1993 Mercury Sable - Turn Signals Not Working

[zounds]

My 1993 (3.8L, 90,000 miles) Mercury Sable's turn signals stopped working very abruptly while I was driving a few days ago. I clicked the switch to make a turn, got one blink, and then the signal stopped as did the light on the dash. Now I can't (for the most part) get the signal nor the dash to light when I flip the switch. The car has been sitting mostly unused for about 10 years, but I've been driving it regularly for the past 2 months and this is the first electrical problem I've had. Here's what I've found and done about it:

- The hazards still work and the relay clicks audibly while they're on.

- If I wiggle the switch just right I can get the signal to flash briefly (but not stay on) both at the bulb and on the dash, but I don't hear the relay click. The switch still works mechanically - it still catches and holds the position when I push it up or down to signal, but it's not making the actual signal happen. When I'm able to make it flash by wiggling it, it's never actually pushed up or down to an actual "left" or "right" signal position, it's always somewhere in the middle before the switch clicks/locks.

- I checked the fuse (it looked fine), replaced it with a new one just to be safe, and worked it in and out of the holder a few times to make sure it was properly seated.

- I replaced the multifunction switch as well but to no avail. I put the old switch back in and sprayed some electrical contact cleaner around the area where it plugs into the wiring as well as into the hazard switch, also to no avail.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing the problem? Any tips would be seriously appreciated. Thanks.

[carriedi]

have you tried replacing the flasher? Behind left side of the dash above the fuse block

[zounds]

I haven't replaced the flasher. From what I gather, the hazards and turn signals use the same flasher and it is working for the hazards, so I suspected that the flasher was not at fault. Is it possible that that component could be working for hazards but failing for turn signals?

[zounds]

I just measured the voltage of the relay (with relay plugged in): with hazards on I get 6v in and 12v out; with turn signals on (and with the key turned on) I get a small reading - 0.1 or 0.2 volts at both terminals. So the relay is working for hazards but not for turn signals, so perhaps there's something between the power and the switch which is failing or intermittent....

[carriedi]

do you have a three prong flasher?

[zounds]

Yup, three prongs - black on one side, red/white in the middle, and blue on the other side.

[zounds]

Problem solved! Fuse #5 was bad. Not sure why that mattered, as fuse #1 is what the manual says is for turn signals, but it did and I'm back in business. Thanks for your help!

[carriedi]

the wiring diagram I sent shows the #1 is for the four way flashers (hot all the time) and #5 is for the turn flasher (hot in run)
#5 may be listed as back up in the car's legend because this fuse does the back up/neutral safety too. Also keyless module is the car has one. the fuse powers up the purple and orange wire into the flasher and the light blue is the power out to the turn signal