Got in the Passat tonight to find the indicators had stopped working.
After 10 mins. of pulling at bits of plastic, I finally located the fuesbox and relay panel..... thought I'd have an easy fix.
Pulled all the relays one by one, none of which affected the indicators.
Once home (48 miles with no indicators is _interesting_)...... did a quick websearch to find the relay is part of the hazzards switch, ffs!
I'd love to know the explanation for that.
I had exactly the same problem with my indicators on a 51 reg Passat. The whole hazard switch unit was replaced and the indicators started working again, albeit a little faster. Seems to be a common problem?
J.
I just unplugged it and plugged it back in and all seems fine.
Suppose I should get myself a spare just in case.
It is a known issue, which is why it only took me 2 mins on Google to find the answer.
Indicators don't usually have any relays in the chain. There's the flasher unit. And possibly the hazard warning switch - which are likely to be the cause of problems.
Unreliable german crap. Sir needs a nice Alfa for the commute :)
Absolutely. No need for pulling any wires anywhere...the simple aid of a priest and a quick exorcism of the electrican demons would sort it in a jiffy!
Ta, G.
Flasher unit is what I meant - it is, after all, just a form of relay in my understanding.
Anyway, just removing and replacing solved the issue.
Absolutely. No need for pulling any wires anywhere...the simple aid of a priest and a quick exorcism of the electrical demons would sort it in a jiffy!
Ta, G.
Aargh. I seem to be wearing Freud's glasses. IRTA "with the simple aid of a prick".
No offence intended to anyone here.
D'you think it has ideas of being a BMW? ;o)
Lol.
On my Toyota, if you disconnect the hazard lights switch (which you have to do to remove the front of the dash - which you have to do to replace the stereo) then the indicators don't work.
It was the same on my last Vauxhall Corsa... and the hazard lights switch on those and other Vauxhalls of that era have a tendency to burn out in later years.
-- JackH
If you give it some thought, a hazard switch is quite a complicated mechanism.
It has to disconnect the flashers from their 'normal' circuit - as it has to operate with the ignition off. If it didn't do this it would switch the ignition circuit on...
It has to link the normally separate left and right together, and also switch in a heavy duty flasher unit to cope with the extra load of four, rather than two, bulbs.
Like I said, a complicated switch. ;-)
Yeah, timer relay in all reality.
I see how you may have been confused. Easy assumption/mistake to make ;-)
Ta, G.
No doubt through excessive usage.
Ta, G.
The message from "JackH" contains these words:
Not just in later years - they often failed before they'd ever even been used. I had several Corsas from new and I never used the hazard switch at all - and yet a few of them died. Apparently it was 'cos they were right between the hot air vents and couldn't take the heat. Vauxhall did a later version of the switch which could cope.
A bit of card stuffed in the side of the switch keeps 'em switched off. In emergency, remove card to switch hazards on (surprisingly I never needed to do that in my last s**te old 'remarkably good runner given its unquenchable thirst for oil' Cavalier).
Is that kinda info available on the web just for your car make? or, is it available for other makes? If the later, I'd sure like to hear how you found that info? Puleeese. John Hewitt, Malaga, Spain
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