Ian Barrett Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Afternoon All. Working on my mates S3 we're trying to fix his faulty indicators which are working / not working / solid on - depending on how they feel. So we've got a relay out from behind the clocks to test it. Its a Hella 4NM001803-16 12v 21W/6W - which we think is in there because he has towing electrics. The writing on the relay is all in German, but I think I've figured out the following 49+ should have 12v from ignitiion 49A goes to the switch C2 goes to the indicator warning lamp C is not used. To test it I've put +12v into terminal 49+ then attached a test bulb to ground on the car and touch it on 49A and the bulb comes on and is pulsing very very fast with no click from the relay. When I use the same test on some other relays I have (another Hella and a Britpart STC4793) and they all have a positive audible click which you can feel and watch the test bulb turn on/off. Is this a good test of this Hella relay and does it sound like its knackered to you? And if it is what do we replace it with because a search on the part number Hella 4NM001803-16 reveals nothing we can buy. Thanks for your help. IanB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanuki Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 The fast clicking of a flasher-relay is the way it indicates that it's not got the correct number of correct-wattage bulbs as a "load". I suspect if you attach a couple of 21-watt bulbs to it rather than just your test-bulb, it will flash at the correct speed. --Tanuki. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Barrett Posted May 14, 2012 Author Share Posted May 14, 2012 Thanks for the quick response Tanuki. You're right of course. So I hooked it up to 2 bulbs and it was still flashing as if a bulb had blown - though noticably slower - and I could now hear it clicking. So I hooked it up to 3 x 21w bulbs (burnt fingers and all) and I can now see the relay is very eratic. Ranging from quite slow to bulb-blown fast. Is this an indicator (excuse the pun) that the insides of the relay are dying? Excuse any spelling mistakes - after looking at 3 x 21w bulbs flashing away I now can't see a ruddy thing !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian_s Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 the flasher in my S3 is very sensitive to voltage, if the battery is a bit low they don't flash at all. it sounds to me that if its flashing fast with only 1 bulb attached, the relay is knackered. more bulbs should make it flash faster, not slower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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