When indicating a left turn and braking, the rear light cluster bulbs "interact" and the audible ticking warning gets much faster than normal. The lights work correctly when illuminated in isolation.

I suspected an earth fault or dirty/corroded/wet contacts inside the bulb "pod" but everything inside that unit is clean and dry, including the multi-connector's pins and socket. No sign of any chafing on the insulation.

I can't see any local earth/chassis/ground connection near the wiring loom under the boot liner and other "felt" material on the LHS.

Any suggestions as to where to look next please?

Cheers

Peter

peterbryenton said:

When indicating a left turn and braking, the rear light cluster bulbs "interact" and the audible ticking warning gets much faster than normal. The lights work correctly when illuminated in isolation.

I suspected an earth fault or dirty/corroded/wet contacts inside the bulb "pod" but everything inside that unit is clean and dry, including the multi-connector's pins and socket. No sign of any chafing on the insulation.

I can't see any local earth/chassis/ground connection near the wiring loom under the boot liner and other "felt" material on the LHS.

Any suggestions as to where to look next please?

Cheers

Peter

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Normally this is caused by a bad earth on the light unit, but could also be a faulty bulb or broken wire/damaged wiring loom.
I would change the bulbs and see how that goes.

Clean the earth points on both rear lights. They get dirty/corroded over time causing strange lighting effects.

are you sure its not the plug at the back.

I have had exactly the same fault. I know you can have different faults with same symptoms but odds are it will have some connection


on mine it was a bad connection on one of the connectors. Cant remember which one but it was towards the middle. Had to bend the contacts slightly with a small screwdriver to make a firmer connection. If thats not the problem you will have to trace the middle wires back

Earth faults are always a pain. Sometime the best solution is a new wire direct from the earth side of the lights board to a self tapping screw into the car body shell.

Ditto!
Sorted.
Thank you to you, and to everyone else for helping me think this through.
Cheers
Peter

My wee 4x4 has started the same behaviour!

This thread guided me to the same connection that's mentioned above. I've only checked the ns rear light so far. The central pin is definitely not as shiny as the others and it also appears to be slightly bent to one side. The central female end in the plug looks wider than the rest so also probably not contacting properly.

So, I have questions!

First, I know I need to clean the pin, but how do I access it!? And, what's best to use to get a nice shiny surface? I guess I'll have to try and bend it back so it's straight too.

Secondly, is it sensible to try and apply a little pressure, using a flat head screwdriver, to try to close the gap and make the fitting snug?

Cheers as always!

I did mine over a year ago. From memory I bent the pin out with a dentist tool and scratch the surface up with a small flat blade. put some petroleum gel and reassembled.


Wish I had done the other side at the same time as that's now failing

koalar said:

I did mine over a year ago. From memory I bent the pin out with a dentist tool and scratch the surface up with a small flat blade. put some petroleum gel and reassembled.


Wish I had done the other side at the same time as that's now failing

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Thanks for that - I'll take both sides off at the weekend and see what I can do. Hopefully I get it clean and snug and don't snap the tooth off!

I have just done mine. I have no idea where the earth wires are bolted down but as said above, it does not matter. The problem is caused by the connector at the back of the light fitting. Use a fine screw driver to carefully bend the plug contacts so they grip the spades harder.

Can't find the picture at the moment, but I repaired one a while back which had been faulty for most of a year. (Nobody told me until the annual "oh, can you get my car MOTd - I've just noticed its run out" phone call).
Middle pins on both plug and bulb holder burnt black, and surrounding plastic melted away.
Not really sure how lights still worked at all, but they mostly did.
So probably best to fix sooner rather than put it off....

The lights are held to the car with three M6 bolts and three push pins. The bolts are very easy to cross-thread. Get them started with a screwdriver and just nip tight with a socket. The plastic push pins are extremely tight. Take care and persevere. When putting back, use red grease or silicone grease and be careful you don't bend the middle pin.

irc said:

Can't find the picture at the moment, but I repaired one a while back which had been faulty for most of a year. (Nobody told me until the annual "oh, can you get my car MOTd - I've just noticed its run out" phone call).
Middle pins on both plug and bulb holder burnt black, and surrounding plastic melted away.
Not really sure how lights still worked at all, but they mostly did.
So probably best to fix sooner rather than put it off....

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Pictures here

Thanks @koalar - I knew there was a guide somewhere on here but I hadn't bookmarked it.
I took a picture of the actual one I repaired because it was so bad - those ones are really mild in comparison. There was a melted hole in one side of the white connector and the pin was destroyed from the heat/arcing.
Only solution was a cut-and-paste from a scrap Panda, and a new bulb holder.
Trouble is, its getting harder to get cut-off loom parts (at least round here), so definitely better to fix it as soon as it's noticed.
I got given some German-made gel for coating electrical connections a few years ago which has been great for using on things like this (and trailer sockets/plugs). Lasts for years and completely stops oxidisation.
Unfortunately the tube is nearly empty and doesn't have a recognisable name on it, so I haven't re-stocked.
Anyone have a known good equivalent? I

irc said:

I got given some German-made gel for coating electrical connections a few years ago which has been great for using on things like this (and trailer sockets/plugs). Lasts for years and completely stops oxidisation.
Unfortunately the tube is nearly empty and doesn't have a recognisable name on it, so I haven't re-stocked.
Anyone have a known good equivalent? I

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I use petroleum gel (vasaline)

3 cars and all 6 lights failed

Easier to repair before they get too bad

The first sign of failure for me is the indicator speed alters as you brake

I have a crimp tool and crimps so its no big deal for me,

irc said:

Trouble is, its getting harder to get cut-off loom parts (at least round here), so definitely better to fix it as soon as it's noticed.

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Correct

koalar said:

I use petroleum gel (vasaline)

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I used to use it for battery terminals and connectors, but I got chewed out by one of the senior vehicle engineering technicians (at the car-maker i was working at back in the 80/90s) for using it on connectors. Apparently it degraded some of the plastics used in certain connectors.
Since then I've only used it on battery terminals.
Can't see it would affect the nylon-type connectors most things seem to be nowadays, but old habits are hard to kick.

irc said:

but I got chewed out by one of the senior vehicle engineering technicians (at the car-maker i was working at back in the 80/90s) for using it on connectors.

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dielectric grease is the proper stuff

I don't over worry about it,

You can have brake grease, dielectric copper seize, silicone, red rubber, sewing machine oil, wheel bearing, this gasket sealant or other, most specially ones will be close to £10 each if you buy every one and only use it a couple of times is it good value for £100

There's normally 101 opinions such as, WD40 will wreck rubber seals which is true, but are we really dealing with real rubber or EPDM, SBR, nitrile, neoprene, silicone, Viton or something else,


I understand, it's not as good and has a low melting point, but in the real real world connectors and wires haven't degraded over 5 years or so,

I simply(?) had to get a small screwdriver under the contacts within the connector block. That made it grip the spades within the light unit and problem solved.