On The Road Problems - September 2004 

Updated 28/09/04

DAMN IT DAISY............. Sometimes you really p*ss me off!............ Calm down.......Count to 10.....

Well, here we are in September. I was wanting to do more work on Daisys interior, but I made a foolish mistake. I told Daisy about the Beaulieu auto jumble this September. And that I was going to take her, and show her off, as well as advertise this web site. Well...... she didn't take the news well...... let me explain...

On my way to work the other day, I was sitting in traffic, waiting to turn right, with my indicator on..... tick tick..... tick tick..... tick tick..... fizzle.... fizzle..... click.....phuut... The indicators stopped. Not to worry, I was close to work, and always carry a toolkit anyway.

So, using my lunch hour.... I go out to Daisy and check her out..... can not see anything majorly wrong, so I disconnect the relay (flasher unit). Seems ok.... I clean the terminals and replace it. So, as I am close to the Lucas warehouse, I take an educated guess that the flasher is dead.... and go and get a nice shinny new one. Bought and fitted within 20mins...... Still no indicators. Hmm.... To my knowledge, Daisy has no fuses..... or so I thought. She has a single 5 amp fuse, from the live feed on the indicator relay. Its a small tube, with a screw end. Took a while to see it under the dash, but I also carry a tourch and the workshop manual (you never know!), and so located it, and removed the fuse. Definitely dead. So.... does this mean that I have bought a new flasher relay for no reason?... it appeared so. 

I could not get a new fuse anywhere that was the correct physical size. 5 amps was no problem... but the fuse was about 2inches long. So.... I took the small tube that held the old fuse, and made it smaller... small enough to fit a standard household BS 5 amp fuse.... and.... ta daaaa........ the indicators started working.... tick tick..... tick tick..... tick.... fizzle.... click.... fizzle.... phuut. DAMN IT.... the fuse had blown again..... Could it be an earth leak?... or perhaps a problem with the actual switch on the steering wheel.

As soon as I started to take the switch apart.......

It was clear that it had not been apart for a very long time, and as I undid the horn surround and plate.......

SPRING................................. All the contents of the horn and indicator mechanism decided to shot  themselves forward and project randomly all over the interior!!........ Lets just say that the words I was shouting... are not really printable on this web site!!...... The air was definitely blue... I left the horn in bits, replaced the fuse and just used the brass cover plate to force the indicators... tick tick.... tick tick. Good. Took her around the block to make sure all was ok.......... tick tick........ tick tick........ fizzle...... phuut. AAAaaarrrrggghhhhhh.

So, took out the old flasher, and put in new flasher again........ tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........tick tick....... tick tick ........  yippeeeee...... So it was the damn old flasher after all.... it was tripping the fuse.....Now of course....... I need to fit the horn and indicator switch back together... only.... looking at the diagrams above... I can already see that I have not found all the pieces......................... Time to count to 10 again.......

The current state of play is that Beaulieu is tomorrow......... and Daisy has no indicators!!!, well........ no switch to turn them on anyway.. - So it looks like I shall have to leave her here, and take the Saab to Beaulieu. DAMN IT.

-------------------------------------- Update 28-09-04 --------------------------------

So, I fixed the indicators.............. and now the break lights have stopped working. Thanks Daisy. This seems a weird one though, as far as I can tell, the current is getting through.. However, for the sake of a new brake switch, we shall swap it out.

The design of this wee switch is mad. And I had to bleed the brakes. But, it seems to have cured the problem. The brake lights work once more. Its worth pointing out that Daisys lights are not very bright, so, I took off the rear red lenses, cleaned them, and used tin foil (bacofoil) around the bulb plates, so that more light is reflected out. It has made a significant difference.

BTW, since I 'fixed' the indicators, I have noticed that my horn no longer works. <sigh>.

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