THEY’RE ‘OUT’TA TIMES!

Bulbs fail test run

The year 2018 is already off to a bad start — and it’s still two weeks away.

Workers testing the giant “18” that will light up after the ball drops in Times Square on New Year’s Eve got a shock Wednesday when the “8” failed to fully illuminate.

Times Square Alliance workers counted down from 10 before hitting the juice. The “8” flickered, and about four dozen of its bulbs remained dim as everyone shouted “Happy New Year!”

Before you could say “Auld Lang Syne,” workers were twisting bulbs and smacking the device as if it were a fussy old TV set.

“This is what practice is for. We have 18 days to correct this,” emcee Jeff Straus from Countdown Entertainment told puzzled onlookers. Workers popped open a back panel to check the wiring but realized the problem was too deep in the display to fix in the middle of Times Square.

One suggested that the truck transporting the numeral to the Crossroads of the World must have hit a bump.

The issue was fixed by late afternoon, and the sign is lit at West 46th and Broadway, where it will remain until Dec. 22, according to a rep from the Times Square Alliance. “Just like on Broadway, there is a reason for the dress rehearsal. And just like on Broadway, our opening night — the 114th annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square — will be perfect,” alliance President Tim Tompkins told The Post.