Little Problem turned in big Problem - HELP!

[dbroughton]

I had a little problem. The headlights would not pop up when I flashed but worked fine on the switch.

A little knowledge being dangerous I check the fuses and wiggled the relays.

To cut a long story short the following then happened. The heater fan and electric windows dont work. The ABS and brake light are always on. The brakes dont appear to work and need some serious push to slow the car down although restarting the engine seems to recharge the hydraulics

To top it all the headlights stay on even with the ignition and swiches off and the headlight pods down

I found swapped a few relays to no effect and found only one blown fuse (window voltage) but that does not seem to be a problem just another symptom

Can anyone suggest the problem?

Logic box? Accesory disconect relay? ABS fuse? Read about them but no idea where they are.

After a month of hassle free motoring the bottomless pit needs filling again.

[htiek]

Unfortunately I do not having a wiring diagram handy beside the computer but the heater fan/brake light combo sounds familiar. I had this on my '92 SE and it was one of the relays on the plastic 'arm' beside the brake master cylinder, can't remember which one now I'm afraid. However after finding 'green' corroded terminals on one relay I pulled them all out (one at a time!) and cleaned the connections. Fault has never re-apperared..(frantically touching wood!)

Can't explain the headlights though, does sound like a stuck relay or similar. It might just be a case of pulling relays out one at a time until the lights go out.

When I'm back out to the car I'll grab my manual and see if it refreshes my memory. Hopefully someone else will be along soon with some better suggestions.

Best of Luck,

Keith

[dbroughton]

I think I started with a single relay problem but now have more than one. It looks like I blew a fuse in the main fusebox and I am now wondering if I did the same to the ABS.

Is there anything in the main fusebox/relay area that could mess up the abs?

I have done swapping but the problem persits. Are all of the relays easily avaialble from say halfords?

Their are 4 Bosch ones but the one I think may be the problem is the start up relay.

[dbroughton]

Mmm. I suspect a little knowledge is very dangerous.

I may have swapped two of the relays inadvertantly. Everything is now back almost normal.

The headlight still wont pop up on the flash so I guess that may be the switch itself on the stalk but by way of punishment for my dabbling the window voltage regulator fuse has blown and keeps blowing when ever I insert a new one - no ideas, at least the car drives fine and the aircon works!

I guess thats another job for my friendly but not cheap Lotus mechanic

Edited September 21, 2008 by dbroughton

[doct93]

Yes, there are two relays which look identical externally but have different spades on the underside - the sockets have the cut outs for all the terminals so it is very possible to fit the wrong one in the wrong socket!

When you flash the headlights, do you hear the main beam relay click? If not, it is likely to be the stalk switch.

I'm currently having problems with my light pods - they go up ok, but need frequent attempts to go back down, which I reckon is probably the headlight pod module by the washer bottle - check the connectors on that if the lights come on but the pods don't go up.

Window jammed, or does the fuse go as soon as you put it in?

Tim B

[dbroughton]

I cannot see how I swapped the relays but I must have. There are 4 Bosch one which look identical plus a Hella one which has the same fittings but is different. I somehow managed to swap a bosch and Hella one.

When I flash the lights the relay clicks and the light comes on but the pods dont come up. The pod motors are fine as the pop up fine when using the dash switch. I hope it is the stalk.

The 2A voltage regulator fuse goes the minute I put it in. Both were fine prior to my messing!

[superdavelotus]

Have you checked your fuses which operate the pod and also checked the pod delay relay? Your lights will still flash but your pods won't pop up unless these are working. All of these fuses and relays are in the same area.

Dave Walters

Edited September 22, 2008 by superdavelotus

[peter_england99]

Have you checked fuse A14, located in fuse-box 'A' found on the drivers side of the cabin front bulkhead in the front luggage compartment?

I also had a problem where the lights wouldn't flash, and it was Fuse A14 (5 amp).

Regards,

Peter.

[dbroughton]

I pulled every fuse and the only one blown is the window voltage regular. That said my eyes arent as good as they used to be!

If any of the fuses or relays had gone then surely the lights would not work during normal operation as well as when I flashed them?

The lights pop up fine using the dash switch but fail to pop from the stalk. They do actually light up from the stalk.

[peter_england99]

The flash is a different circuit to the regular light circuit. As I wrote earlier, I had the problem where I couldn't flash, but my lights worked fine.

[doct93]

But the lights are flashing in the pods with the flasher stalk, so the stalk switch must be working?

Sounds like the pod module by the washer bottle to me.... (or the delay module!)

Tim B

[dbroughton]

Not tried the pod module, I will have a play with it.