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[Entwood]

Only downside is relay is £75 + VAT (with 9% ABS discount) .. and as its electronics if it is not the relay they won't take it back ..

Once again .. thanks for all the offers ... OOF at its best .. 

 

I'd be inclined to either do away with it (flasher unit on mine copes with an extra bulb no problem) or fit a generic one from a towbar dealer.

Kevin

+1 I fitted a standard 7 way bypass to mine with audible buzzer for about 15 quid(only used it because I was afraid of knackering bulb failure circuitry)

If you pick up the wiring at the towing connector it bypasses the bulb failure sensors IIRC (but you need to bridge the connections on the empty brake bulb failure sensor socket).

Could always use standard relays and power it from the live feed that's available at the towing connector though.

Kevin

See what you are saying .. and it makes a great deal of sense .... but I've already ordered and paid for the replacement ....

Should it fail again, at a time I have more time, a rewire will be the option then... 

Once again .. many thanks for all the help and support, mother-in-law was actually released from hospital while we were travelling down, so we visted her at home.

[henryd]

I did use the power supply from the trailer socket to power the relay but didn't realise that the socket bypassed the failure circuit so thanks for that Kevin, I think I would still have used the relay though due to number of lights on the modern vans, ours has front, side and rear lights and the indicators have repeaters on the side as well not to mention three brake lights, a bit different from my first sprite alpine

[Kevin Wood]

I did use the power supply from the trailer socket to power the relay but didn't realise that the socket bypassed the failure circuit so thanks for that Kevin, I think I would still have used the relay though due to number of lights on the modern vans, ours has front, side and rear lights and the indicators have repeaters on the side as well not to mention three brake lights, a bit different from my first sprite alpine

Fair point. I generally only tow trailers with a light board at the back and maybe a marker each side. If the trailer is going to draw more than a couple of amps it makes sense to take the load off the vehicle system. 

Kevin

[Entwood]

Just back from an extremely wet and muddy weekend away... just thought I'd update on the indicators problem...

Friday morning new £75 relay fitted .... absolutely no diffference..

Further investigations then threw up a wierd anomoly. If I connected just one side to the towing wiring then it worked OK, didn't matter which side, both sides - neither work .. one side all works ..

Confused of Wiltshire I was.

So I stripped the 13-pin connector right down, no shorts or moisture. Checked every wire from all lights and connectors right back to the relay.. nowt wrong. Checked the 0v (earth) ..no problem.

Only wire left to check was the power supply .. but it had to be good as it works with one side connected ... so I check it .. and the 10 amp fuse, which is in the engine bay, is blown. Replace the fuse and bingo .. all works perfectly !!!!!!!!

Now I AM confused ... how can a relay work when connected on only one side when not powered .. but needs power to work when connected on both sides

Looks like the £75 might have been wasted ... except I have not yet fitted the "old" relay back in to see what blew the fuse ... ran out of time Friday as we wanted to get away.

Dealers won't take the relay back as its an electronic part..

Any ideas gratefully accepted .. I is confused !!

[Entwood]

Update .... 

Due to work and family matters I've not been able to tackle this problem, which has slowly and surely been getting worse.

The fuse for the relay had been blowing more and more frequently and we sort of worked out it was to do with rain....  if it had rained .. it blew .. if dry it was OK .. I therefore assumed water was getting into the towbar wiring somehow. So I disconnected the towbar wiring, at the relay plugs, with the intention of sorting it once I had the time.

2 weeks ago the car battery was flat on Thursday after it was last used Sunday ... odd I thought but perhaps I'd left the indicator in the wrong position and the park lights were on.

Same thing happened a week later, and again this Thursday .. now I don't believe in coincidences of that type ....  so, although we only had a short time before doing the hospital run, rather than just jump start it .. I did a small amount of investigation...... and to cut a long story short ...  once I jump started the car the fuse to the relay blew, and blew everytime it was replaced ....... must be a short somewhere....  but where .. as the relay outputs were all unplugged.

Left the fuse out for the hospital run and attacked the problem today.

Trace the wire back from the fuse and it was suddenly obvious. When the rear subframe bushes were replaced we must have inadvertently trapped the wire under the bracket .... as the car has "moved" it has worn through and must be shorting against the chassis .... multimeter shows major short from either side of the bracket.

I'm guessing that the insulation wore away "gradually" which is why it flattened the battery, was worse when wet, but is now FUBAR.

Remove all the old wire (except for the trapped bit !!!) and rewire a new run ...  and all seems good at the moment.

Time will tell ..