Indicator woes. Thinking relay is sus, any ideas?

[shaunington]

Hey all,

Had a game of golf with the old man today, was a nice sunny day when we left so I thought I'd take the VL out for a run.

Anywho, second corner on our voyage there I noticed something odd about the indicators, the arrow on the dash cluster was just on solid instead of blinking as normal. I thought ahh it's just a flasher relay. Must be old, bugger.

2 trips and one close call/angry person complaining about my obvious lack of flashing indicators later (the globes were just staying solidly lit on the outside of the car), I got stuck into the dash as the hazard and flasher relays are under the dash.

I pulled the indicator relay out and it appeared to be the original Hella/GMH one so I thought it must be bung. Pulled it out, had a look at it and it seemed okay, cleaned the contacts on the plug and put it back in to be sure, flicked the indicator and it went on solid, this time the relay making a very loud buzzing noise that has since not gone away.

I'm going to try and source a replacement (seen a Siemens one on ebay to suit ANY commodore for $40 odd, seems a bit rich) but in the mean time is there anything else that's not relay related that could be causing this? General electronics knowledge is telling me to check the quality of my grounds, but it does seem weird that it would just pop up like that if it was a ground related problem, considering I've installed/changed nothing on the car electronics wise in months. I DID install a Calais front on the car and have to disconnect and recoonect the headlight loom plug, but I dont see that being related as the indicators have worked perfectly since until today.

There isn't any other fuse that would effect this? Will head out tomorrow and have a play, but any help is appreciated.

Cheers

 

[jatsvl]

check that you don't have a blown bulb, your flasher unit maybe faulty.
fuse #9 - clock, interior illumination, hazzard lights.
fuse #14 - turn signals, windscreen wipers.
any thing connected to these fuses could be faulty and causing a problem so check them all for correct operation.
I had a similar problem a while back and discovered my ignition switch (not the barrel) is worn and when turned on the push rod slides to far forward causing intermittent electrical issues such as you have mentioned, also my brake light on the dash would come on and stay on sometimes.
now when I start the car I turn the key back slightly and I don't have any issues.
the reason I have not replaced it is because I have a full metal jacket on my barrel and switch and they very hard to remove and replace.

 

[shaunington]

Hey mate, All bulbs are okay.

I'll head out and check the other things in a bit and get back to you, thanks for the tips

 

[shaunington]

Okay just went out, all fuses appear okay. I tried turning the barrel back a little bit and that didn't help (was a long shot I guess).

The clock, hazard signals, wipers and interior illumination all work perfectly, it's just the turning signals that don't. The relay is still buzzing, and the arrow on the dash is noticably fainter with the buzzing than with the hazard lights on or yesterday when the problem first arose.

I did some googling and the problem isn't unique, but most of threads I see worldwide with the buzzing problem say that after putting a new relay in the same behaviour continues. I'm suspecting a bad earth of some sort, but I've got NFI where to start looking.

grrr, just when everything was going well, something else to fix...

 

[shaunington]

Fixed, bit the bullet and went and got a new relay from Supercheap.

Will post this up for anyone suffering similar problems,

Product No: #6136, SCA Brand 12v, 3 pin (31 -, 49 +, 49A globes) flasher relay. Cost me $20, all good!

 

[jatsvl]

excellent!! good to see a nice easy fix, and you posted the fix, well done mate rep points awarded.

 

[detox_nath83]

was gonna say relay as it was buzzing. could have put in say your horn relay or something of the same setup (wiring diagram on the relay) and seen if it fixed it... worn/sticky relay. well done all fixed