Do I use my blinker too much? I don’t think I do. But then, much like being an asshole, or truly crazy, self realization can be tricky. Asshole or not, I have had to replace the flasher module on both my Skoolie, as well as my 2000 Ford F150 pickup within the past 30 days.
Now the Skoolie is a 1995 so it’s failure could have been just to age. The blinkers didn’t totally fail on the bus. They began blinking like strobe lights. I was worried I was going to trigger seizures every time I made a turn.
The Ford F150 is a 2000 so it does have a few years under it’s belt. With over 210,000 miles on it there are more then a few parts that have been replaced. However the blinker module is kind of an odd part to fail.
Total Blinker Failure!
The blinkers stopped working, totally. Also the flashers would not work. When they first failed they come back to life for one or two turns before totally giving up the ghost. It wasn’t too hard to diagnose the problem. The fuse, (#13) on the fuse panel by the driver’s left knee was fine. That left just one culprit, the flasher module.
I must say the choice of location for such a simple little device is beyond me. In my memory I do not recall a flasher module being any other place than either the fuse panel inside the car, or the fuse box under the hood. Imagine my surprise when I found out the dash will need to be disassembled!
Time To Take The Dash Apart!
You have to remove the panel under the steering wheel, as well as the “C” shaped panel around the top and sides of the steering column. Then you have to remove a bracket that is located just above, and behind, the ODB port. The flasher module is mounted on this bracket.
There is a cover that must be removed. Then you can get to the $17.49 part (NAPA part# NF EP27). Then you just unplug the old one and install the new one. Then it is time to reinstall the dash. For us that meant doing it two times.
The first time we got the dash together we realized we had forgotten to install the cap over the modules, and we had 3 bolts leftover! Removing it and putting it all back together a second time let us discover where those extra bolts went.
I’m sure there was a lot of planning and engineering that went into figuring out the best location for this module. However, I clearly see three unused spaces on the fuse panel that would accept a flasher-type module. Why those slots were left empty is beyond me. After all the Skoolie flasher module was simple to find and replace, no tools required!
