not your usual electrical fault.

[adam-d]

my indicators. long story

when you indicate left it worked.
on right indicate the relay clicked, and the dash light flashed... till the relay melted.

so new relay and no indicators at all, new stalk, still the same

pulled hazard switch out. bridge black and blue.
I have left indicator. but

right indicator flashes the light on dash, relay clicks, but light no emitted. and wire brige gets hot as does relay

and I pulled all bulbs out on that side. again relay clicks proper speed, light on dash. but that shpuldnt be as there is no bulbs

any ideas to fix this would be welcome

[hipo1024]

You have a short in the wiring on that side. Do you have a towbar? Could be the socket has corroded and shorted out (fairly common) or a wire has chaffed somewhere and is shorting on the body work. To make sure you don't set fire to the car don't use your winkers were possible and when testing/fault finding only turn them on for a few seconds at a time to allow things to cool down again. Also remember heat destroys wiring, so if the old relay melted, give as much of the wiring as possible the once over after the fault has been found as some of the insolation hay have also melted off and is just a time bomb until that too shorts out and sets fire to the car, I'm also surprised the fuse hasn't blown but there you go, yet another safety device that only does its job when you least need it to and does nothing when you actually want it to lol

Hope this helps and good luck! Electrical gremlins can be a nightmare!

[planetc]

Seen similar caused by a short on the printed circuit board on the back of the instrument cluster which might be worth a check.

[adam-d]

thanks for your replys.

where on the circuit board would I be looking,,, or am I just looking for the black crispy bit..

and as for finding a short in the whole loom, that's gonna be a mare of a job.

im guessing the pin that melted the fuse board on the relay is the right side.

so therefore. is it possible to run a live from that pin, to all 3 bulbs on that side. and individually earth each on to chasis

??

[hipo1024]

so therefore. is it possible to run a live from that pin, to all 3 bulbs on that side. and individually earth each on to chasis

??

That would sound like the best solution to me, you also know that if any other damage had been done it's getting replaced anyways. If you have a multi meter then check the resistance between that pin and ground (with all the bulbs out) if you get any kind of reading then you have a short. If you get no reading then no point replacing the wiring as the problem is elsewhere. To be safe I'd disconect the battery while doing this

[planetc]

A little tip for finding short circuits..... Disconnect all the loads, in this case it's a case of removing all the bulbs. Connect a headlamp bulb across the supply, you can fuse it if you want to be extra safe but the bulb puts the load before the short making it a safe circuit. A short downstream of the bulb will allow current to flow through the bulb allowing it to light up. You can then proceed to isolate parts of the circuit by disconnection or cutting the wires (remember you can solder them back together) When you isolate the section that has the short the bulb will go out. You can continue to do this making the faulty section smaller each time until you find the fault. You can do this with a test light instead of a headlamp bulb, but the advantage of the higher wattage is that you can see any change in the current flow reflected in the brightness of the bulb.
As an example, if you had a dead short on the brake light circuit in the bulb holder and you connect the lamp across the fuse holder then you have a supply, and the earth through the short. Cutting the loom halfway down the car instantly narrows the short to the back half of the car, going halfway again and you only have the rear 25% of the car left. It doesn't take too long to narrow down the short this way.

You can of course run new wires instead, but if there is a damaged loom somewhere then you might have further issues in time.

Short circuits in the printed circuit are usually easy to spot from the melting.

[adam-d]

thank you for the replies. ill crack out the multimeter at dinner time,
see if a can narrow down the issue

[adam-d]

just a thought,
this is a big ask.

could someone simply draw the indicator circuits.

inc hazard and dash, stalk paths.

and what colours im going for.
only asking cas if the damage is on the dash side its gonna be hard to track down problem

[adam-d]

ok I made a rig.

got 3 bulbs, earthd them to each other,

daisy chaind the lives together.

put the earth to the chasis "door light screw"

put the live to the right hand pin on the relay. but not connected to the fuse box. and connected the bottom and left pin of relay to fuse box

I thought this would act as the indicators. but the indicator light came on solid and nothing happened.

however, when I put relay back in properly. and tried. the relay got hot, but clicked as it should and rear and front indicator flashed really dimly. no side rep thou.


when I put multimeter to live points on loom with no relay and no bulbs. and earthd other probe to chasis I got resistance., - the multimeter read like I got a earth. not sure what that means tbh

[adam-d]

bit of a update, lost all indicators, but when I put them on, or hit a bump. or put wipers on
the relay goes mental

if I smack the dash above the dials. or tap the dials it stops.

so I can only assume the problem is there.

does anyone have any working dials that will fit a 1990 petrol?

[Cavalier342]

By dials do you mean the speedometer cluster with rev gauges etc.... I have a spare cluster but the speedo is out. Other gauges work fine, it hasn't got a rev gauge, it's the early spec cluster.

I can post up a photo if you like mate, if it's the right one, we can negotiate a sale..

[adam-d]

mine is early too, no rev gauge. I can only assume my set are causing the short in the indicator circuit

[Cavalier342]

I wouldn't know unless I personally worked on it, but if you say you hit the dash around the dials and the problem stops/pauses, then it's either that, or a wire may somehow be damaged on one of the plugs, or even the earth point for the dials (wherever that is) could be bad.... I've taken mine out so many times before to change bulbs or just to clean the glass, etc, it's a doddle, especially with an adjustable column...

[adam-d]

ill pull the dials out tommrow. see whats happening

mine had a std solid colum I think,
whats the quick way to pull dials. im pretty handy, simple item removal order list wil help

[Cavalier342]

Basically, start off by removing the steering column cowling.
Turn wheel 90 degrees each way to get to the screws. They may be hidden behind a flush screw cap.
Take the top cowling off, next is the long thin panel under the clocks themselves, it's a snap-fit panel, 2 clips on each side, it's a case of carefully but firmly prying it out whichever way is best. I usually go in from the sides, once you get one side out, just pull it straight back. Fitting is reverse, just push it back in to the locating holes.

With those 2 bits out of the way, the 3 screws holding the instrument cluster in will be seen, 1 on top and 1 on each side of it. Undo them, and the speedo cable should push the cluster out a bit, if you have thin hands, you can get in behind the cluster and pop the plugs off, one on each side, just sqeeze the tabs on the plugs to disconnect them. Speedo cable is released by a springy metal circlip, by pushing it towards the cluster. This will pop the cable off. Upon refitting it's easiest to connect the plugs first, then the speedo cable. It just pushes on and clicks in when located.

If you need any more help, just ask.

[adam-d]

dials out, circuit board looks fine, no bunt marks on it, ive changed the ind stalk too.
bridged hazard switch

cleaned up earth behind dials, and the one to the right of the fuse box, still no joy.

really pissing me off now.

a simple circuit diagram of the flow of power and order it meets things would help

either that,, or who want a 4 door saloon cav with a 1.4 in it... grrr

[Cavalier342]

You probably have already, but have you replaced the hazard light switch? I read back and I don't see you mentioning a new one, only that you bridged some pins... Could be that?

Failing that, have you checked every indicator bulb holder for damaged wiring?

[adam-d]

no just bridged the pins, not found a switch yet.
there's a good chance I have one, its just a 30 mile round trip to find it, and working commitment's plus kids is hampering me.

[adam-d]

fixed. after much pissing about,
I got pissed off with it and stated cutting the loom up

it was the feed wire that feeds the drivers wing light.

its run under the carpet. so I guessed that one may have wore throu over time,

it must have as I chopped it out from passenger kickwell to wing and all is well.

[Cavalier342]

Fair enough mate, good to hear you've sussed that one. Certainly the first issue of that kind that I've come across on here.