Ichigo280z Posted October 30, 2017 Share Posted October 30, 2017 Hi All, Before I take my 280Z to an auto electrician, thought I'd ask the forum for ideas. My side indicators (all 4) are not working, but the front and rear work fine. Also the signal lights on the dash light up fine (don't know if that is meaningful to my issue). I have checked all the bulbs in the side indicators and all the globes work. They are LED's, where as the front and rear are normal filament type bulbs. I have tried swapping one LED out with a new filament bulb, but that doesn't work either. I have tried a multimeter on the rear indicators and that showed an on/off style current as you would expect with an indicator (ie 12V for 1 sec, 0V for 1 sec...on, off, on, off). When I attached the multimeter to the side indicators I noticed that I get the on/off style current, but the voltage when on barely went past 0.7V before it went back to 0V. It seems that there is current going to the side indicators but not enough. Any ideas would be appreciated. Many thanks Lachlan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyk_79 Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 Bad voltage suggests a bad connection or bad earth somewhere. I would be working my way back from the light and cleaning up connectors and eartg points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ichigo280z Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Thanks, I have tried replacing the LED's but no improvement (as I guessed). I suspect it may be a bad earth. I will try and work my way back. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YosemiteZed Posted November 4, 2017 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Hi Check that the flasher unit for the indicator is suitable for leds If it is the original then it is designed for filament bulbs as it is current driven Whereas the leds use very low currents If that is the issue then c/over the indicator can to suit leds Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ichigo280z Posted November 4, 2017 Author Share Posted November 4, 2017 Sorry, I wasn't specific with my prior reply. I have replaced the LEDs with filament bulbs and no luck. If reference is made to http://www.wedophones.com/Manuals/Datsun/1977%20Datsun%20280Z%20Service%20Manual.pdf- page 506 or in the attached image, the side indicators and the front and rear indicators seem to connect and earth at the same point as each other. However, it's been a while since I have looked at electrical diagrams. The rear wires are easy to access so I will play around with those first to see if I can find the issue. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six_Shooter Posted November 18, 2017 Share Posted November 18, 2017 The side indicators are just marker lights, meaning they don't flash with the signals. The slight voltage you are seeing is just bleed through voltage from the signal bulbs, due to various reasons that get pretty involved to try and explain and I've never found a good way to explain it. Anyway. When you turn your parking lights on they should light up. Try an incandescent bulb with turning teh parking lights on. If that works, then you may have an issue with your LED bulbs. IIRC, the rear side markers are just tied into the parking light circuit that runs past the tail lights, and the front side markers are similar, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ichigo280z Posted November 20, 2017 Author Share Posted November 20, 2017 If you're right SixShooter, you're a genius! I just assumed that they were indicators as past cars I have owned have side indicators. Cant wait to get home to test this theory out. Thanks heaps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ichigo280z Posted November 21, 2017 Author Share Posted November 21, 2017 Yep you were right. Theres a guide on Hybrid Z to change from markers to indicators. Silly North American laws. http://forums.hybridz.org/topic/125844-front-side-marker-lights-as-turn-signals/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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