Electrical: Relay ticking over bumps

[mylittletony]

Hello everyone

I have recently noticed a problem whereby a relay, I think either indicator or seatbelt warning, has started ticking/clicking when going over bumps. No lights illuminate so I didn't really consider it a problem until it popped a fuse last night, the dash and indicator one

Has anyone experienced this before or know a likely cause, or better still a fix?

Thanks

Tony

[Kellaway]

Sounds like the warning clicker when you haven't put the seatbelt on.
I had a strange one where I could leave the seatbelt off as long as there was nobody in the passenger seat, but when they were there I had to put the belt on to stop clicking, but if I moved round in my seat the clicking would also happen.
Best thing is to disconnect that function by unplugging the wires under the seat, I think, or not?
If you aren't getting a light flashing try seeing if the seatbelt function is working at all.

[mylittletony]

Thanks for the quick reply

I did wonder about the seat flasher, but the lights don't come on at the same time. Also, it works correctly when the seatbelts aren't plugged in. I didn't have anything in the passenger seat at the time.

I should also mention the ticking is very random and irregular, like a bad contact...

[Kellaway]

Well if the seatbelt setup is ruled out and the dash fuse blew you could have a rubbed through wire that is shorting as you bump it so you need to have a really good look under the dash or take it to the auto electrician. They can often save days of unfruitful investigations I have found.

[honestjoe]

Hi Tony its bizarre you should mention this as my bus did this last friday and its hard to localise when you"re in transit..My situation was almost like an annoying vibration but was defo a relay behind the glovebox..I indicated as normal and braked as normal and the buzzing was not affected..I will reseat the relays in the cable blocks and have a sneaky suspicion it may be related to the tailgate loom as heavy rain was upon us before i drove the car that evening and i know for a fact that the outer cable insulation is compromised on one or maybe two of the wires...keep you posted..hj.

[Beetledrive]

Not sure if this is of any help but the old voltage regulator on my Beetle used to make a ticking noise, before I replaced it with a new one. It lived under the back seat and would make ticking noises at random, sometimes quite loudly, just to make sure I was awake. It sounds like you do have an electrical problem.

[mylittletony]

I thought I would come back on to say I had the same issue again yesterday, mildly worse this time.

In all honesty I hadn't done any investigation as it had stopped. I had a few miles of random ticking/clicking, the same noise as the indicator or seatbelt warning sound. Prior to the fuse blowing, there was a buzz which sounded similar to the headlight warning buzzer (IIRC, I rarely hear it as I turn them off before opening the door)

The same fuse had blown, number 13 for dashlights, indicators etc. I had a bit of a poke around under the dash and found the indicator relay was hanging free:



I used one the dash mounting screws to secure it, changed the fuse and set off, but the fuse blew again, twice.

I then fitted a spare 16A fuse so I had indicators for my drive home, but on arriving I then found my headlight buzzer doesn't work anymore - either that or it was a figment of my imagination and I never had one...

Are these prone to failure? Any other ideas from anyone? Where should my indicator relay actually be fitted?

Many thanks

Tony

[mylittletony]

TBH I'm slightly surprised by the lack of help on this one!!

I'm also more surprised that no-one piped up to tell me the picture above is NOT my indicator relay!!

This one is:



the one with the burnt looking terminal:



Bought a replacement from ECP for £10. Turns out, according to Dave Barton, that most relays require replacement after a number of years, my car's had 36 so no surprise really!

Anyway, replacement is fitted and 'life-testing' is underway to see if the issue re-occurs.

As you can see below, the under dash wiring has been modified with Scotch-locks and unplugged items a-plenty. Hopefully I won't have too many more surprises!