My blinker seems to work fine for left turns, but on right turns, sometimes the relay goes extra fast and the dash light does not blink. Normally I would suspect a bad bulb, but when it does this no blinkers and no dash light flashes. However if I gently nudge the indicator lever back to center it will generally work. If I nudge the stick toward the right blinker as with a lane change, it works fine as well. It seems like a blinker switch to me. Any thoughts?

i think i would try replacing the relay and/or bulbs first.. cheaper and easier... just to verify

could be the relay is failing, could be a bulb failing...

but yeah, it is possible the switch is going bad.

maybe some electrical contact cleaner sprayed into the switch would help?

27 minutes ago, heartless said:

i think i would try replacing the relay and/or bulbs first.. cheaper and easier... just to verify

could be the relay is failing, could be a bulb failing...

but yeah, it is possible the switch is going bad.

I've not had this issue with a Subaru...but generally when a bulb goes bad the other bulb on that side and the dash indicator blinks at twice the rate because of the decreased resistance on the circuit? That's why I made sure to mention this; because I'm not sure if that's the way it works on this gen legacy as well? I'm thinking switch because of how it acts when the lever is in certain areas of it's throw...but I wanted to get some opinions of people more familiar with this generation.
I don't recall exactly how the relay works to be honest. I replaced the relay in my other car since I swapped it to LED bulbs everywhere, but this one I haven't messed with yet.

28 minutes ago, 1 Lucky Texan said:

maybe some electrical contact cleaner sprayed into the switch would help?

That's kinda what I'm thinking, or maybe a little abrasion with a file. I assume these blinker switches are easier to remove than old GM ones (which is the only other car I've had to deal with a bad switch on). I will have to look it up. The replacement switches I've seen in my searches surely look easier to replace than an old GM; but then again Subaru design is on an entirely other level than that old GM stuff, so that is to be expected.

Edited July 19, 20223 yr by laegion

you have to pull the steering wheel, which means airbags... use caution

 

10 hours ago, heartless said:

you have to pull the steering wheel, which means airbags... use caution

 

Yeah, definitely does not require removing the steering wheel. I just looked it up. it's 5 phillips screws and one connector. Super easy 15min job. Thankfully they updated the design for the 3rd generation Legacy's.

Edited July 20, 20223 yr by laegion

That’s one good thing about the newer steering column set up on later models. 
 

Old school , yes it would double the blink frequency and your bulb would be shot. 
 

Good luck but please post your results. I’m always pushing around older Subarus and we are currently running 2 third gen Legacys and 1 fourth gen Leg. Outback

 

12 minutes ago, moosens said:

That’s one good thing about the newer steering column set up on later models. 
 

Old school , yes it would double the blink frequency and your bulb would be shot. 
 

Good luck but please post your results. I’m always pushing around older Subarus and we are currently running 2 third gen Legacys and 1 fourth gen Leg. Outback

 

Yeah, I looked up the older version...glad I didn't have this issue with my '95 (which I actually sold today). I will make sure to post results.

I'll likely pull it out and see if it's a pain to disassemble...may order another used one or pick one up from the local salvage yard before I attempt opening it as it's a bit hard to drive without, if I accidentally break it...I've cleaned contacts on many relays and switches to save $$ over the years...so hopefully this isn't extremely complex in comparison.

Edited July 20, 20223 yr by laegion

dunno about a file, but I have cleaned many electrical contacts and edge connector tabs with a rubber pencil eraser.

Edited July 20, 20223 yr by 1 Lucky Texan

7 minutes ago, 1 Lucky Texan said:

dunno about a file, but I have cleaned many electrical contacts and edge connector tabs with a rubber pencil eraser.

My favorite was the old erasable pen erasers...not such a thing now. I haven't seen those in years. I've had to use a file on some copper contact pads when they have buildup mostly.

you can get the "pen" type erasers in the stand alone rectangular shape... search for "sand eraser"

nice to have around - keep one in the tool box.

10 hours ago, heartless said:

you can get the "pen" type erasers in the stand alone rectangular shape... search for "sand eraser"

nice to have around - keep one in the tool box.

Thank you, I will look for one. I really like how mildly abrasive that type is.

Well, I haven't had time  to pull it apart and attempt any proper fix; but I did do the quick and easy "cheat" fix. I just switched the blinker on and off on that side, over and over again  rapidly about 20-30 times to make the contacts clean themselves and that seems to have worked for now.

That "cheat fix" may fail in time.
Try this next time:

 

On 7/19/2022 at 12:51 PM, laegion said:

That's kinda what I'm thinking, or maybe a little abrasion with a file.

A file is a pretty bad idea.  Even an ignition points file is going to be too coarse and destroy whatever's been deposited on the contact surface, be it gold, palladium, etc.

What you really need to use (in addition to contact cleaner/lube, of course) is a contact burnisher,  something like this:

https://tecratools.com/product615.html