Club 80-90 Forums

Howdy all!

Some time back i ad a problem where the indicators died but the hazards worked...

It actually cured its self and went away. I changed the relay suspecting that and never gave it a thought...


Its back and its not self curing


The relay either does nothing or sounds like a geiger counter in a radiation leak.


Symptoms and things tested:-

The dash flasher light is on constantly but dull

The hazards work fine

2 relays = same result

stalk contacts test OK.

good earth through brown wire on relay

good earth through indicator bulb via wires out stalk (that is how is should be?)

Wiggling wires makes no change in geiger tone.



Any suggestions? This bus is my Christmas day camp

The flasher module has two separate feeds, from the ignition side for normal indicators and from the non-ignition side for emergency flashers. Each feed has its own fuse (8A and a 16A) Check that the 8A fuse is ok. The indicator being on sounds as though the indicator LED is trying to power the Relay and not the 8A fused supply from the ignition. Fuse locations vary so need to know which year van you have.

If fuses check out OK then get hold of an emergency flasher switch and replace that too as the switch must be in good condition for the system to get the correct voltage feed.

In fuse box 2nd fuse in from the right , check fuse and connections are clean and firm. Pull out fuse squeeze connections together a smidge and put fuse back in. Mine went on way home tonight, fuse was corroded around the bottom, new fuse and all is well.

As far as i'm aware the fuses are good. would that count for the dull glowing dash light?

I'll try running a power lead from the barrery direct to the relay.

Had exactly this happen in the past. It still turned out to be a fuse. It looked intact (they all did) but relevant one promptly fell apart on removal. Check fuses VERY carefully. Same scenario - hazards no problem but flasher unit going like the clappers and dim indicator light.

CovKid wrote:Had exactly this happen in the past. It still turned out to be a fuse. It looked intact (they all did) but relevant one promptly fell apart on removal. Check fuses VERY carefully. Same scenario - hazards no problem but flasher unit going like the clappers and dim indicator light.

Give guys a virtual beer. Trade your virtual beer for a real one at the next show !

Not the fuse but the conector behind.


pulled the fuses out and all were good but while putting it back i touched behind and the geiger changed tone then turned into a flaser again. Ckleaned the contacts and were are fit for the road.

Just need to rebuild the dash pod which died on removal Was 1/2 dead before but the mount screws stayed in the dash anmd the dials came off with the cover

Got a spare but its off a much newer van. Need to see if i can swap the bits and just use the frame.

I have absolutely no experience with this particular problem but glowing lights and iratic flashing does sound light an earthing fault.....what you need to be warey of is that feeds and earth connections can appear sound when tested with multimeter but still fail when under load (when several amps are flowing in the circuit) starter circuits particularly (because of the high amperage being delivered) will nearly always show no fault when checked with a meter)
I would recommend physically removing earthing points and cleaning to bare metal, also remove spade connections and cleaning with the wifes emery board (nail file) until brite etc etc.
Same goes for the 'feed' side of things, pull apart connectors, clean up, remove any cheap plastic fuses and replace them with proper ceramic ones, make the connections tighter ....
Lastely.....VW's of this era did suffer from faulty fuse boxes...they are laminated in layers and over time warp and distort causing terminals to part or produce poor connections.
Martin

The_blue wrote: Give guys a virtual beer. Trade your virtual beer for a real one at the next show !

Yep, the culprit is usually there somewhere. Not an earth fault but a lack of power fault, with an open circuit that gives symptoms you described. Its because the hazard and indicator circuits are seperate but still semi-connected which gives rise to weird things happening when it goes partly open circuit. You can spend many a wasted hour taking off the wheel, unscrewing light fittings etc when its in the one place you didn't think of.

Nice to see you got it all sorted and Russell ain't just rusty but trusty yet again.....