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So today the right side indicators stopped working. A couple of days ago the indicators started to stuff around. while the indicator was on it would miss a flash and tick out of time for one Flash/tick. Today i was hitting out some damage in the left side boot of the car, where the wire for the hole tail lamp assembly comes out. but the tail light and reverse lights work, just not all 3 right indicators so although it may have something to do with that it doesn't seem plasuable (was working fine until i hit out the damage). Also the when i use the hazards the left side indicators work (and green light on dash) and ticks in time. When i turn the right indicator on it ticks noticeably faster than usual but no lights work and neither the green one in the dash.


Please help i am so scared of driving this right now

Angus,
Check the cables in the area in which you were working, it may well be that the insulation has been damaged and is causing an intermittent short circuit.
Greg.

Check all bulbs- a filament may have failed. You can also check to see that power is getting to the indicator in the rear combo lamps- you can do this with a test light. If the flash is normal to the terminal then the problem is likely to be the bulb. If you cannot pick this readily just go to the local auto elec and they will id it very quickly - there is not a mandatory reqt that you fix everything.

Your car is having a stroke! Is one of the pop up headlights droopy?

bruce wrote:Your car is having a stroke! Is one of the pop up headlights droopy?

ƒü¢k LOL hahahah.

It's not bulbs, indicators do work sometimes and ticking goes back in time, it should be the relay (flasher module?) due to the ticking change, it's defs not the wiring in the boot because that would not effect the all the indicators,

angusis2fast4u wrote:It's not bulbs, indicators do work sometimes and ticking goes back in time, it should be the relay (flasher module?) due to the ticking change, it's defs not the wiring in the boot because that would not effect the all the indicators,

Globes can affect ticking speed - long boring story involving voltage and capacitors. If you've got one with a loose element that's making sometimes and appears normal (e.g. when it's parked while you're checking it), when the element's not making properly it could present this symptom.

Vat wrote:

angusis2fast4u wrote:It's not bulbs, indicators do work sometimes and ticking goes back in time, it should be the relay (flasher module?) due to the ticking change, it's defs not the wiring in the boot because that would not effect the all the indicators,

Globes can affect ticking speed - long boring story involving voltage and capacitors. If you've got one with a loose element that's making sometimes and appears normal (e.g. when it's parked while you're checking it), when the element's not making properly it could present this symptom.

yes this is a possibility, but wouldn't just take out that indicator? and the others would flash fast. my issue is that some times they all work, and sometimes all i get is rapid ticking. well i called mx5plus and they said they might have an import flasher unit sitting around. i just went to repco and they have the ones for Aus delivered mx5's but not the roadsters, damn

Might have misunderstood - didn't realise you'd seen them all working when displaying the rapid flashing behaviour. I was thinking maybe an intermittent fault. Flasher would be most likely culprit.

No one can do positive problem solving with electric's when it can be a variety of problems- most problems end up being something simple. One of the reasons a flash rate changes is because a load on the circuit alters Sometimes a bulb with a broken filament is hard to spot i.e. appears unbroken but its not and it can be intermittent- just the same as filament bulbs at home. The wiring in the boot does not affect all indicators either because there is a breakout for each circuit i.e. driver side and passenger and also there are breakouts to the front as well.

I will bet you a beer it's the relay under the dash. Until then, hand out the window to indicate.

You're looking for a big grey box.

the one thing they always tell you about problem solving is not to assume anything and most of us have been down that track. The Sherlock Holmes approach is eliminate all the obvious faults first so checking / substituting bulbs is quick and easy and so is checking the connectors.

The intermittent clicking would suggest the relay is a big possibility.

if it was an NB I'd say you should just get a new relay since they're a fairly generic part and only cost about $10

the NA however uses a stupid relay that doesn't seem to be standard on anything but the NA/

Okay so i went up to mx5 plus to get a new relay and now have another one in there so far so good no issues yet. one thing i did notice though is on the way to mx5 plus the indicators did not stuff up once. when relays stuff up do they stuff up for good or fix themselves? such a weird issue.

They can be intermittent.

They work by having a small metal strip move back and forth to complete the circuit.
When they start to go they can get a bit sticky and the strip can get stuck at either end of it's movement. But, a bump may be enough to break it free.

Basically, yes, they don't always jsut stop.

Here's a gif of a relay that may make it easier.