Front turn signal light sockets

[Mrs_Lop]

Morning Everyone,

My Car: 1997 Toyota Camry LE 2.2L 4cyl 5SFE

Well, I have a problem with my Drivers Side Front turn signal. It was blinking very fast. A few weeks ago it was doing this and my mechanic replaced a bulb when doing other work on the car. It worked fine for about a week. Now, my left turn signal began blinking fast again.

I went to Auto Zone yesterday. I had to ask the clerk to take a look and tell me what he thought. The clerk said that I probably needed to try a new bulb first. He only looked at the outside to see if the lights were all operating. He said If that wasn't the problem, then it was probably the turn signal part on the steering wheel or something else.

So, I bought the bulbs, I noticed that they had
vertical flat push into place ends on them. I asked him how he knew which bulbs to give me and he said that the computer had that information.

When I got home, I took out the driver side light
and when I pulled the bulb it was a regular socket type bulb.
I looked into the socket and it had what looked to be like two ~1/8" horizontal contacts with a small space between they look like an equals sign-kind of like this =. I pushed the same bulb back in (this was hard as it didn't appear to fit, and put the light housing back in and checked to make sure that it was working. It did not blink really fast anymore.

When I rechecked my owner's manual it showed the regular push in bulb, with a rounded end (like a regular light bulb.)

My questions are:
1- Does anyone know what the original socket should look like and are there pictures anywhere?

2- Do those horizontal bar contacts
which look like this = ,mean that my assembly has been rewired?

(Sorry, but I have no way to upload pictures.)
I have no idea. Yes, the problem of the blinking too fast has been fixed, but, if that is the wrong bulb with a rounded end it will just move around when I hit a bump and the problem will be back, right? How can I find out without having to go back to my mechanic and spending more money.

I thought that the light bulbs were the wrong kind for my car when I looked at them so I brought them back to AZ for a refund. Now, I'm not so sure.

Any replies would be much appreciated.

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Yuko]

The Gen 4 (97-01) used the same body. But from 1997-1999, the front turn signal used an 1157A bulb. That is the one with the round base. From 2000-2001, the turn signal used a 3157A bulb which has a flat base. Both bulbs are dual filament and are amber in color. Both socket and plug are interchangeable between the model years. My guess is that plug was swapped out on that car before.

[carsrus]

If you search a solution has been found to this problem.

Smack the turn signal pretty good with your palm. It'll stop doing it. There is no real other solution that isnt a headache.

[Mrs_Lop]

Yuko,

Does this mean that the swap is a better one than the original plug, with the round base bulb?

Thank you for your reply.

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Yuko]

Both the old and revised plug works the same. The 1157 uses the round twist style mount, where as the 3157 uses the push style socket. I find the push style blub (3157) is more resisted to corrosion and more reliable. So yes, the swapped plug is better. But if the blub continues to fall out, then it socket is bad.

[Mrs_Lop]

Hello Everyone,

I took both Front Side Light Assemblies out to compare them.

They both had the same raised = contacts in the sockets and the same bulbs.

I checked both bulb filaments to see if they were good and they were.

I used Di-electric grease on both bulb sockets and used my palm to push and turn the bulbs until they caught. I checked the lights again and they both lite up. I turned the sockets so that they were firmly set in the light housing and then snapped the housings back into place and secured them to the car.

It occurred to me that maybe the driver side bulb had come loose because it hadn't been twisted into the socket properly. That would make it fairly easy to lose contact. Both sockets were undamaged when I examined them; and the bulbs were very secure when I put them back in.

I'll have to wait and see if it happens again. If it does, I'll know how to take care of it.

Thank you again to all who replied to my thread.

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[hill8570]

OK, I'm confused (nothing new there). The 1157 bulbs have the round base and have to be press and turned to lock into the socket (these are the bulbs I'd expect in a 1997 Cam). The 3157 bulbs just press straight in.

From your description of pressing and turning, sounds like you have the stock 1157 sockets.

And, yeah, it's easy to do a half-assed turn without fully locking the bulb -- I always have to look at the slot on the socket to make sure I've got it completely in place.

[Mrs_Lop]

hill8570,

The 1157A bulb is for the socket that I have -where you have to press down hard and then turn it clockwise into the groove that seats it against the contacts.

The other kind of bulb has the flat ends
like this: |||| they push down between the contacts === sorry but they look like an equal sign on my keyboard so that's what I used for illustration.

I am still using the original bulbs that look to be fairly new and in good condition.

Once, I saw the groove on the socket, I knew that it must be alright the way it was. It was fairly hard for me to get the bulb in until I used my palm to push the bulb down and turn at the same time to get it lined up with the groove.

(I suppose I could get my mechanic to check it out the next time I go in, but time is money...so he would have to charge me for that.)

I'm just happy that I was able to get it working and that it didn't cost me any more money.

I still have more work that needs to be done...

Blessings,
Mrs_Lop

[Mike Gerber]

Use this souce to check what bulbs are needed for just about any car. I print out my car's page and leave it in the glove box. lt's easier to find and to read than the owner's manual.

http://www.sylvania.com/ConsumerProd...lacementGuide/

Mike