Polo 9N blowing indicator fuse, and a bit damp inside?

Discussion in 'Fox/Lupo/Polo' started by EZ_Pete, Feb 19, 2015.

  1. EZ_Pete

    EZ_Pete Forum Junkie

    Joined:
    Jan 15, 2007
    Likes Received:
    343
    Location:
    Under Bonnet, nr Abingdon
    Car in question is a 53-plate Polo, 3-door.

    Noticed the day I after I bought it that it was a bit steamy inside, without obvious explanation. Dehumidifier took out a pint or so, which seemed to fix the steaminess. :thumbup:

    Then after the car was thoroughly washed, noticed that double-time indicator telltale flash/click the first time I indicated and thought "Oh, I've had a bulb go".
    Then when I indicated the other way, got the same. Strange, thought I, surely not two bulbs? Got home and put the hazards on to check which bulbs might need fixing, and none of the buggers were working.

    Ah, fuse, I thought. Sure enough, once I'd identified fuse 48 (15A) as the relevant fella, found it was blown. But replacing it resulted in instant re-blowing when the hazard switch was pressed. :thumbd:

    On the recommendation of someone else, I tried disconnecting the hazard switch, and that seemed to fix it. [:D]

    Buuuut then I looked at the switch, and how it was wired via Haynes, and couldn't find a way to blame it. The switch is a 'soft' switch, just telling the "electrical system control unit" that you've pushed it, not actually carrying the bulbs' current, nor even latching (though it seems like it does 'cos there are LEDs in there which light up until you press it again).

    So the next day I tried putting it back in, and everything stayed working...[:s]

    Was a bit confused by now, but thought I'd investigate the condition of all the bulbs in case any/all of them looked dodgy in any way. The left rear cluster had water inside it. :idea:

    The bulb replacement on these involves pulling the whole cluster backwards off the car, and all it seals to the metalwork with is a foam-rubber seal. This seal no longer living up to its name is the problem, I'm 99% sure.

    Inside there's a non-waterproofed connector, which should be fine in theory, but if the top edge of the seal does leak, you're straight down onto the pins with whatever leaks through. On the LHS of the car, the bottom pin is ground/earth/0V, the one above it the indicator feed.

    Here's a photo with various arrows pointing out where it's leaked (blue oval), where the water has collected at the bottom (blue arrows), and the two pins that I think were getting shorted out by the unwanted moisture (brown & orange).


    [​IMG]

    As luck would have it, I had some super-duper silicone rubber self-adhesive foam seal stuff at work, so that doubled up the sealing arrangement, and everything has worked today just fine despite much wetness from on high. [:D]

    Hope this helps someone, somewhere, sometime.
     
    rubjonny likes this.

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