7 replies to this topic

[thebullet]

So tonight when passing another mini I found the light flasher wasn't working. My hazards recently stopped working and today I bought a new switch which will arrive soon as I have the MOT next week. Now the flasher has stopped working, why would it not be working? lights work ok on both beams.

Any ideas?

[hawky443]

mate check the connections under the steering rack, also check the flasher relay


edit: misread could be the stalk mate try taking off the plasic surrouding and joining the points on the light stalk

Edited by hawky443, 10 September 2012 - 09:57 PM.

[thebullet]

Will do, I guess this is an MOT fail?

[tiger99]

Not sure if the flasher is an MOT requirement.

Unlike the main headlight circuit, which is not fused (think about what a blown fuse would do on a twisty road in a dark night and you will understand why it must not be!), the flasher circuit, which is not so vital, is fused. The feed to the flasher switch is purple, and the incoming side of the fuse is brown, which is permanently live, and that should be true regardless of whether you have a multi-way fuse box or odd in-line fuses,so the wire colours will help identify which fuse it is.

The hazards are fed from a different fuse, purple/orange, which also feeds the interior light, with usually a seperate incoming brown. All the browns originate at the starter solenoid, where they join the main battery cable.

That should be enough to help you to find which fuses and their terminals need cleaning, which is the usual cause. But if not, check everything and see if anything else, however unimportant, also does not work, and report back, so we can delve a bit deeper into what may be wrong. It may of course be a faulty hazard flasher unit and a faulty column switch, but mostly in Minis it is dirty or corroded fuses or terminals.

[thebullet]

Right it was a dodgey fuse connection, I found out because I knew that the horn and brake sensor swtich were all on the same fuse and they didn't work either. After giving it all a clean with switch cleaner and a bit of wire wool (with the battery disconnected ofcourse) it now works. But we will see how long it will last, I think the spade connecters are loose in the box itself, needs sorting properly. We will see how it goes when I start driving it. Should be enough to get it through the MOT.

Cheers guys.

[tiger99]

Classic Mini fault, classic fix! I am glad it is done. You may want to think about blade fuses if you are replacing bits later, as their contacts are so much more reliable.

If you do that, just remember that the old glass fuses, for cars (does NOT apply to general purpose glass fuses that you might buy somewhere like Maplins or Farnell) are rated at just over twice the continuous running current, basically the "blow in a second or two" current. So a 50 amp glass fuse will want to be replaced by a 20 or 25 amp blade fuse, and a 35 amp with a 15 or 16 amp.

[thebullet]

Ah yes, I had thought this through. I did measure the fuse, wasn't getting a great reading from it but 3 and 4 have the same 25amp fuse as 5 and 6 so I did a swap knowing the rest worked and still no joy. So it had to be a connection.

I have written this information down, thanks.

In the near future I will do this work.

M any thanks for your help.

[KeithMiniThirty]

Just an FYI...My flasher for my beams does not work and it was not an MOT fail because both beams did work. Pretty sure mine is a stalk issue as I have completely rewired the car, but just haven't gotten round to sorting it