Turn indicator problem

[Milgram]

Hi All,

Bit of a strange intermittent problem I am having.

Sometimes when putting on the left indicator, the relay ticks faster than normal but none of the external globes or the green arrow on the instrument cluster turn on. It seems to be an intermittent problem, only occurring four times in the last week out of a full seven days of driving. The problem is quickly corrected by cancelling the signal and signalling again.

Since the right indicator does not seem to be doing this, I suspect the relay might be OK. Has anyone experienced this before? If so, what was the problem.

I am not too concerned, only because each time it has happened all I needed to do was quickly flick the switch on and off and it has corrected the problem. However, I would like to get to the root cause and fix this in the near future.

Thanks,

John.

[DJKOR]

Intermittent issues like this can be difficult to diagnose. Especially since yours can be corrected so easily. I would be inspecting the connections from the flasher relay going to the indicators. Otherwise, I would be suspecting the flasher relay is on it's way out (unfortunately only part of it, but it translates to the whole thing). Carbon eventually builds up on the contacts and reduces it's ability to switch power.

Otherwise if you're like me, I'd pull the relay open and clean it's contacts. If none of this helps, then I wish you luck.

[Ozzcaddy]

I had a similar problem on my previous car (Magna) where the right indicator would flash 4 times then stop, turn indicator off and back on, and it would do the same, but then came good as if no problem. Replaced the flasher relay which fixed the problem. I knew it was not any globes, as all lights worked when hazard switch was turned on.

[Milgram]

Just an update on this and to close out the issue for anyone who might refer to this in the future.

The problem became increasingly more common. I spoke to my mechanic, he felt it was the indicator stalk because it was only shorting out in one direction. He told me to wriggle the stalk gently next time the problem happened, and sure enough when I did this, the indicator came back on. I then worked out that the problem only occurred if I used a bit more force than usual when flicking the stalk.

Anyway, the stalk has been replaced and the problem rectified. The stalk is available from Toyota, one dealer quoted me $105.

[trentmeyer23]

If I would have seen this when you had the issue originally I would have said the same thing as your mechanic. Quite often the terminals corrode on the stalk.