Buzzing noise from turn signal flasher box - '67

[Burnette]

Just bought a '67 Beetle. While I'm not new to vintage cars, this is my first VW.

Previous owner made a point to mention that he replaced the blue box turn signal flasher, which made me assume that things were operable.. I had the car shipped in last week and while going over everything I discovered that the turn signals and high beams are inoperable.

I get an intermittent "buzzing" sound from the flasher box when I place the turn signal lever in either position, as well as when I hold down the high beam button. I ran an additional ground wire to the flasher box mounting screw, didn't make a difference.

Any insight? Faulty flasher box, or switch? Wires plugged into the wrong terminals?

Thanks in advance!

[Burnette]

A couple of things worth mentioning:

The buzzing while holding down the high beam switch only occurs when the lights are off, or parking lights are on. With the headlights on, no buzzing.

Just once, the turn signals hazards flashed while holding down the high beam button. I couldn't duplicate it a second time.

I'm thoroughly confused.

[mukluk]

Start with rechecking the wires connected to the combination relay.

Terminal # --> Connected to

30 is a red wire from the fuse block, fuse 10 (hazard power)
15 is a black wire from the fuse block, fuse 1 (turn signal power)
KBL is a blue/green striped wire from the turn indicator lamp in the speedometer
49a is a pair of wires, one blue to the hazard switch terminal K and one bk/gr/wht striped to the turn signal switch
VR is a bk/gr striped wire to the right side turn signal lamps
VL is a bk/wht striped wire to the left side turn signal lamps
S is a brown wire to the hazard switch terminal S
54 & 54f are not used on the Type 1

Most appear to be correct from what I can see in your picture, but it's always better to verify in person. The blue wire for the hazard switch appears to be connected to nothing, wrapped in tape at the end. The brown wire for the hazard switch I can't see where it goes, my concern is this one may be shorting to ground or the PO connected the high/low dimmer switch here.

Wiring diagram for '67 Bug: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/info/wiring/bug_67_USA.jpg

On the subject of the dimmer relay, yours appears to have an extra black wire connected to it -- what is the other end connected to?

Do you have standard bulbs installed in the car or have they been replaced with LED bulbs?
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1960 Ragtop w/Semaphores "Inga"

[Burnette]

I think you're right RE the hazard switch wires and the extra wire on the relay. I'll take a look and report back. Thank you.

[Dusty1]

You're the Studebaker guy who just got a '67. Looks nice from the square foot I can see. Lotus white?

I'm looking at a $500 '58 Nash I'm thinkin' of running on a GM "metric" chassis.

Looks like your ('67 only) dual flasher, that blue thing... has been wet at some point. I've had several '67s. My flashers were black.

"Replaced" doesn't necessarily mean replaced with a known good part. As you may have discovered with electrical a known good part may become a bad part almost instantly like when it's feeding a dead short for example.

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[Burnette]

[Dusty1]

I wouldn't throw that one outta bed for eatin' crackers.

First thing I would do is level the rear. That's contrary to many enthusiast's first step of lowering the front. The torsions have sagged substantially in the rear. It's adjustable but not easily adjustable. I adjusted mine but only after I "adjusted" my rear apron by dragging it on the road. That apron is one of those '67 only parts.

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[Burnette]

[Zwitterkafer]

The black wire connected to the high beam relay does not belong there, and is suspect. What is it connected to?

The headlight and turn signal circuits are independent of each other, so pressing the high beam button should have no effect on the turn signal flasher. The button merely momentarily connects the S terminal of the high beam relay to ground, via a brown wire with white tracer. For a US model, the headlights must be switched on (2nd notch) for this to work. Momentarily jumpering a known good ground to terminal S on the high beam relay (headlights on) should make it toggle. This test could isolate if the button or its source of ground is bad.

As far as the flasher goes, first confirm that it is wired as per mukluk's description. Grounding that central screw on the relay is indeed critical and is a known failure point. The other failure point to look out for is that the hazard switch must be properly grounded as well, otherwise ground will not be applied to terminal S on the flasher. Sometimes the switch loosens, or after a repaint, it no longer makes an electrical ground connection to the dashboard sheet metal. Later versions of the switch had a dedicated ground wire connection to prevent these problems.

It would not be surprising if your flasher is still fine, just mis-wired or a faulty ground somewhere. Good luck, let us know how it works out!
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"Criticism comes easier than Craftsmanship"
- Zeuxius, 400 BC

[bcferrini]

FWIW: the rear 'sag'- it seems most '67s do this, partly because the rear t-bars were softened, and the maybe the addition of the rear anti-roll bar. Wonder if the factory 'adjusted' the rear ride height for this.....
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" I measured twice, cut three times, and it's still too short!"

[Burnette]

I appreciate the explanation on how the flasher and high beam are supposed to work. It'll be a few days before I'll have a chance to dig into it, but I'll follow up. Thanks!

[ashman40]

Are you running LED lamps in the corners for the turn signal lamps? That flasher relay expects the load of 21W turn signal lamps in the corners. Modern LED bulbs only draw around 2~3W. Much too low for those older flasher relays. To get LEDs to work you will need to install LED resistors to increase the wattage to "fool" the flasher relay into thinking you actually have pairs of 21W bulbs in the corners. Or, replace the entire E-Flasher / Turn signal system with one that uses a more modern LED compatible flasher relay.


Confirm the wiring from the E-Flasher switch to the S terminal on the relay. Like a few others I suspect your headlight dimmer switch brown wire has been incorrectly wired to the flasher relay S terminal.

If you find the wiring is correct, does the flasher relay go into Hazard (4-way) mode when you pull the E-Flasher switch. Grounding the flasher relay S terminal should result in the same 4-way mode.

Also, check the ground at all four corner lamps. Remove the lens and use a jumper wire to ground the metal body of the light assembly to a known good ground point and test the turn signals. Any change in the behaviour of the lamp indicates a bad ground.


As a test, disconnect the S and KBL wires from your flasher relay and test the turn signal function. Does this make a difference? If the flashers work as expected with the KBL indicator lamp wire removed but buzzes while connected... check that the three indicator lamps at the bottom of the speedometer are wired correctly. The three lamps share a single 12v+ power source connected at the bottom most terminal.
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AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[swharris]

Sorry to hijack your electrical thread, but do you know if yours is an early or late '67? I ask because I have what I think is a late car(black dash knobs) but like yours, it has ivory window crank handles. I just figured someone changed mine, but seeing yours makes me think it is a mid year thing? Are your seats the early(release down low) or later with the release on the sides of the back rest?

Thanks.

Yours:

Mine:Just noticing mine has the early radio knobs too. Short of the wheel, my car is very original wait...I put the corrects seats in too, guess it was not so OG. lol

[Burnette]

ashman40 - No, there aren't any LED bulbs on the car. And thank you for the additional info, I'll let you all know what I find.

swharris - I don't know what the production date is, but it's worth mentioning that the left door has been replaced with one from an earlier Bug. The window crank on the right side has a black rubber knob.

[Dusty1]