Time to diagnose a fault

[Scrubnut]

Hello,

I'm fairly new to this forum and there are pics of my car somewhere about 😬. I have the widely discussed intermittent rear indicator fault. It’s an Lci coupe, and my local dealership wants the car all day to diagnose the problem. I diagnosed it in 15 minutes. Is this a reasonable timescale and should I just shut up? Thanks

[Greydog]

Morning Chris

It depends how you have diagnosed the intermittent problem ? By actually identifying the issue or by reading what others have suffered?

Many Dealers will have a min charge/time for a diagnostic session, about 1/2 hr roughly. How ever the main  workshop schedule will be sett for services etc so a diagnostic job will be slotted in as and when.

If I were certain of the diagnosis I would fix it my self. However if your car is still under Warranty then pressure the Dealer to fix it and provide a loan car.

Dave

[Scrubnut]

Thanks Dave.

from what I’ve read, if the computer has stored the fault it’s straightforward but often it doesn’t as in my case, it’s fine for a few days then it plays up!

 

[Greydog]

Hi Chris

When you say the computer are you referring to the cars onboard self check system or a Diagnostic program plugged into the OBD port. A program such as ISTA will show all recorded faults and whether they are currently present or not

Normal suspect is poor contact at the actual lamp holder a long time ago I brought a good electrical contact cleaner and some electrical contact paste. A good clean with contact cleaner a smear of contact paste normally fixes things. Early X5's suffered with rear light issues (water ingress) BMW's fix was change the whole unit mine was as described plus a thin smear of silicone to seal the lamp unit.

Dave

 

[Greydog]

Chris if checking make sure you ceck the earth point for the rear light cluster 

Dave

[Scrubnut]

Morning all

 

I have an update. The car was in my local dealership forACE2 fitting (I know reviews are variable but when youve been rear ended while driving at 50mph because someine fell asleep, it might come in handy), they diagnosed and replaced the light unit under warranty. The car was also in mint condition when I collected it. Not sure if I'm allowed to name the dealer for good work?

[Greydog]

Good result why not we are quick enough to scream if things are not to our liking so Name and Praise

Dave