Relay needs replacing

yatz

yatz

Member
Turned my car on this morning and all i can hear a clicking sound just like the indicator relay, it clicks intermittently as im driving the car. The hazards and indicators work fine just hear the relay clicking away. Took it to Newbury Audi, they quoted me £152 to replace it (WHAT A JOKE), rang Leicester Audi and they quoted £98. I have been reading the forum on here and a few people have replaced it themselves. I know the part cost £20.59 + VAT, which is fine. Im not sure if I have the confidence to do it myself, How difficult can it be? Im not reallu up for getting ripped off by audi labour charges for a job that may only take them 10-20 minutes. Any advice?

Yatin
 
Hi Yatin, welcome to the A2oc.
As the hazards and indicators work ok, its unlikely to be the flasher relay at fault. The central convenience module under the false floor in the passenger footwell is another possibility. Lift the carpet and remove the panel so you can identify if this is the source of the clicking sound. I'd expect there to be other symptoms though - like problems with the interior light, alarm or central locking.
The bad news is that the module is a lot more expensive than the flasher unit.

Let us know how you get on

Cheers Spike
 
I took it to Newbury Audi and they confirmed that it is the relay, i think it is only a matter of time before the contacts wear and the indicator stop working!
 
same problem here...

hi, new to forum.

ours is doing exactly the same, indicators and hazzards work but annoying clicking while driving.

From some of the other posts - i agree , relay prob on way out.

This is amongst some other problems that have just occured to out 2001 1.4 petrol :rolleyes: (see separate post)

Great forum BTW. have been away from here for a long while but i'm back !

Cheers,

Angelo
 
Hi Everyone, really need your help

I removed the storage compartment quite easily and located the flasher unit at the back. My problem is I can not seem to get the unit out, its really fixed within its cradle. I also removed the climate control unit to see if i could reach down through there but no luck. Just really need to know how to get the flasher unit out so I can replace the relay. There is a thin plastic strip as you can see in the attached photos which seems to hold the unit in place,

Any advice

Thanks in advance

Yatz
 
Hi Yatz
I have not done the job myself but Dev's mail from the link above seems to give some good instructions which are copied below

The flasher unit is held in a cradle with its connector on the end at the left. The cable to the connector is held captive by a cable tie underneath and to the right, which I had to released before the cable would have enough slack to disconnect the flasher. The connector has a couple of retention clips which are fairly obvious. Squeeze them in and wiggle the connector out.

The flasher unit is locked into its cradle by a couple of spring clips. Squeeze them together and slide the flasher unit out towards the right.

Have you tried this ?

Cheers Spike
 
Hi

Yes I attempted to follow Dev's instructions closely but was still unable to wiggle out the connector and release the unit from its cradle.

Cheers

Yatz
 
I got some joy!! i managed to release the connector from the left hand side of the flasher unit, but to undo the clips that are holding the unit in place is proving to be difficult, i can undo the top clip but the bottom one is difficult to get my fingers in to unclip it!

Is there an easier way to unclip the bottom so that i can release the unit?

Cheers

Yatz
 
There is no 'easy' way, but don't force anything as there are some very slender bits of plastic back there which are easy to break, meaning that you'll always have a rattle at the back of your dash.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Hi Yatz,

lucky coincidence that I checked A2OC today. It's quite a while since I worked on the flasher, so my memory of getting it out isn't too fresh. I have fairly large hands, and I was working things out as I went along. As I recall, I just put my hand in, put a couple of fingers on the top clip and my thumb on the bottom clip (just by the points where they latch into the cradle), squeezed them towards each other and wiggled the unit out.

I think the best things for you to do are to:

1) make sure you give yourself as much room as possible (in other words take out the ashtray as well as the storage compartment), and

2) use a strong torch or other light source, so that with your hands out the way you can see the clips clearly and work out what you need to do.

If you get desperate, ask a (capable) mate to help. A problem shared is a problem halved, and all that.

Finally, reading your other messages, maybe you should make sure that this really is the problem. You could go for a drive with the storage compartment and ashtray removed so that you can tell whether the noise is really coming from the flasher. A passenger might be able to get their head down there and check.

Good luck with it. Get in touch if you need more help, and let us know how it turned out.

Dev
 
Hi

Ever since I removed the connector and put it back in the noise has actually stopped! I still think that the relay is on its way but for now it seems to be ok. I will try an open the unit up again when I get a chance.

(I wonder if I should take it to Audi again and see what their verdict is, always seem to be charging me for something i most probably dont even need!)

Thanks for all your help

Yatz
 
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