Turn signal on Silhouette

[Sam B]

My friend has a 2000 Silhouette, when he turns on the left turn signal
the bulb in front stays on and the side and rear bulbs flash faster than usual. Any ideas why?
Thanks, Sam

[MNosbor]

Im guessing one of the elements in the front bulb is bad and if youve never replaced any of the front bulbs your in for a treat

A few words of wisdom....you have to take the entire headlight assembley out to get to the bulb. Replace all of them including the side signal bulbs. Save yourself the headache of having to take it apart a few weeks later to change another. I had 4 bulbs go out within 2 months front and rear so when I was in there I did them all including headlamps. the back I just did the one that was out it was easy enough.

Oh and dont break the little plastic tabs on the bottom my hubby forces things that dont fit and broke one. It didnt seem to matter much though.

[lalahg]

MNosbor is correct about the element failure, but I question the rest.

Many bulbs have two seperate circuits in them, a bright and dim one. These are used for tail/brake lights and marker/turn signals. So the light still looks functional even though one element is burnt out.

When a turn signal bulb (or element in a bulb) burns out, the car senses this and blinks faster. This is your notice that you need to change a bulb. On older cars this was not the case, the circuit would only light up without blinking.

What I disagree with is the need to remove the entire headlamp assembly. I just replaced one of these bulbs last night. Only one bolt holds in the sidemarker assembly. Just unscrew it, pull the lamp out (it 'snaps' in so you'll need to use just a little force to get it out) and twist the bulb socket out. This is explained in the owners manual. The headlight assembly never needs to be touched.

Good luck.