Indicator/brake lights

janninew

Hi

I hope somebody can give me some advice please.

Last week I noticed when I put my right indicator on it would flick really quickly and then sometimes stop all together. I was advised to change the bulb which I did. It was still happening though and yesterday my neighbour was driving behind me and told me that my rear lights were all wrong. When I've investigated it appears the indicators are ok until you hit the brake then they start flashing really quickly, also as soon as I put my indicators on the left brake light also comes on, even before I have started to brake!

Not sure what this could be, would I be best taking it back to the dealer, or to an car electrician (if there is such a thing!!)

My OH is out of the country at the moment and I would like to get it sorted out as I don't really like driving it as it is at the moment.

Thanks for any advice and I hope my post made sense!

Janninew

Browntoa

maybe the brake bulb thats in the wrong way (it has two filaments , one for brakes and one for when the lights are on at night. did you change that one or the indicator bulb ??

janninew

Browntoa wrote: »

maybe the brake bulb thats in the wrong way (it has two filaments , one for brakes and one for when the lights are on at night. did you change that one or the indicator bulb ??

I only changed the front indicator bulb which works fine, its the rear lights which are playing up and I've never touched them!

Paradigm

It's a bad/corroded earth connection to the light fitting & needs taking off, cleaning & reseating. Easy to do... on most cars!

janninew

Paradigm wrote: »

It's a bad/corroded earth connection to the light fitting & needs taking off, cleaning & reseating. Easy to do... on most cars!

Doesn't sound like something I could do! The car is quite new (2008) and is a Mazda RZ8, would I be best just taking back to the garage? Or attempt to do myself?

vaio

another vote for earth problems

Actually it doesn't need votes, it IS an earth issue

Fixing is a 2 min job but might take an hour to uncover the earth point, as the car is only two years old it could be covered by warranty

chigley

Fords were always notorious for earth problems as you describe, with indicator/brake lights all going off at the same time - it looks like they have passed this fault to Mazda too now though.......

somech

is an earth issue if your not sure/confident take to garage is a really cheap fix

Pew_Pew_Pew_Lasers!

janninew wrote: »

Doesn't sound like something I could do! The car is quite new (2008) and is a Mazda RZ8, would I be best just taking back to the garage? Or attempt to do myself?

Open up the rear lamps (usually accessed through a door or hole in the boot). There will be at least one electrical connector, give it a wiggle or two to ensure its secure. Then remove the back of the lamp to access the bulbs. Reseat each bulb.

Then do the same for the front lamps. It'll all be in the instruction manual (unless access is very difficult for some reason, some cars are), and quite easy.

If this doesn't solve the problem, then take it to the garage.

focae

Reseating bulbs will do nothing. The earth connection to the light assembly is either high resistance (due to corrosion or loose connection) or open circuit (the earth wire is broken or the earth connection has come off).

The bulbs must be seated properly as the circuit for each light is trying to find an alternative earth through the other bulbs - hence the flashing/dim lights. The earth connection may be somewhere near the light assembly - if you are lucky!

Inactive

It's under warranty, take it back to the dealer.:)