Help! I've angered the Lucas Gods!

DiscoWeb Message Board: Archives - All topics: 2001 Archive - Technical Discussions: Help! I've angered the Lucas Gods!
  Subtopic Posts   Updated


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Justin Green on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 12:24 am: Edit

I don't know what I did but every time I depress the brake pedal, all of the right side turn signal lamps illuminate. It's done this for about a week now. The other day I noticed that when I use the central locking remote all of the brake lights illuminate as well.
Oh, and when I activate the left turn signal everything works fine. When I activate the right turn signal the trailer dash light illuminates every time the turn signal does and there is a clicking sound from under the center console. If I press the brakes while the right turn signal is on, the signal stays lit and doesn't flash.
Any thoughts? Suggestions? I checked the fuses and everything looks good.
Also, I am thinking of putting an Optima battery in. Will this help out or will it just anger the Lucas gods further? Thanks for any and all help.

Justin Green
'97 D1

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Moe on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 10:36 am: Edit

The Optima should not cause any extra problems.

I would start at the brake switch, then make sure the brake lever itself isn't pinching any wires (also in the steering column too) then determine the hot wire for the flashers and try to find out why it is getting extra power and why so much is being drained(if it actually is). Check for loose grounds too. I cannot speak from first hand experience with the LR, but have dealt with other cheap Euro wiring.

Best of luck.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 01:08 pm: Edit

Justin,

FYI... Whenever you use the turn signal, the trailer icon on the dash should flash once, then quit (assuming nothing is hooked up into the trailer socket).

You checked all the fuses, so did you check all of the bulbs, too?

I'm thinking along the lines of a ground being loose, or a misfunctioning switch....

Good luck!

-L

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Justin Green on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 05:20 pm: Edit

Folks,

Thanks for the suggestions. I spent some time today cleaning the battery terminals and reading the shop manual. The battery is cleaned up and the terminals are cleanm so there should be no problems there.
Here's what I'm thinking now. When you press on the brake you hear a slightly audible click that I presume is the automatic transmission inhibitor switch (to prevent starting the engine without your foot on the brake?). In my situation when you use the left turn signal everything is normal. When you use the right turn signal you hear that same clicking sound under the center console (i.e. near the transmission) and see the trailer icon flash every time the turn signal does.
So, I'm thinking there is some short or corrosion with the inhibitor switch. Anyone had any experience with this switch going bad? Thanks again for any and all help.
I hadn't thought about looking around the brake pedal but I will check on that and all of the bulbs as soon as it gets a little warmer. Until then I'll just keep turning right.

Justin Green
97 D1

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Kyle on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 05:57 pm: Edit

A bulb can short and actually charge the other filament in them. THis back feeds the system and lights the others...


Kyle

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Danno on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 06:35 pm: Edit

i agree with kyle, a friend at work couldn't get his headlights to work at night when leaving the office, but when he stepped on the brake, all the lights would come on...if the filements look good, check the bulbs with a meter, my bumper lights were out for a while and i thought that i may have a wiring problem since the bulbs filaments were ok, but took a meter to it and they were both open.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By james on Sunday, October 28, 2001 - 08:50 pm: Edit

I had the same sort of problem and took it to LR. My trailer wiring harness was all messed up and was shorting out. Good luck.

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By Justin Green on Monday, October 29, 2001 - 01:49 pm: Edit

I WIN, I WIN!!
Finally I won one battle in the vehicle repair wars.
Thanks for everyones suggestions. Today, it was a little warmer out so I methodically checked all bulbs on the right side, thinking one was the source of my woes. All of them looked okay with minor corrosion on a couple. In trying to access the rear light cluster I saw the trailer wiring harness connection. James wins the gold star because as soon as I disconnected that things worked fine. (Believe me I am knocking on wood right NOW!) Thanks for everyones help. Along the way I figure I checked about 50% of the connections and found them to be okay. Also I got to clean up a little corrosion around the battery. Thanks again and Happy Rovering!
BTW, has anyone thought of an archive of Lucas/Electrics related solutions to problems that people have run across? Might save some people from re-inventing the wheel everytime the gremlins come out to play. Just a thought.

Justin Green
'97 D1

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of pageLink to this message   By bthaxton on Thursday, November 01, 2001 - 06:58 pm: Edit

Also, an incorrect bulb in a brake light or taillight will cause this problem. If this happens, you will see that the filament in the bulb is fine, but the bulb will be "welded" on the underside. It happens, and you think your entire electrical system has failed but it is a simple fix. You neeed to replace the bulb with a correct one, and also replace the socket. What has essentially happened is you have created a short similar to a malfunctioning trailer hitch.


Posting is currently disabled in this topic. Contact your discussion moderator for more information.

Administrator's Control Panel -- Board Moderators Only
Administer Page | Delete Conversation | Close Conversation | Move Conversation