Help... freaky indicator !

[Mr Pid]

So after about 3 years of operation I noticed my RH indicators going fast occasionally..... aha I think... a bulb on its last legs.... check at home and sure enough rear right indicator not working..... good 5 minute job.

Take bulb out and its ok... checked by swapping with another. So tracing things through, and looking at the wiring diagram on the stickies (v helpful chaps...thanks)I have confirmed all is well from both Hazard and Indicator flashers and switches.... all the way up to the star point in the void behind the fuze box where the feed from the indicator switch splits to finally go to the front and rear indicators. Also disconnected the multiplug to the rear clip and attached a bulb separately to the appropriate points to rule out the clip wiring.

So all i have is one single wire going from the star point through the side pod and on to the rear multiplug... and my bulb still flashes intermittently.... in fact it seems to flash very nearly every second flash on the hazard lights while all other lights flash every time.... and I am not wiggling anything... just standing there looking on in awe... truly weird !

So rather than trying to look for an intermittent problem in a flashing circuit I removed the indicator flasher relay and jumped a wire across so when I select the indicators they stay on permanentlyand don't flash...... guess what.... the bulb now stays on continuously no problem, just as it should.

..so seems I have a bit of wire that has developed a fault such that when a constant voltage is applied it is fine, but when a switching voltage is applied it has a, non random, intermittent fault..

.....Any ideas greatfully received..... have closed the garage door and am moving on to the gin to see if that helps!

Stu

[karl c]

Hi Stu,
You could try disconnecting the wire from the star point, then run a tempory wire from the star point to offending indicator unit and see if that works or its the same, if it works you need a continuity tester to start testing back the wiring and find the fault, if it doesn't work then it looks like a fault with the indicator unit.

Hope this helps Karl.

[Storer]

I would start with the easy stuff first.

Clean the terminals in the light unit that the bulb contacts with using emery paper. Make sure the spring pressure gives a good contact too.

Check the earth leads to that side of the car. Have you measured the voltage at the bulb terminals?

You can get another flasher unit from Halfords tomorrow and see if that helps.


Hope this helps and enjoy the gin.


Paul

[Mr Pid]

So I stripped a bit of insulation off the wire as it passes through the engine bay before it gets to the multiplug.... so can now get to each end of that rear indicator feed.

I didn't disconnect the existing wire but did run a second wire in parallel from the star point at the front of the side pod........ and with the hazards (or indicator) on and the other end of the second wire held onto the exposed wire in the engine bay everything works fine..... take it off and it does its freaky thing again.

So seems earths and flashers and all connections are fine....the problem is with the indicator wire as it goes through the side pod from front to back.... but not a continuity problem as it works just fine with a constant current... only plays up when flashing !

....Think I might need try an exorcist next....

[karl c]

ok stu so we know the fault is in that length of wire, if you can now physically check that wire for damage and locate the fault we can rectify this, if this is not possible you could disconnect the original wire and run a new wire in, problem solved

[Mr Pid]

Thanks Karl

Yep.... I at least have a solution.... and i did run a couple of spare wires through the side pod during build so will be able to use one of these. Will be interested to see what such a fault looks like though..... if i can get enough access.

Away on business right now so will see if i can track it down when i return.