Intermittent indicator and internal lights problem

V

Vindaloo

Member
 Belfast, Northern Ireland
Hi guys,

Hoping someone can give me some tips on where to start solving this one.

2003 Z4 3.0i 111k miles

My indicators sometimes don’t cancel, leaving me driving up the road flashing left and right trying to get them to stop. I replaced the switches with a used unit and thought this had solved the problem but it’s back. Sometimes they cancel, sometimes they don’t. (Neither auto cancel or by trying with the stalk).

Now more gremlins have joined in, also intermittently. When dipping from high beam the blue dash light sometimes stays on. Same with the front fogs. I can turn them off but have the green dash light stay on. On a recent drive my dash lights were dimming themselves every ten minutes and would only correct when I scrolled the dim switch up and down a couple of times. When the headlights are on normal dipped) there’s no tell tale light on the dash - should there be a green headlight symbol?

The car battery is only a couple of months old and I think the alternator is OK as never any starting issues as a daily driver. Car was just parked up for a week and started first time.

Is this likely a control module issue (if so where do I look)? Or is a bad ground somewhere more likely? Any other likely culprits?

I suspect this’ll be one for my local auto spark to sort unless there’s a known fix I can attempt.

Thanks for any pointers.
 
That sounds most likely to be an issue within the light control module.
They aren't too bad to change but you do need to get another one of the same type and then it needs the VIN and mileage reading coded in to prevent getting a tamper dot on the dash.
 
Just to update on this. I removed my LCM to check the part number so I could source a replacement, then ordered a used one from eBay which has now arrived. However, in the last few days while waiting for the replacement, things seem to be working OK. Just removing and refitting seems to have it sorted. Fingers crossed. If the problem reappears I’ll then switch to the replacement part.
 
This is getting very frustrating ...

The problem reappeared with the same symptoms as before so I fitted the replacement used part. This seemed to cure the issue but after a week or so it's back!

It started again yesterday after about 40 mins of motorway driving and remained for the rest of the day, getting slowly worse. When I got home I disconnected the battery and the LCM, refitted and things were working again. Driving into work today, after about 40 mins the problem is back.

I have disconnected and reconnected the battery negative to see if that does anything, and it does seem to have me back to normal for the moment.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Is it just bad luck and I've got a 2nd LCM with issues, or is the appearance after around 40 mins (something I noticed previously), and tendency to clear when the battery is disconnected hinting at something else?

I really want to finally get this sorted out.
 
Surely your indicators not cancelling are as a result of a faulty steering slip ring over an lcm?
 
bigwinn said:
Surely your indicators not cancelling are as a result of a faulty steering slip ring over an lcm?
Click to expand...
Thanks but that's only part of the problem, though it was my first thought and I changed this out a while ago.

When this problem first appeared my internal indicator click and telltale light would continue after the indicators should have cancelled, either manually or by self cancel. I assumed that they were staying on on the outside. However I eventually realised that the clicker and dash lights were continuing but the indicators had actually cancelled on the outside.

Things got worse, not limited to the indicators. The dash lights were dimming themselves for no reason and then coming back, the high beam warning light would stay on for some time even when dipped, the front fog light indicator on the dash would stay lit even when off.

Yesterday during my motorway drive home, the indicator telltales would stay on well after I had finished indicating but then eventually cancel after maybe 20-30 seconds. On other occasions I would indicate with no internal click or flashing and no way of knowing if anything was happening on the outside. At one stage my clicks and flashes would continue for about 30 seconds after cancelling a left signal yet I'd get no internal flash or click when signalling right.

This means I'm constantly tense, either waiting for the problem to start and then get progressively worse, and when it is there not knowing for sure what my indicators are doing on the outside. Since I commute a mixture of busy motorway and rural roads its a safety issue if I'm either not indicating, or false indicating. While driving with this problem I can't be sure what's flashing on the outside.

The strange aspect, just realised, is that the problem perhaps resets with the battery connected, only to appear again after around 40 mins. I don't know if this is to be expected with a dodgy LCM.
 
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