Date: Sat, 25 Sep 2004 14:39:16 -0400 From: "dave" <alofusblountmaybenospamel.net> Subject: Re: 9000 Hazard Lights - final instalment
"Gerry Scott" <none> wrote in message news:41556747$0$17946$ed2619ecnospamnntp-reader02.plus.net... > Hope I'm not doing this subject to death, but I needed to give an update > on > my hazard lights. May help someone else save a bit of money. > > I've previously posted that cleaning the fuse seemed to fix it. > Unfortunately, this fix didn't last. Sometimes the lights worked, > sometimes > not. Investigated further and lowered the fuse panel to get to the flasher > relay unit. > > When I tapped the flasher unit, the lights would work for a couple of > seconds then stop. Did the obvious thing of cleaning the contacts, but > made > no difference. Still only worked briefly when tapped. Since these units > cost > a ridiculous £50, thought I had nothing to lose by having a closer look at > it (thought there may be a sticky relay or something). > > The green plastic cover comes off the flasher unit really easily - only > three plastic tabs at the end to prise off. The unit consists of a small > printed circuit board (pcb) about 4cm by 2cm. Tried it again in the socket > and put light pressure on the end of the board with my finger. Hazard > lights > now kept working as long as I kept a slight pressure on. > > Obvious conclusion was a dry solder joint. Therefore, thought it might be > the contacts under the relays. These are fairly large solder bumps and > since > I don't have a high tech soldering iron at home, I carefully had a go at > melting and re-applying some more solder. Tried again in the car, but > still > only worked with finger pressure. > > Then tried the connections from the pins at the bottom of the relay (that > plug into the socket). These are soldered onto the bottom edge of the pcb. > None of them looked particularly dodgy, but resoldered them all anyway > (about 8 connections). Again, these are fairly large solder bumps, so easy > to do without shorting anything out. > > Relay now worked perfectly and reliably without any pressure. Therefore, > one > of the edge connections must have had a bad connection. I guess these > connections take the most strain from bumps and vibrations, since they're > the only things which support the relay pcb onto the end connectors. > > I don't know how well I've described this, but it really is a very simple > fix. If you're having hazard light problems, have a go at this fix before > buying a new unit. > > This fix has now been working reliably for about 1.5 weeks. I check the > hazards almost every day just to check they're still working. Also passed > the MOT re-test with no probs. > > HTH, > > Gerry > Southampton, UK. '96 9000CSE > > Had something similar with a washer timing relay. Wipers would not auto return and the intermittent wiper thing didn't work. dave
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