indicator issue

[iana]

After spending an age trying to find a fault and failing I replaced the flasher and it worked, however I went to the club meet last night and the car was fine, today not so, the indicators failed today again! Fortunately today the first time it blew the sacrificial fuse on the feed from the main fuse box, used it for a 15 mile journey and then came home, indicators stopped again. I have connected a 10 amp fuse in place of the flasher unit and it blows when the passenger side indiactor is activated. The drivers side indiactor works fine.

Also this time I checked the hazard warning lights and they also didnt work ( the bulbs glimmered but didnt flash). I'm assuming from this theres a short somewhere in the system thats connected to the passender side circuit. More investigations tomorrow. However I did shake the connector on the hazard warning and the indicator wire under the dash and the hazards started working again and the indicators started working without blowing the fuse. Whilst this was happening the ignition switch was at position 1 and the ignition light and the oil light were flickering, also after shaking the wires these lights stopped flickering,

 

 

 

[iana]

Can anyone tell me how I get access to the switch to check the wires there?

[Pete Lewis]

remove the column switch covers one screw top one underside, both covers come off  switches held  on simple clamps to position on the column cables run down a small conduit  under the main column tube to break out at multiple snap connectors ( a good place for problems)

to get the wires out may need the main tube saddle clamp removing 

Pete

[iana]

Apologies in advance for the long post.

After spending most of yesterday trying to resolve the indicator issue on the vitesse, I've not really found a fault in the wiring (a loose earth on the hazard circuit and a bullet connector not fully connected) so Im at a loss of what to do next so looking for suggestions.

The problem started with a burning smell from the flasher relay when indicating left. I replaced the flasher and it started to get very hot so I removed it.

I then directly fused the live feed to the indicator wire on the column and it all worked fine, so I installed a new flasher but installed a inline 10A fuse on the live feed and the indicators worked fine, so we used the car for club night and all good.

However the next day whilst using the car the indicators stopped, the fuse was blown so I replaced the fuse as I needed to use the car all worked fine for about 20 mile. The indicator then stopped working again so back into the garage and start investigating.

Direct fuse live to indicator wire, fuse blows when activating near side indicator, so I'm thinking the issue is passenger side wiring so start checking under the dash etc. At this point I tried the hazard warning lights, they illuminated but it was more a glimmer than a flash and the oil pressure and ignition light on the speedo were flickering. I start checking the connectors by the hazard light circuit where the column indicator wire joins main loom and merely by moving the connectors the hazards work again – so re-check the nearside indicator with a direct fuse link and it all works.

All I've found so far is a couple of bullet connectors that were correctly pushed home and a couple of loose earth wires (connected but not tight) but I'm not convinced that's the problem.

Any ideas of what the issue could be or suggestions of what to do next – I'm thinking to rewire the left hand side indicator circuit from front light of car, to under dash (or would I be better going all the way to the column) and to the rear maybe the most straight forward.

[Colin Lindsay]

2 hours ago, iana said:

At this point I tried the hazard warning lights, they illuminated but it was more a glimmer than a flash and the oil pressure and ignition light on the speedo were flickering.

If those other lights are flickering that's an earth issue; some current is earthing via their circuit as it can't find any other route; if the hazard lights are dim rather than full power then something is shorting out and the power is going straight to earth rather than through the lights; and I'd guess there's definitely a short on the near-side indicator circuit hence the burning and the blown fuses.

You'll need to check the entire length of the wiring, from switch to relay to light, and identify the short - even wiggling the wires about can identify the section that's causing the problem.

 

[iana]

Colin thanks, just spent a couple of hours checking again, I stripped the switches off the column and found a damaged live wire on the overdrive switch cable, now repaired. So I’m going to check the indicator one next, but I’m guessing if that live wire was touching either the column or switch that would certainly cause a problem. Whilst it’s frustrating in a way, at least it’s forced me to redo some of the poor wiring that I’ve found, earths are now tightly fixed. I also found the radio had bees wired in with a cloth covered cable (that must be really old) which I’ve removed, I’ll put the radio back once the car is running properly

[iana]

Just a quick update, I found several faults in the end, several loose and broken earths, the fuse box was definitely past its best, there was a very poor connection on one of the terminals. also the intermitent fault became permanent and to solve the issue I have rewired the left hand indicator circuit completely. All now appears to be working. Still got to connect the radio but it can wait.

Took the car for a test drive today, a blast down the old A roads, it reminded me why I brought the car!