Headlight flasher tested on MOT?

[Nuttah]

I have a mk1 fiesta, the headlight flasher on the stalk will only flash if the side lights are on or if no headlights are on at all, They will not flash when the dipped beam is on. Are they an MOT requirement?

[marshalla]

Nuttah said:

I have a mk1 fiesta, the headlight flasher on the stalk will only flash if the side lights are on or if no headlights are on at all, They will not flash when the main beam is on. Are they an MOT requirement?

That sounds like correct operation, to me.

[Nuttah]

Edited i mean they will not flash when the dipped beam is on or main beam only when side lights are on or no lights at all.

[marshalla]

Yes. Sounds normal.

[xjay1337]

Is that normal?

My car flashes irrespective of whether the headlights are on, off, or if I'm doing the hokey cokey.

[thecremeegg]

Yea sounds wrong to me!

[Cupramax]

Nuttah said:

Edited i mean they will not flash when the dipped beam is on or main beam only when side lights are on or no lights at all.

Run that by me again? Flash is normally main beam so if you already have main beam on of course it wont work. It should work at all other times, i.e. Side lights only on, no lights and dipped beam on.

[marshalla]

It won't be an issue. The online testers' manual doesn't mention testing it at all.

[xjay1337]

Cupramax said:

Run that by me again? Flash is normally main beam so if you already have main beam on of course it wont work. It should work at all other times, i.e. Side lights only on, no lights and dipped beam on.

He said that his flash (main beam) does not work with the dipped beam on. Only if the sidelights are on or the headlights are off.

That is wrong.

[Nuttah]

Cupramax said:

Run that by me again? Flash is normally main beam so if you already have main beam on of course it wont work. It should work at all other times, i.e. Side lights only on, no lights and dipped beam on.

It won't flash when dipped beam is on, ( didn't realize flash was main beam but makes sense now) but yeah flashes at all times expect when dipped beam is on, so i basically can't flash at night unless i switch from dipped to main beam quickly to give the impression of a flash, I don't use the car at night so no big deal to me but mot is due soon so wondering if it will be an issue.

[BigDaveTheMighty]

Nuttah said:

It won't flash when dipped beam is on, ( didn't realize flash was main beam but makes sense now) but yeah flashes at all times expect when dipped beam is on, so i basically can't flash at night unless i switch from dipped to main beam quickly to give the impression of a flash, I don't use the car at night so no big deal to me but mot is due soon so wondering if it will be an issue.

My 205 was exactly the same. It was just designed that way. We're talking about a car built in 1989, but it never failed an MoT - not for the headlight flasher anyway.....

[Nuttah]

BigDaveTheMighty said:

Nuttah said:

It won't flash when dipped beam is on, ( didn't realize flash was main beam but makes sense now) but yeah flashes at all times expect when dipped beam is on, so i basically can't flash at night unless i switch from dipped to main beam quickly to give the impression of a flash, I don't use the car at night so no big deal to me but mot is due soon so wondering if it will be an issue.

My 205 was exactly the same. It was just designed that way. We're talking about a car built in 1989, but it never failed an MoT - not for the headlight flasher anyway.....

Interesting, no idea if its normal its a 1980 W reg i wonder if they are all like that then hmmm.

[SlimJim16v]

Nope, sounds wrong to me.

[lexusboy]

The flashing aspect of the high beams don't get tested. They have to be turned on and stay on.

[66mpg]

It depends on how you switch to main beam: if you push the stalk towards the dash then pulling the stalk when using dipped headlights will bring the main beams on until you let go of the stalk.

If main beam works by pulling the stalk towards you then you will get a flash when not using dipped beams but when dipped beams are on the stalk will latch and keep the main beams on until you pull the stalk again.

[Nuttah]

66mpg said:

If main beam works by pulling the stalk towards you then you will get a flash when not using dipped beams but when dipped beams are on the stalk will latch and keep the main beams on until you pull the stalk again.

This is exactly what happens, The stalk is pulled towards you and will flash fine with no lights on or with side lights on, with dipped beams on if you pull the stalk it latches on and the main beam comes on, there is no middle ground to flash before it latches should there be?

[bga]

Nuttah said:

Interesting, no idea if its normal its a 1980 W reg i wonder if they are all like that then hmmm.

My 1984 Astra was like that. To flash I had to go to full beam and back to dipped.

[66mpg]

Nuttah said:

66mpg said:

If main beam works by pulling the stalk towards you then you will get a flash when not using dipped beams but when dipped beams are on the stalk will latch and keep the main beams on until you pull the stalk again.

This is exactly what happens, The stalk is pulled towards you and will flash fine with no lights on or with side lights on, with dipped beams on if you pull the stalk it latches on and the main beam comes on, there is no middle ground to flash before it latches should there be?

Nope. Not in my experience. To flash the main beams when dipped beams are on you have to pull the stalk twice, once to turn on the main beams and once again to return to dipped beam. It would be nice if it worked the way you said but I have never driven a vehicle that does this.

[Silent1]

66mpg said:

Nope. Not in my experience. To flash the main beams when dipped beams are on you have to pull the stalk twice, once to turn on the main beams and once again to return to dipped beam. It would be nice if it worked the way you said but I have never driven a vehicle that does this.

Usually a half pull will flash the headlights without latching them, it has on every car I've ever owned.

[talksthetorque]

Nuttah said:

This is exactly what happens, The stalk is pulled towards you and will flash fine with no lights on or with side lights on, with dipped beams on if you pull the stalk it latches on and the main beam comes on, there is no middle ground to flash before it latches should there be?

This does sound normal.
It might be that the switching point of the main beam is further along the travel of the switch than the latch is , so you can't get it to flash without the main beam latching. Maybe a slightly worn/bent electircal connection.