The right turn signal is perfectly fine, only the left has this problem.

When I turn on the signal the arrow inside the car lights up a solid green and does not flash. Outside the car the front and rear left turn signals turn on in the front, and get brighter in the back, but they do not flash.

What is the problem, and how do I fix it?

First thing to do is check all of the lights. It sould be as simple as one of the bulbs being blown. Corrosion in the pigtail socket is probably the other thing that would do this.

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His Fiero: 1984 2M4 Coupe

Her Fiero: 1984 2M4 Convertible

Yea,check the bulbs it may not necessarily be the front because the rear lights also flash when you use the turn signals,most likely the side thats not working.Sounds like it's a burned out bulb,but as DPWood says,I have seen corosion my self and can be greenish in color.Also inspect the 1 to 2 led contact points on the bottom of the bulbs.

First thing I would do is change the flasher.

I agree with above I had the same problem and changing the flasher fixed it.
I did have a little trouble with this though I changed the flasher on the passanger side and that did not fix the problem only to find out later when I took out my steering coloum that there was also one on the drivers side. replaced that one and all was fine. So I would check both of these you can get the flashers at autozone for 3 something I think the number on them was 554 but pull it and take it with you just to be sure its the round silver thing next to a large blue box under the passenger side on an 88 coupe.

It shouldnt be the flasher , because the right one works.
I had this problem

Already mentioned,
1) check bulb to see if blown
1 1/2) make sure you have the right bulb !!!!
2) clean bulb socket
my addition,
3) check grounding points on the body.
4) check the bulb socket. the ground is the peice of metal inside the socket that goes up and down the side of it. Mine was broke so the socket wasnt grounding...as soon as I replaced the socket, it worked fine.

Hmmm... Try adding blinker fluid

mine is doing this but its kinda random... today i realized that my front turn signal doesnt come on when i hit the blinker but ALL the other lights on that side come on.... now if i turn the blinker off and i hit the parking lights it comes on.... im confused...

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'86 Fiero GT

My Fiero XoticRydz Mid-Rear Madness

Be Excellent To Each Other" - Bill S. Preston Esquire Ted Theadore Logan

The flasher has a bimetal strip in side that moves the contact from open to closed, that's what makes the clicking sound. That bimetal strip is heated by a metal filament. The filament is connected in series with the bulbs so that as power flows through the bulbs it causes the element to heat. The heat causes the bimetal strip to warp, breaking contact and causing the bulbs to go out. The strip cools because the filament is off with the bulbs being off, which causes the strip to warp back and make contact again. This repeats as long as the turn signal switch is sending power to the blinker by being activated. The blinker is on the power going into the switch, and the switch sends the power to either the left or the right bulbs depending on the direction the switch is set to.

If the blinker works on one side then the circuit up to the switch is ok, including the blinker. If the lights come on but don't flash on the other side it means that a bulb is out or the socket is faulty because without all of the bulbs working the circuit through the blinker is not complete, the filament can't heat up, and the blinker can't switch on and off.

JazzMan

quote Originally posted by wildgillis: I agree with above I had the same problem and changing the flasher fixed it. I did have a little trouble with this though I changed the flasher on the passanger side and that did not fix the problem only to find out later when I took out my steering coloum that there was also one on the drivers side. replaced that one and all was fine. So I would check both of these you can get the flashers at autozone for 3 something I think the number on them was 554 but pull it and take it with you just to be sure its the round silver thing next to a large blue box under the passenger side on an 88 coupe.

One flasher is for the turn signals, the other is for the four-way flashers

alright I didn't know that well the one under the drivers side fixed the turn signel for me but my emergency still don't light up I haven't really looked into that one I'm kind of just figureing its the wires and haven't had time to take it apart to play with it I must point out that when I was having this problem the BULB LIT UP but didn't blink

quote Originally posted by JazzMan: The flasher has a bimetal strip in side that moves the contact from open to closed, that's what makes the clicking sound. That bimetal strip is heated by a metal filament. The filament is connected in series with the bulbs so that as power flows through the bulbs it causes the element to heat. The heat causes the bimetal strip to warp, breaking contact and causing the bulbs to go out. The strip cools because the filament is off with the bulbs being off, which causes the strip to warp back and make contact again. This repeats as long as the turn signal switch is sending power to the blinker by being activated. The blinker is on the power going into the switch, and the switch sends the power to either the left or the right bulbs depending on the direction the switch is set to. If the blinker works on one side then the circuit up to the switch is ok, including the blinker. If the lights come on but don't flash on the other side it means that a bulb is out or the socket is faulty because without all of the bulbs working the circuit through the blinker is not complete, the filament can't heat up, and the blinker can't switch on and off. JazzMan

This is why you have followed some people that are pulling trailers (extra bulbs) and when they use their turn signal the lights flash faster than usual. Put in a heavy duty flasher and you cure the problem.
If all the bulbs are coming on but won't flash the first thing to check is the flasher.

Yep, I'd definitely change the flasher first. It's the one that is above the steering column with a little clip holding it in place. It is NOT the one in the fuse panel. Also, of course, check the bulbs and wiring, but it sounds like a flasher prob to me. Good luck and peace.

Phil

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I am always available to help those that need help. Since my back injury, I cannot work on many of the aspects of the cars, but I can offer the knowledge of my 27 years as a GM technician. Bring the questions on................!

Mine just started doing this...

I changed the flasher and it didn't help.

As stated before if one side flashes okay and the other doesn't it's probably a bad bulb on the one side.

I had a problem with my left flasher. Mine would flash slowly with parking lights off and not at all when the running lights were on.

There was corrosion in the front socket causing a weak ground. I found that you can work the connections in/out to clean it up.

Its a free fix, so its worth a try. Good luck.

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88 4cyl auto Fiero, AC, sunroof, tilt steering, rear swaybar
"And isn't sanity really just a one-trick pony anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you're good and crazy, oooh, oooh, oooh, the sky is the limit!" - The Tick

You have a bad earth on that particular unit.
fierofetish.

I found out I had a bad connector one of the rear turn signal lights. Only one light on the left side was coming on. When I replaced the connector with a spare, I got two lights and BLINKING. So James Bond 007, Fiero67, and JazzMan were right!!

Gld you got it fixed! I hate it when they don't.

Glad you got it fixed. THat was my problem as well...and thats how I fixed it! John