Front nearside indicator bulb not working

[littlepolo]

Front nearside indicator was not working since yesterday. Had the bulb replaced at Halfords last night and it worked but this morning after some miles it's not working. Sometimes on signalling to turn left the clicking/ticking sound went very rapidly before changing the bulb. Same since the bulb was changed/stopped working again. Possibly the holder needs checking. Is there anything else that could be wrong? .

[littlepolo]

Quick update. It was not the bulb. The bulb holder seems to rotate/spring back from position when inserted and break the contact. Tried to bend out the conductors to get a better contact but one broke on reinsertion. A new holder might solve it but not sure. Problem occurred suddenly this week.

[RUM4MO]

Well, that happened to my wife's 2002 Polo 1.4 16V back in maybe 2009 or so, and it was the offside front indicator, I messed about with the contacts and it worked for a short time but this fault returned.

I assumed that it was due to a poor design and while it worked okay on the near side (LHS) it certainly had stopped working on the offside (RHS) so after changing bulbs, building up the solder contact on the bulb and bending the "interface" contacts out a bit, and failing to sort it out 100% I gave in and hard wired the bulb end of the interface to the contacts within the headlight assembly, problem solved for ever!

Now don't ask what I did in great detail as that was over 9 years ago, but I did what seemed logical to do, I probably removed the headlight assembly and drilled 2 holes through the interface assembly to carry the new 2 wires down to the headlight assembly.

Edit:- I did leave the new wires long enough for any new owner to still be able to remove the interface assembly to replace the bulb in the future.

[littlepolo]

Well I could be grateful that this problem did not occur earlier.

I guessed it would not be straightforward. Unlikely this is available as a spare part I suppose.

I'll have a go at building up the contacts and maybe swapping N/S to O/S before going through the trouble of bumper off, headlamp unit, out, rewire, etc. in the cold weather.

[RUM4MO]

Yes messing about with plastic bits in this weather is not good, I do remember getting my wife to help me remove and refit the front bumper, probably when I was sorting out that indicator issue.

What worried me with it being the offside indicator was that she could end up in the centre of the road waiting for a break in the traffic to cross into another road at a busy junction and no one would know what she was trying to do or maybe not even clock that she was stationary, if I really did feel that I had to sort it out quickly for once and for all!

[littlepolo]

Built up the contact with metal putty but still not working. Looks like it's going to have to be a headlamp unit removal and hard wire.

[littlepolo]

Bumper off and headlamp unit out. Cannot really see what the problem is. A hardwire fix is going in. Does it matter which way the wires (purple with brown trace, brown) connect to the bulb holder?

Also spotted a reservoir adjacent the washer reservoir. It has a filler protruding into the engine compartment and some kind of pump/motor below. Any idea what that is?

[RUM4MO]

You have found the power steering pump!

I'd doubt if it matters which way round the wiring goes but I'd always try to make it same was it effectively was originally.

It would be good to know what exactly is going wrong, but really not worth while I suppose, I know that all I wanted was a proper fix, I seem to remember making the hard wire extension long enough to allow the next unsuspecting person to be able to get the adaptor out far enough to swop the bulb next time. If I remember correctly I drilled hole/holes for the new wires so that it was possible to apply this mod and still allow the adaptor to fit back in okay.

Metal putty, I would not expect that to work too well as it will have quite a high resistivity - I'd guess, what I tried was reflowing bulb soldered area and building it up using suitable lead or leadfree solder.

Edit:- typically the vehicle earth would be going to the outer metal body of the bulbs and the +12V to the end contact.

[littlepolo]

Determined which wire/conductor was purple with a brown trace and brown and maintained same on the bodge. Drilled through the back of the bulb holder and soldered wires to the conductors. The centre conductor was easy enough but the external was a bit tricky due to there not being much clearance for the bulb between the bottom of the conductor and a blob of solder fixing the wire to it. There was enough length/play in the wires to use as-is and no need to plumb in any fresh wire.

Rain stopped play so waiting for light and dry weather tomorrow to offer up the bodged headlamp assembly. If all is well will replace the bumper. If not, will go for a replacement headlamp unit.

All a pain but easier than last December where I was lying on my back in the snow to fix a broken engine.

[RUM4MO]

I've forgotten the detail of what I did wrt lengthening/not lengthening these wires, I do remember drilling the adaptor/bulb holder though.

Edit:- and needing to remove the bumper so that the head light could be removed.

[littlepolo]

Put the lamp assembly back and plugged in the main lighting harness connector.

Now neither indicator is working. There is a rapid clicking noise with no lights at all when signaling left of right.

Previously right turn worked (front/side/rear) and left turn side/rear)

Any ideas what might be wrong?

Edit: Hazards not working either. Clicking sound and left/right turn signals on instrument panel flashing.

Edit 2: 15A fuse blown.

[RUM4MO]

Are you saying that you blew the fuse, but now everything is okay, or will the next fuse blow due to something not being quite right with your modification?

[littlepolo]

I found one of the bodged wires (external conductor on the bulb holder) had come loose when I pushed the bulb in. It was hanging by a thread of solder at the bottom of the internal conductor that contacts the bulb and obviously not secure. My theory is this loose wire shorted and caused the fuse to blow.

I re-drilled and re-routed the suspect wire and soldered on top of the bulb holder where the external conductor is exposed.

To prove it (or not) I'm going to replace the fuse and try the indicators to see if I'm back where I started before refitting the bodged bulb assembly.

On a positive note, the rain has held off so far.

[littlepolo]

Luckily my theory was correct. All indicators/hazards working.

Putting it back together before it rains.

[bvs]

Sounds like a good cheap and successful fix LP