indicator on the left hand side not working

[JamietypeR]

Hi guys, since ive owned my rx7 the indicator on the left hand side hasnt worked, so ive replaced the f100 with another to see if it works and still no joy, any ideas to what it could be ive checked all the fuses in the f100 and there fine. any help would be appreciated.

[trotter]

busted wire?

short circuit?

earth fault?

[JamietypeR]

is there anyway of me testing this, which wires work the lights? n wheres the earthing? sorry but am a dummie when it comes to the electrics on cars lol

[trotter]

silly question - but have you checked the bulb? Its easy to miss!!

get a multimeter (about £15 from B&q) will make your life a hell of a lot easier!!

The bulb holders on the car have a positive terminal at the base, and the metal holder itself is the negative. Pop the bulb out the holder and put one multimeter contact on the positive and the other on the negative (earth) and switch to the resistance setting on the dial (Ω symbol). if the value goes sky high you have a busted earth (no path to ground so infinate resistance) if it reads 0 then its a short-circuit (no resistance at all as the current is going somewhere else).

Also, if the resistance goes sky high it could also be a broken wire (no current getting through at all)

it's the simplest way to do it matey!

HTH
graeme

[JamietypeR]

cheers mate , my brother in-law has one of those testers so ll borrow that of him, ive checked the indicator bulbs on the front back n side of he car, n none have blown, its just 1 of those annoying little things got its mot coming up n need it to work. thanks again for ur advice much appreciated.

[trotter]

IGNORE WHAT I JUST SAID!!!!! - GOT MY LEKKY BIT WRONG!!! lol

silly question - but have you checked the bulb? Its easy to miss!!

get a multimeter (about £15 from B&q) will make your life a hell of a lot easier!!

The chances are that its a bad earth so do a continuity test -

Set the multimeter to measure ohms and touch the red probe against the terminal at the bottom of the bulb holder (with the bulb out) - find the earth point for the indicators (google RX7 wiring diagram for the manual) and see what it says. You should see a very low resistance. If the meter reads something sky-high the earth is crap for whatever reason (incomplete circuit so current won't flow to light the bulb).


it's the simplest way to do it matey!

[JamietypeR]

ok cheers dude will try this as soon as i get hold of the tester.

[grinder]

if you are not sure what you are doing - take the bulb out the other side and do the same test - you can now compare the results to the side that doesnt work

just so that you know what the figures are showing you

also - you can check for voltage - every time the indicator flashes - the meter should show 12v - if its only showing a low figure ( say 5v ) then you have bad wiring

you can tell which the 12v feed by testing you other light

once you know which is 12v - run the red to the live and then stick the black probe on something you know is a good earth ( chassis ) if you get 12v - then you know you have a bad earth on the indicator ;)