that higher-rated ballast relays might do the trick? Note that I am no expert, but there is bound to be information on this on the web...

Quick search reveals https://spiyda.com/turn-signal-load-equ ... istor.html (no idea if this is suitable for the Lucas system on our cars) and similar recommendations here: https://www.instructables.com/How-to-In ... n-Signal-/

I have no first hand experience with this, but it looks like the logical approach if you want to retain the standard flasher unit that is shaped specifically to the fuse board.

[mowog73]

I didn't want to go the resistor route because if the LED bulb were to fail while out on a drive and the small town's only hardware store won't have another LED bulb, but they might have the original filament bulb, or I am carrying a spare. But the original filament won't work correctly anymore due to the load resistor. So instead, I've butcher a spare, cheapy relay, which fits in the fuse panel in place of the original flasher unit.

[Rob Bell]

Good point - although hopefully the LED bulb won't fail any time soon