Indicator telltale doesn't work one way.

[Axolotl]

Can anyone tell me where to look to solve this one?

The indicator telltale on the end of the indicator stalk has stopped working on right turns.

The indicators themselves flash, and I can hear the flasher unit ticking, but the bulb on the end of the stalk doesn't light up.

On left turns, it's fine. The telltale bulb flashes happily along with the indicators, so it isn't the bulb.

I don't know how the flasher unit works, so I don't know if I'm looking for a flasher fault, or something gone wrong in the column stalk switch.

The car is a 1971 Traveller with key switch starter in the instrument panel, (not steering column key lock).

Where does the flasher live? And if it is the stalk switch, does the steering wheel have to come off to replace it?

[MoggyTech]

This would suggest the car is not wired as standard, possibly with two separate flasher units, one for left the other for right. if that is the case it will be one of the flasher units that has packed up. I've seen loads of Minors with two flasher units fitted for some reason.

Assuming the car IS wired as standard, the flasher unit has 3 terminals L X P. The warning light is wired to the P connection. This P connection should pulse between 0 to 12Volts with indicators on, if it does that then the indicator stalk assembly is faulty. The steering wheel has to come off and the nut is 33mm, but leave it on the end of the threads before pulling the wheel off, otherwise you may lose some teeth as the wheel comes free.

If you can remove the little green/amber lens from the end of the stalk, just check to see if the bulb is maybe loose.

Good Luck

PS Flasher unit should live in the engine compartment on the bulkhead below the fusebox about 12 inches down. If it isn't there follow the ticking noise, it will probably be behind the drivers side glovebox, where they can get wet from leaking screen wash pipes.

[crossword]

Think this age car would have had one flasher unit , the 'p' terminal on the flasher driving the bulb in the stalk . I suspect the switch itself . You may be able to test this by measuring the voltage on the light green wire at its bullet connector under the glovebox near the steering column. If that voltage is pulsing, whichever way is indicated , then that wire goes to the bulb in the stalk & would suggest the switch is faulty . It is possible that the wire could be broken & only making contact when the switch is moved one way .

Good luck.

Andy

[Axolotl]

Thanks, I'll have a poke about tomorrow.

Just as an afterthought, it probably has non-standard wiring because there's a four-way "hazard" light flasher as well. That has its own telltale in the hazard light switch.

Not sure if that replaces the standard set up, or piggybacks onto it.

I guess I'll find out soon.

[Rob_Jennings]

caused by flahser unit a) not seing enough load on that circuit, or b) its reaching end of life and they do tend to misbehave before they fail.

step 1: check all bulbs are sound and clean contacts, slight resistance will lower the load and stop the telltale lighting up (acts as if bulb is missing due to slightly reduced load), if you can clean up the switch that might also be at fault. NB: telltale is not switched only side circuits.

step 2: replace flasher unit.

[Rob_Jennings]

additional thoughts.....

if you have 4 way hazzard then that is normally wiring added over the original and when its used it adds more load to flasher and so can shorten the life. flasher unit in my car packed up because they used to tow (so always more load on each circuit)

still best way to check is remove all bulbs one at a time and clean blub and contacts up. If no joy see if you can clean up the switch, and finally (or you might try it first anyway) replace the flasher unit for about 5 quid. If cleaning works then the flasher is already suspect and on last legs and ought to be replaced

[alanworland]

I have the tell tale light in the base of the stalk and it would do very similar to what you decribe and I had visions of dismantling the stalk assembly, but in the end it turned out to be a loose bulb!
Worth a look

[RogerRust]

I bet Rob is right, this used to happen regularly with my traveler. And it was always fixed when I cleaned up the offending bulb holder. In the end I drilled through the holder and bodywork and put a new screw in - never had a problem again.

[Axolotl]

Just an update on this. (Sorry "tomorrow" seems to have been a long time coming) .

After a couple of days, the telltale stopped working in both directions, so I thought I'd better investigate.

The short answer is that the problem was a dodgy bullet connector behind the dash in the light green feed to the telltale. A quick clean and reseating, and the telltale is now working brightlly in both directions. Total cost:- zero. Not a flasher fault, not a switch fault.

I can't explain why it failed only in one direction to start with, unless the switch to earth is slightly better in one direction than the other, so the combination of two dirty contacts was enough to stop it one way, but not the other.

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, and this time I got away without losing any teeth because the steering wheel didn't have to come off .

The flasher unit is under the bonnet, but is a non-standard Halfords HFU207 with five connections: pink, black, green, green with a brown tracer and light green. I assume the pink and black are to do with the four-way hazard lights. If anyone can explain what they do, please tell.

The light green is the telltale output. I checked that first to establish that I had a good 12v flashing there in both directions. That seemed to rule out faulty earths at the lights and the flasher unit itself.

Then it was just a case of tracing the light green wire and checking connections. Luckily, I found a dodgy one and that seems to have cured it.

[Kevin]

Luckily, I found a dodgy one and that seems to have cured it.

As is so often the case, still a nice cheap fix