Attempted 3rd brake light flasher ends with blown fuse?

[wintercast]

Purchased this flasher module from Amazon.

2019 si coupe.

https://www.amazon.com/blinker-flashes-solid-Safety-Universal/dp/B00SQEI4GO

I then attempted to install - it has a bunch of programming wires - but wires I need are black, red, yellow.

Black is ground, red goes on the car side of the positive and yellow goes to the bulb side of the positive. The positive wire being cut)

Oddly, I noticed on my new to me si coupe - on the wires to the 3rd brake light - there was a butt spice using a bullet end on the ground wire and a T tap on the positive (with nothing connected to the t tap). Seems really odd to find those there.

I cut the positive wire, added to t taps. Not pretty, it was what I had. Added the spade ends to the flasher module, red toward source power , yellow on the brake light.

T tap the ground wire and add a spade connector to the black module wire.

If I just connect red and yellow, the brakes lights work fine (3rd steady on, not flashing).

If I connect the ground - it blows the "stop light" fuse. Which when blown causes the car to report issues with brakes, parking brake, power steering and traction control.

Currently I made a little jumper wire to connect my 2 T taps for the hot side together and replaced the 10a fuse. So brake lights work like normal.

I am going to mess with the module using a 9v battery and see if I can figure out why the thing is not working.

Flasher module instructions (or Google s1 flasher module)
http://bit.ly/flashs1pdf

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[MarcusgibbS]

honestly your best bet is to toss it in the trash.
But perhaps it’s fixable too.

What is going on with the wires you are not using like for the different modes?

Are they touching anything else or each other?

What are you using for ground?

 

[wintercast]

honestly your best bet is to toss it in the trash.
But perhaps it’s fixable too.

What is going on with the wires you are not using like for the different modes?

Are they touching anything else or each other?

What are you using for ground?

Thanls for your reply

Yeah - I wondered if I got a dud. Others have posted good luck with these.

The program wires are "out in space" as in they are not touching, but not capped.

Ground from the flasher not connected - the brake light works like normal (on/off ).

If I connect ground into the t tapped ground wire from the bulb - I blow the fuse.

I have not attempted connecting ground to metal on the car as all metal near by was painted black.

I still want to test it with a 9 volt - I just need to take apart a flashlight or something for a bulb.

 

[MarcusgibbS]

You said it works without the ground?

Maybe once you connect the program wires in a valid sequence it may work then? As to “complete”the circuit in that magic box

 

[wintercast]

You said it works without the ground?

Maybe once you connect the program wires in a valid sequence it may work then? As to “complete”the circuit in that magic box

Sorry if I was not clear.

Without ground - pressing and holding the brake turns lights on. Releasing brake turns lights off. No flash/blink. They operate as OEM.

With ground attached, it blows the fuse.

The program wires - for my desired blink rate I don't touch any program wires together.

I don't want the flash /strobe to be annoying. I just want the 3rd brake light to flash 3 times and steady on.

Already got rear ended in my truck due to inattentive, uninsured driver.

On my truck I installed blinking bulbs. No issues with those.

AND I think my stupid probes were switched on my volt meter. So - I think I was wiring it in backwards. Which would account for the blown fuses.

I set it up with a 9 volt and in the process - tested the 9v with a volt meter i never used before and it looks like the probes were mixed up. My normal one has black in the center, this one has red in the center.

Ugh thank you for making me check my work! So - you want me to come over and rewire your house ?

One wiring cludge later and it works.

In my case on the car.
Green is positive
Black is negative

Wiring for the flasher has red on positive towards battery

Yellow on positive towards light
Black t tap on ground/negative.

It works!!

 

[vtecr]

Easy mistake to make. As a good habit, you should always do a quick "sanity check" on something with a known voltage before ya trust the meter. It could be just the cigarette lighter socket, or directly to the battery and you'll know if your meter is set up correctly.

A lot of cheaper meters will show 12v regardless of polarity but if you go for a slightly better one, it also shows you the voltage in negative if the polarity of your probes is reversed. Makes fault-finding a lot easier.

 

[MarcusgibbS]

Sorry if I was not clear.

Without ground - pressing and holding the brake turns lights on. Releasing brake turns lights off. No flash/blink. They operate as OEM.

With ground attached, it blows the fuse.

The program wires - for my desired blink rate I don't touch any program wires together.

I don't want the flash /strobe to be annoying. I just want the 3rd brake light to flash 3 times and steady on.

Already got rear ended in my truck due to inattentive, uninsured driver.

On my truck I installed blinking bulbs. No issues with those.

AND I think my stupid probes were switched on my volt meter. So - I think I was wiring it in backwards. Which would account for the blown fuses.

I set it up with a 9 volt and in the process - tested the 9v with a volt meter i never used before and it looks like the probes were mixed up. My normal one has black in the center, this one has red in the center.

Ugh thank you for making me check my work! So - you want me to come over and rewire your house ?

One wiring cludge later and it works.

In my case on the car.
Green is positive
Black is negative

Wiring for the flasher has red on positive towards battery

Yellow on positive towards light
Black t tap on ground/negative.

It works!!

Good deal! Sometimes it’s stupid simple.

 

[wintercast]

Easy mistake to make. As a good habit, you should always do a quick "sanity check" on something with a known voltage before ya trust the meter. It could be just the cigarette lighter socket, or directly to the battery and you'll know if your meter is set up correctly.

A lot of cheaper meters will show 12v regardless of polarity but if you go for a slightly better one, it also shows you the voltage in negative if the polarity of your probes is reversed. Makes fault-finding a lot easier.

That's just it - I did not test this meter on a known polarity. I just figured probs were correct. So , as I checked the wires on the brake light - I was getting POS and neg readings as I switched where I had the probes.

So in my brain - it made sense.

But since the probes themselves were in the wrong ports on the meter - that lead to my downfall.

Getting out the 9v battery had me realize my mistake. At least it was only 2 blown fuses and my annoyance with having to cludge the wires together. There is no slack.

I am also really suspicious as to why there was a butt connector and wire tap already in place on a new car.

I do know they had transfered my car from one dealership to another as part of a sale that I guess fell through. The radio had been set up with someone else's phone and the car had 100 miles on it.

I bought it as the first owner - but it was a left over 2019 and I bought in March of 2020.

 

[Friction]

Buy the one from the forum member that is plug and play. I have it and it was super simple and works great.

 

[wintercast]

Buy the one from the forum member that is plug and play. I have it and it was super simple and works great.

I attempted to - but their form says it is sold out. So unless there is a new link I don't know about - I could not find it.

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