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

Dinomania

Dinomania

Dinomania

Soldato
Joined
21 Apr 2003
Posts
4,328
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.
 
You're no electrical engineer. Didn't mean technician did you?

Place voltmeter across each part of the circuit in turn +ve battery terminal-ground (you'll see 12V), then end of the main battery cable-ground, then indicator switch-ground, and so on down the line.

It'll become clear where the fault is.
 
BigglesPiP said:
You're no electrical engineer. Didn't mean technician did you?
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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.
 
sara said:
Likely to be a fuse? Though it spent a couple of months being fine, a day or two not, then fine again.
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Unlikely to be a fuse. Most likely suspects will be the Hazard warning switch, the stalk switch or the connectors on the back of either of these switches.

For starters try switching the hazards on and off a half a dozen times to see if you have a sticking contact inside.
 
Maybe the flasher relay if it doesnt work on alarm/hazards or indicators? I would have thought the relay would be a good 'test' point anyway. As both the low power circuits (from the switches), and the higher power circuits (to the bulbs) will be present, and testable.
 
sara said:
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...
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Yea, Electronic technician. Engineers wear suits and design stuff.

As I say, Volt drop testing will always locate the fault.
 
BigglesPiP said:
Yea, Electronic technician. Engineers wear suits and design stuff.

As I say, Volt drop testing will always locate the fault.
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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.
 
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"!
 
sara said:
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"!
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as an electronics engineer you should know that its a lamp bulbs go in the garden

you buy lamp holders to put lamps in not bulbs
 
lordedmond said:
as an electronics engineer you should know that its a lamp bulbs go in the garden

you buy lamp holders to put lamps in not bulbs
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This was drummed into me during my apprenticeship at a railway signalling company. However, it's a waste of time trying to convince other people of this, the word "bulb" is so highly entrenched when describing an incandescent lamp that you are on to a loser :D
 
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