Rear indicators

[jrb43]

I don't think this problem has been posted before.
The Passenger side rear indicator bulb is not working, leaving the front and side repeater flashing rapidly.
The bulb doesn't light under any condition (Hazards, alarm set, indicators)
Note:

1)The bulb has not blown. Continuity with the multimeter.
2)A voltmeter shows continuity all along the relevant tracks on the bulb holding board.
3)A voltmeter across the terminals shows fluctuating 8V/0v with the indicators running. This is actually the same on the right side (working fine) so I suspect the meter just can't change rapidly enough rather than an underlying voltage problem.
4)Physically playing with the bulb holder hasn't helped.
5)The other bulbs are lighting appropriately

I hope I have explained this adequately. I'm not a mechanic [just a TVR owner :-)] so I may have missed something obvious but I AM STUMPED.

Any clues?

James

[IPAddis]

Were you testing the voltage with the bulb disconnected? You have to be a bit careful with indicators as the odd wiring arrangement including one-way diodes and so on can cause odd multimeter readings if you're not very careful what your testing and whether it's connected or not when you test it.

At the end of the day, if you have sufficient voltage to the bulb holder and the bulb is not broken, the bulb will light!

Ian A.

[jrb43]

Ian,

QUITE - THAT'S WHAT YOU WOULD THINK! To clarify, the indicator bulbs were out when I was playing around with the multimeter.

[IPAddis]

I believe the bulb holders (including the entire set of rear bulbs) are interchangable connection wise between the two sides (although obviously they won't fit into the light unit). If the other side is working fine, perhaps it would be wise to swap the entire units (bulbs and all) from one side to the other. You will then determine whether it is a bulb holder/bulb fault or a wiring fault.

Assuming you haven't tried this already of course.

Ian A.

[lavingp]

K.I.S.S. (with apologies!)

Just change the bulb for a known good one. i.e. new or take the bulb from the other side. Just because you have continuity does not mean it is not faulty.

Paul.

[jrb43]

That's two more things to add to the list of things I had done (forgot to mention them):

1)The right hand indicator bulb doesn't light when in the left hand housing

2)the results of switching the units round is more complicated. I can't remember exactly what happened but it resulted in me blowing one of the reversing lamps because the connectors will only fit one way and I didn't adequately examine the loom to discover that the wiring is reversed top to bottom. Hence the indicators supplied current to a reversing lamp. Hope you can visualise this.

Thanks for all the incoming help by the way! Ian, do tell me more about diodes in the indicator system: do you think I might be missing something?

[duncan m]

Now I know that the rear rights of a Chimaera are from a Fiesta and those on a Griff are from a Cavalier ... but similar thing happened on my Chimaera a couple of months ago - however with me it was the rear driver's side lamp. The problem was a combination of 1) corroded contacts [bit of sand paper over the bulb contacts] and 2] the copper contacts within the housing not seeming to make a proper contact with bulb itself [cured by nending them upwards with a screwdriver].

[david beer]

If you had a high resistance in the supply to the indicator , the multi meter would show voltage, pop the bulb back in and check again. The diodes are before the flasher unit so if the fronts are ok, the diode must be ok. If it a wiring problem then its a long wire to the front of the car!

[anonymous-user]

I had a similar problem with a side repeater flasher on my Manta.

A voltage was showing, put put the bulb in and it didn't work.

It appeared that the moment any load (i.e bulb)was being put on the circuit it broke down.

I traced it back to a loose connection on the back of the instrument cluster.