Bizzare turn signal fault ghibli

[Big lou]

I am after some help. My left turn signal front will randomly come on without me signalling, but as a solid light. It will then intermittently work or not work whilst driving and store the fault and sometimes not.

It may also sometimes flash as a headlight colour not orange.

Bizarrely it seems to work fine if the engine isn’t running and the door is open.

I did have a right turn signal problem a few weeks ago after some terrible rain. But that resolved itself.

I have also noticed some condensation inside the headlights but am not sure how common this is, I assumed they are completely sealed unit.

 

[spkennyuk]

I am after some help. My left turn signal front will randomly come on without me signalling, but as a solid light. It will then intermittently work or not work whilst driving and store the fault and sometimes not.

It may also sometimes flash as a headlight colour not orange.

Bizarrely it seems to work fine if the engine isn’t running and the door is open.

I did have a right turn signal problem a few weeks ago after some terrible rain. But that resolved itself.

I have also noticed some condensation inside the headlights but am not sure how common this is, I assumed they are completely sealed unit.

By your description it sounds like the relay for the indicators / hazzard warning lights is playing up. The location should be in the manual but i suspect it is above the drivers pedals and under the dash. Its a green relay on the Ghibli as far as i can tell.

You can test the relay by applying 12 volts across the terminals once its removed and it should click rapidly. If it doesnt then its a dud or sticking.

My concern is that you said you had a previous issue with the turn signal after heavy rain. If its the relay then unless water is dripping on the relay it wouldnt make any difference to its working or not working state.

Check the relay first and then go from there. Possibly just a coincidence that the relay started to fail when it rained.

A small amount of condensation in the headlight of any car is not uncommon and will evaporate off when the lights are in use.

 

[safrane]

There have been a couple of post about Ghibli headlight condensation, and dealers response has been that it is 'normal' and disappears when driven in the dry.

Re the indicators, are they LED?

 

[CatmanV2]

It's the tail lights that really get water in

C

 

[Big lou]

There have been a couple of post about Ghibli headlight condensation, and dealers response has been that it is 'normal' and disappears when driven in the dry.

Re the indicators, are they LED?

I believe so, I believe you have to access then by taking the wheels of and the arch lining

 

[Big lou]

By your description it sounds like the relay for the indicators / hazzard warning lights is playing up. The location should be in the manual but i suspect it is above the drivers pedals and under the dash. Its a green relay on the Ghibli as far as i can tell.

You can test the relay by applying 12 volts across the terminals once its removed and it should click rapidly. If it doesnt then its a dud or sticking.

My concern is that you said you had a previous issue with the turn signal after heavy rain. If its the relay then unless water is dripping on the relay it wouldnt make any difference to its working or not working state.

Check the relay first and then go from there. Possibly just a coincidence that the relay started to fail when it rained.

A small amount of condensation in the headlight of any car is not uncommon and will evaporate off when the lights are in use.

It is only the fronts though, wouldn’t the relay cause an issue with all of the indicators? I’m hoping it’s not some sort of earthing issue as I would have no idea where to begin looking

 

[allandwf]

Bizarrely it seems to work fine if the engine isn’t running and the door is open.

Does that mean that the headlights/running lights are off? It sounds like it may be picking up a live feed from the lights, as you say a relay would probably cause an issue with them both. I would check for water ingress in the plugs at the rear of the lights .

 

[safrane]

I was under the impression that LED indicators use the computer rather than a relay?

 

[Oneball]

If it was a Mercedes I’d say it’s the circuit board in the light that’s at fault and you need to change the whole unit. Just done two on my Dads Merc within a month of each other.

 

[Big lou]

So an update. Everything works fine when lights are off, the issue comes when the headlights are switched on.

Not sure if this narrows anything down or just adds to the confusion

I don’t think it is the headlight that is knackered, or the indicator as both work fine separately to each other. Maybe something is shorting out internally? These is definitely more moisture in the left headlight than the right but I can’t spot any obvious ingress.

 

[Oneball]

Probably something to do with the way the control unit works and headlight/running lights/indicator.

Try drying it out.

 

[conaero]

We see a lot of issues with the upper steering column unit which houses the clock spring and the stalks.

It’s not stupid money, about £400 from memory.

Issues we see are steering light (which diagnostics points to this unit), indicators and wipers that come on full speed no matter the stalk position.

 

[Zep]

So an update. Everything works fine when lights are off, the issue comes when the headlights are switched on.

Not sure if this narrows anything down or just adds to the confusion

I don’t think it is the headlight that is knackered, or the indicator as both work fine separately to each other. Maybe something is shorting out internally? These is definitely more moisture in the left headlight than the right but I can’t spot any obvious ingress.

It could be something as simple as a bad earth, resulting in volts going in the wrong direction to escape.

 

[Big lou]

It could be something as simple as a bad earth, resulting in volts going in the wrong direction to escape.

This is the way im going with it, Ill have to start doing some voltage testing i guess

 

[Big lou]

We see a lot of issues with the upper steering column unit which houses the clock spring and the stalks.

It’s not stupid money, about £400 from memory.

Issues we see are steering light (which diagnostics points to this unit), indicators and wipers that come on full speed no matter the stalk position.

Noted, I appreciate that. Im hoping its an earthing issue. The only code ive had is left signal out. I cleared it and it hasn't come back yet but still isnt working correctly when the headlight is on.

 

[Big lou]

It's the tail lights that really get water in

C

I hope not, i have ford focus that leaks like a sieve. I don't want 2 cars like it!

 

[CatmanV2]

I hope not, i have ford focus that leaks like a sieve. I don't want 2 cars like it!

Mine needs some more, but so far MOT has been OK

C

 

[conaero]

Noted, I appreciate that. Im hoping its an earthing issue. The only code ive had is left signal out. I cleared it and it hasn't come back yet but still isnt working correctly when the headlight is on.

Of course.

Check the simple stuff first as the others have given but it’s a known area to be aware of.

 

[CJ Romeo]

The front bumper needs to come off to remove the headlight, this is a bit of a job.

The DRL goes off when the indicator comes on depending on headlights being on or off.

 

[Big lou]

The front bumper needs to come off to remove the headlight, this is a bit of a job.

The DRL goes off when the indicator comes on depending on headlights being on or off.

Sounds about right it’s got be something to do with that system. I may need new ballast which are proving difficult to find