2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue GLS, Turn Signals Flash Too Quickly

This 2001 Oldsmobile Intrigue GLS came in with the turn signal flashing very quickly. I checked and found that the problem was related to the front turn signals. I pulled up on and removed the two locking bars that hold the headlight assembly in place. Once the rubber cover was removed from the back side of the assembly this is what I found. The bulb socket was damaged at the interior contacts and the insulation was falling off of the wiring harness. Obviously someone has been here before as I doubt that the original manufacturer sent it out with electrical tape wrapped around the wiring.

In order to work on this I had to remove the cover at the adjacent bulb access point. This allowed me to pull the wiring through so there was ample room for repair.

My intention was to remove the wiring all of the way to the main plug in connector. This plan was foiled by the fact that it cannot be removed for service. It was installed into the housing before the assembly was glued together. The insulation on these three wires seemed to be degraded mostly at the bulb end but it clearly had issues the full length. Time to improvise. After doing some measuring I cut three pieces of 1/8″ heat shrink tubing to 10 inch lengths.

I slid the tubing over my new wire lead. Crimped the new wire to the old and slid the tubing into the light assembly.

I checked the travel of the tubing to make sure it went the full distance to the main harness connector. I had to remove yet another bulb access cover to do this. It also required a little bit of gentle manipulation of the remaining wires to ensure the tubing reached the connector.

I heated the tubing as far as I could without causing any damage to the light assembly. Heat from the lights and nature should eventually shrink the remainder of the tubing inside the light assembly. One wire down and two to go.

Now that all three of the wires have been repaired I have to fish the connector back through the light assembly to the correct connection point. There is plenty of room so this was no big deal.

Now that the wiring has been repaired, I installed a new bulb and socket assembly.

In the end, I did find it easier to mount the new socket and bulb into the light assembly and then install the three wire connector.

This also allowed me to position the wires below the bulb as it would sit in the car. Heat rises so it will be cooler below the bulb than above it. If you find your vehicle has the same problem and would like to buy all of the needed parts in one easy to use kit please click here.

The heat damage from the bulb can be seen in the interior of the light assembly. Notice the powder like substance in the picture below. That is actually the plastic that has been baked dry to the point of disintegrating. Since the bulb is used for the front turn signals, front park lights and the daytime running lights there is heat being generated pretty much anytime the vehicle is in use.

Since the socket and repair harness shown in this repair posts fits several vehicles, I can only assume that some of those will have the same condition seen in this repair.

Buick Allure 2005
Buick Century 1997-2005
Buick LaCross 2005
Buick Regal 1997-2005
Oldsmobile Intrigue 1998-2002