850: indicator problems

[stephen clare]

Hi
First time on here and posting for my old Dad, who is 86, and loves his Volvo 850 estate, which goes on and on and has been a fantastic car over his very long ownership. The indicators have been playing up. Fast ticking of the audible sound, like a bulb gone. I helped him out today by identifying that the offside front was the one not working. Both front lenses obviously had water sitting in, so cleaned them out and replaced all 4 bulbs on the front- the 2 daylight bulbs, and the indicators, which we put LEDs in to make em nice and bright.
They're all working now, but the 2 fronts are flashing quickly, and when the ignition is, the audible ticking signal is ticking away, even when he isn't signalling with the indicators.
Any advice welcome

[rabbituk]

That's great that your Dad is still able to drive at 86! My Dad has given up this year and he's 84. With no bus service and taxis' unwilling to take a dog, I'm doing way more chauffeuring than I want.

I'm guessing here but the issue of the indicators flashing too fast sounds like the old problem of the LEDs having a far higher effective resistance than the flasher relay is designed for and you either need to replace the relay or put a lower, presumably high wattage resistor across one of the LEDs and each side of the car.

[Luxobarge]

^^^WHS^^^

Got to be due to the LEDs surely... Personally i'd just put standard bulbs in, don't see the point in having LEDs especially for indicators, after all standard bulbs are quite bright enough and last long enough in indicators. I'd certainly try standard bulbs at least to confirm that diagnosis.

Also do whatever it takes to stop water getting into the light unit. When putting bulbs in anywhere on the car I also put a small wipe of vaseline on the contacts just to prevent corrosion and bad contacts.