“Houston, we have a problem!” Talk about car trouble, but not the one that requires AAA or some sort of roadside assistance, but it might lead to that. Luckily, I have not had much of an issue with it. However, it may or may not affect other drivers around you and have them wondering what the heck you are doing at times. I am talking about your blinkers on your car and the fuse that controls it.
    For the longest time, ever since I got ownership of my current vehicle, a ’96 Mustang, my blinkers were just not working like they should. To top it off, my car’s owner’s manual was missing, so I could not look up the information that I needed, but I will be thanking Google later on. In the state of Florida, and possibly others, having functional blinkers are not necessary, however, I do find them helpful in letting others know where I am turning and I feel safer with them ACTUALLY working. In finding out such problem, I called a local, major Ford dealer. They told me it may be the relays, the wiring, or even more disconcerting, something in the steering column, which certainly would need the help of an electrician.  I was not about to fork out money for something I could possibly fix myself or have someone fix it for me for little or no money at all.
    Now to my very recent discovery to the mystery of the non-blinking blinker lights on my car: To my dismay, I did not realize my break lights and back up lights were not lighting up like they were supposed to as told me by an acquaintance of mine. So seeking out advice from another acquaintance I asked him to about my break lights (no worries, they work now) and told me one of the fuses in the box under my driver’s console was out as well. It was a 15 amp, blue fuse in the number one position (see diagram, pg 274 of the manual).  I then proceeded to go to the local AutoZone the next day to pick up a few fuses. At the time I did not realize that, that particular fuse position controlled my blinkers after replacing them. Consequently, this made me really happy. I was ready to toot my horn and jump for joy, but wait, not so fast there, missy!
    Driving around for some time now, all the sudden my blinkers were not blinking anymore. Oh no! Couple of hours later, back to a car shop store I go. This would be the second time I have changed it out for the day. This time, it got blown right when I was pulling out of the parking lot. What a drag. This drove me, no pun intended, to go look for a possible PDF version of my car’s manual, via Google – my virtual library of information. I wanted to confirm if the fuse I put in was the correct one and it was.
    Since, I know what number fuse I needed, this begs the question, how do I keep it from being blown, on what seems to be on a constant basis at that? That will be my next mystery to solve. Or give it to a Sherlock Holmes of a car guru to solve.