'82 244 - relay clicking

Hi all,

While I have been driving, I have been hearing an intermittent relay clicking sound - just a single on-off, with no real pattern to it. Sometimes it happens a couple of times a minute, other times I can go half an hour without it occuring. From the location of the sound, it appears to be the turn/seatbelt relay, but from what I can tell, nothing actually happens. Any ideas?

Does anyone know what else runs off the turning relay? Alternatively, could anyone think of anything else that this could be (my only other guess is something related to the altenator when the battery reaches full charge). The clicking may always have been there, but its sound may have been masked by the sound of the fan (read on...).

The only other weird thing happening with the car is that the fan stopped working a couple of months ago (just before we got to the Australian summer!). I still haven't had a chance to look at it (to be honest I don't even know where the fan motor is yet - I am guessing behind the glovebox) but it was initially an intermittent problem that was fixed by giving the centre console a good hard whack (actually, that is how it started - I was giving the centre console a whack to get the radio to work properly and it stopped). If anyone can give me an idea of which way to follow the wiring through I would be grateful.

Also, is there a trick to pulling the centre console apart? The plastic is starting to get a bit brittle so I don't want to try and force things too much.

Thanks in advance,

Robmash

Reply to
Robmash
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In the vicinity of the centre console?

If the car has central locking, I'd suspect the snib rod (the bit that connects the inside lock knob on the driver's door to the lock mechanism) may be intermittently trying to unlock the doors as you drive along. Had that problem myself - it caused the central locking "unlock" relay behind the console to click in at random while driving. Unplugging the wiring connector in the driver's door (or perhaps pulling the central locking fuse?) may be able to confirm the problem.

If that is the problem, you'll need another snib rod. Doesn't seem to be an easy way to get it apart. Alternately, cut the wires from the snib rod off and just use the switch on the lock barrel to lock and unlock. I've done that, but will (soon?) be replacing the snib rod with one from another spare car that I've got since...

Reply to
athol

Hi,

Thanks, for your input. My vehicle does not have central locking, so this could not be it (unless of course I have central locking but don't know it because it isn't working...). However, I might have a go at pulling some fuses to see if I can narrow down the options.

Thanks,

Robmash

Reply to
Robmash

The most common problem is the ignition switch. Once you start the car, turn the switch counter clockwise just a bit.

Reply to
Rod Gray

Just my 2 pennies worth, but a 240 I once had, when I bought it, was doing this annoying clicking, it did turn out to be the indicator (turn signal) relay, I thought fine, I'll reseat it's connector, all will be well, it wasn't! It got worse, I replaced the relay, almost any flasher relay will do; from a scrapper, and it was ok, until the car passed on. It looks like the relay developed a sensitivity to the slightly varying voltage from the alternator, and it did seem to be shortly after starting the car, once the battery recovered a bit, this was causing brief 'latch ups', but because no turn signals were on, nothing visible in the way of lights happened.

You shouldn't have stress anything to remove the centre console, but to do so properly you have to remove the footwell panel on either side of the console, and some screws at the base of the console, that then releases the console (loads of wires), which then reveals a steel plate held on with about 6 or 8 screws. The heater motor housing is usually under that.

What type of heating system is installed?

Bye for now, Ken Phillips

Reply to
Ken Phillips (UK)

Thanks, Ken. This sounds quite likely - Now that I think about it I get the problem mainly at startup, and it happens when I am going up or down the gears, which would create a variation in the alternator output due to the change in revs. There are no other relay problems yet - occasionally when I start the car the seatbelt warning light does not flash, but the indicators are working perfectly. On this basis I might just leave it for now and see whether the problem gets worse.

Thanks, I will give that a go.

Is there more than one type? I thought they were all just fed from the radiator. I also have air conditioning, but it does not work as there is a hold in the condenser. I have not yet done anything about that as I need to decide whether it is worth spending money on the vehicle

- I am up to 300k & rust is starting to appear (most noticably on the rims on the side of the roof). Given that the car hasn't been garaged for the last 15 years I can't really complain though...

Thanks,

Robmash

Reply to
Robmash

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