Faulty flasher fixed NA

[rrrossco]

The past week has seen me pulling my hair out, (whats left of it) regarding intermittent turn signals only on the left side of the car, the right side flashed fine but hazard lights when switched on still only operated on the right side, so to my thinking this ruled out indicator stalk failure, bulb check was of course first action and all proved working correctly! So I thought well it's got to be the flasher?

Then things got worse, lights would not flash at all still only on the left side, after some research here and http://www.mx5.net
I found this...

Turn Signal Not Operating Properly

"Well, I spent most of this afternoon on the turn signal problem. I got six or seven responses from the list, most said to check the bulbs, so I did that first. I replaced the bulbs on the front and rear passenger side. Same result. No flash on right side only. Even the four-way emergency flashers only worked on the driver side. Then I got a post from list member Lxxx xxxx about a similar problem he had with solder failing on the circuit board of the flasher module. I followed his directions.

By following the clicking, I found the flasher module and when I squeezed it the right side would work for several seconds. After removing the module, I took off the plastic case and reconnected it to the plug to see which of the two solenoids controled the dead (right) side. FYI if you are looking at the board with the plug towards the bottom, the left solenoid controls the left side of the car and vice versa. I found a suspicious solder connection on the solenoid that controlled the right side. This connection was one of the larger ones on the board and looked worn or broken. I heated the connection and applied a bit more solder and reinstalled the module.

So far, so good. I drove the car all evening and the signals worked flawlessly. Since this is the second known occurance of this problem, perhaps the "garage" section of Miata.net would be interested in posting this for the rest of the group. I do however give all the credit to Lxxxx xxxx from Boulder Colorado.

Thanks to everyone who posted a response. You all are amazing."




Before I attempted this procedure I called and got a quote for a new flash unit (which wasn't in stock anyway) and was humbled to find this little rectangular box was going to cost me $147.00 so thought i'd give this fix a go, I couldn't see any bad solder globs on the circuit board so I heated up the soldering iron and just went over them all on the bad side, let it cool and plugged it back in and to my surprise everything worked fine. Thought it worth posting here in case anyone should incur this problem.

[93_Clubman]

Thanks for sharing - our NA electrics are certainly starting to show their age on occasions.

[davo5]

Found the same problem a few months ago with the COR in my NA, would have trouble starting when cold. Touched up the PCB with a soldering iron and it runs like new again.

If you look really closely you might have found a tiny tiny annulus crack around some of the solder joints.

A few weeks later I had the cluster open and noticed more of the same on the PCB's in there.

Solder joints unfortunatly do not last forever, particularly in an automotive environment. With aging and temperature cycling they slowly undergo a structure change and become brittle. Throw in vibration with the heavier mass of through hole components and eventually you will have an unreliable electrical connection pop up somwhere.

[Wuey]

In the electronics trade, a solder joint problem is also called a dry joint. I fixed two timing lights and a 12V fluorescent light among other electronic products by going over the pcb with a good temperature controlled soldering iron.

[rrrossco]

Thanks Wuey...Since telling others of this fix, i've found out lots of things that cease working can be brought back to life, by the way, my flasher is still ticking over famously!

[93_Clubman]

The old Commodore Amiga monitors were notorious for dry joints - have kept a few going this way.

[madboy]

wonder if this work on my dodgy LA12 relay...

[slug_dub]

I've just had the same problem with the indicators week before last!
The right-hand indicator ceased to do anything. After much testing of wires to confirm that it wasn't in the wiring, I also discovered a little corrosion on one of the solder on the PCB in the flasher... resoldered it up carefully but it only lasted a day before both indicators started to light up solid only... guess my soldering skills may not be so awesome!

I grabbed a replacement flasher from MX5 Plus for 20 bucks and they're both fine again.

Incidently I called Eagers Mazda Parts, (the big place on Fison Avenue Eagle Farm that also does Ford Parts) and was quoted 108 dollars for a new flasher which was just as humbling!

[Wuey]

$108!!! Did you tell them to jump into the lake?