Car light circuitry - I'm a bit of an idiot in this field

[Dinomania]

To think I'm an electronic engineer too. Sigh.

Basically I've had an intermittent problem with the driver-side indicator on my car. It's been working on-and-off for a few months, and in the last week has gone altogether.

However, I didn't think one bulb could a) function intermittently, or b) take down the whole circuit (it's not just one of the three indicators that's not working - front, rear, chassis - it's all of them). So have I just got a broken connection somewhere? Could probably do with finding myself a Haynes manual...

'04 Corsa, by the way.

 

[Dinomania]

Like Vienna, it means nothing to me...

 

[Dinomania]

You're no electrical engineer. Didn't mean technician did you?

Nice and patronising

No, I mean electronic engineer (inside the high-freq telecomms industry), but very green, used to very low-power work and have not much idea where I could poke about in a car without damaging myself. I just couldn't resist the "Oh, Vienna!" thing because of a conversation down the pub last night about Midge Ure... nevermind...

Actually Tesla, I haven't yet tried the hazards. But on locking and unlocking the car (RF blipper thing), none of the driver-side lights flash.

Dogbreath, they fail to illuminate completely.

Likely to be a fuse? Though it spent a couple of months being fine, a day or two not, then fine again.

 

[Dinomania]

Yea, Electronic technician. Engineers wear suits and design stuff.

As I say, Volt drop testing will always locate the fault.

Engineers tend to wear much what they like and yes the more senior engineers will be designing/improving. There's a lot of learning to be done until one reaches that level however and a lot of that involves doing debug, testing and labmonkeying until familiar with the technology in a new firm. That doesn't make a new graduate into a firm a technician - just a young engineer with lots to learn.

 

[Dinomania]

Cheers guys, will sit in my car and press buttons tonight.

Might possibly take it up to my trusted garage anyway due to restrictions on my time but it'll help them out if I have some idea where to look rather than "uhn, it doesn't work and it's not a bulb"!

 

[Dinomania]

Bah, semantics! Don't think I've ever used a lamp in electronics, always been LEDs, and usually tiny surface-mount ones at that

 

[Dinomania]

Driver-side indicators completely dead, don't flash for hazards, indication, locking/unlocking, nothing.

Lame and busy Sara has booked the car into the garage. Probably should ask for a multimeter and Haynes manual for Christmas...

Thanks a lot, not only for making me burst out laughing in my silent uni library, but also for the fact that Im gonna be humming that all day.

Pleased to be of service