Indicator electrical gremlin - was fixed but come back

[85genius]

Was just driving home and had a weird electronic gremlin appear...

Drivers side front indicator came on for no reason - not flashing just solid amber which thew up the bulb warning on the dash, it stayed on for about 40 seconds then went out... Then did it again a couple of minutes later and stayed on about 20 seconds then went out...

I'm guessing it's a dodgy earth connection somewhere maybe but not really electrically technical, anyone know where or what to check?

Cheers

 

[85genius]

I've got a cheap multimeter in the garage if that's any use

 

[markplant]

Side light could be on its way out, that would bring indicator lamp on constant as a corner marker

 

[85genius]

Side light could be on its way out, that would bring indicator lamp on constant as a corner marker

Ah right it was dark so sidelights would have been on, I didn't know the car had that functionality to use the indicator as an alternative side light, will try changing the sidelight bulb and see if that fixes the issue...

Don't suppose you know what type of bulb I need?

Never had to change any bulbs in the Z so don't even know how to get to them, is it easy or is it worth paying halfrauds £3 or whatever they charge to swap a bulb?

 

[srhutch]

You need to do from the wheel arch. Easy enough, just make sure you put the covers back on properly otherwise condensation will appear.

 

[Stuartt]

Whatever you do don't use halfrauds, one of the other guys did on here and ended up having to have the whole lamp unit replaced.

if you can, jack the car up to drop the wheel in the arch for better access, remove the cover in the arch to gain access to the rear of the lamp, remove the lamp cover and then you will see the bulbs. Side light is a 501 capless bulb. when replacing the lamp cover make sure you locate it correctly so as not to let moisture in, sometimes a smear of vaseline will ensure a good seal.

hope this helps and good luck.

Stuart

 

[85genius]

Whatever you do don't use halfrauds, one of the other guys did on here and ended up having to have the whole lamp unit replaced.

if you can, jack the car up to drop the wheel in the arch for better access, remove the cover in the arch to gain access to the rear of the lamp, remove the lamp cover and then you will see the bulbs. Side light is a 501 capless bulb. when replacing the lamp cover make sure you locate it correctly so as not to let moisture in, sometimes a smear of vaseline will ensure a good seal.

hope this helps and good luck.

Stuart

Is vaseline safe to use? thought it would cause the seals to perish? but definitely a good idea using some king of grease as my old Z had condensation in one of the lenses so want to avoid it on this one if at all possible will get some silcone grease before I sawp the light, not had the error since so possibly just a loose connection

 

[85genius]

Update on this....

Got the capless 501 bulbs.... Wrong bulbs for my car... Was confused as hell when I pulled it out thought it was the main beam bulb....

Anyway was supposed to be a t4w (dont know if all xenon models are the same?) but some lepper had put a completely wrong bulb in, lugs didn't even line up which I found out after I had exchanged the bulbs once so had to look on ebay to fid which the correct one was

Anyway now fitted and gremlin has been banished

 

[markplant]

Excellent

 

[85genius]

So was fixed this afternoon and went on a nice drive, stopped to watch the England game and when I got in the car to drive home the warning was back on the dash.... Drove home and checked it and the solid indicator is on again, but the sidelight is working this time bulb lights up fine...

Any ideas before I go pay someone to take a look at it?

 

[Beetlegav]

T4w bulb in your sidelight? My xenon sidelight are w5w t10 501. Whichever you go by.
A t4w is a bayonet fitting isn't it?
Do you have factory headlights?

 

[Stuartt]

The bulb sensor works on resistance, so say its supposed to be a 10w bulb and you fit a 5w bulb it will still light up but will give a reading outside the expected perameters therefore bringing up the failure warning that's why the LED bulbs have a CAN resister fitted.
Check the new bulbs fitted are the correct wattage first

Stuart

 

[85genius]

T4w bulb in your sidelight? My xenon sidelight are w5w t10 501. Whichever you go by.
A t4w is a bayonet fitting isn't it?
Do you have factory headlights?

Factory xenons but mine are the newer ones with single angel eye sidelights and the sidelight bulb is a bayonet fitting maybe I put the wrong wattage in then will have to check tomorrow t4w was the only one I could find that was the right size but maybe it's an uncommon bulb they use which would explain why a bulb with a different fitting had been bodged into place

 

[85genius]

The bulb sensor works on resistance, so say its supposed to be a 10w bulb and you fit a 5w bulb it will still light up but will give a reading outside the expected perameters therefore bringing up the failure warning that's why the LED bulbs have a CAN resister fitted.
Check the new bulbs fitted are the correct wattage first

Stuart

Just done a bit of trawling the internet and you are exactly right! It should be a 10w 12v bulb and I've put a 4w in there so that's where the error has come from... Will try Andrew Page on my way into work tomorrow and hopefully get the right one at last!

Just assumed because the t4w not only fit but also lit that it must be the right one but didn't notice any difference in brightness due to today's sunshine and also didn't count on nanny canbus getting upset with me

Good job it's nice and easy to get to them

 

[85genius]

Well tried Andrew page and they dont stock the bulbs or even have them on the system to order in, same with halfrauds so had to order a set from ebay and not bloody cheap either but still cheaper than from the stealer