Hazard light malfunction

[oftpiste]

Greetings.

2003 LC. During a heavy rain the hazard lights started flashing. They stopped when the car was started. I pulled the fuse which of course disabled them and also the turn signals.

I put the fuse back in 12 hours later and the flashers did not start up again and the turn signals worked. I started the car, tested the flashers (working) and turned the car off. Flashers resumed again. Pulled off the vent trim, nothing obvious in the area of the hazard switch.

Carpet near the passenger door was damp, so possibly a little bit of intrusion near the fuse block on that side. Other threads indicate sometime flasher relay failure, or failure of the switch, which appears to be part of a module contains also the diff lock and antenna switches.

I'm not a highly skilled mechanical type, but can usually fix something if I know what to do. All suggestions appreciated. Thanks!

 

[imperium]

100% water intrusion. Either from the sunroof drains or coming in from the A pilar because of a leaky windshield install.

Check the sunroof drains to see if they're clogged, but if you don't have a damp headliner after it rains then it might be the windshield.

 

[Deflagrate]

Flasher relay is driver side, behind/under the steering wheel.

If you unplug the switch, does the problem go away? You can also try removing the trailer harness adapter, those are apparently a common cause of weird electrical gremlins.

 

[oftpiste]

How can I identify the relay? No moisture I the headliner at all. Does this usually self resolve once the moisture is dried?

 

[imperium]

Once it dries out it the problem can go away. Once it rains again or somehow water gets in then it'll likely happen again, that is if the problem is water related.

 

[Deflagrate]

How can I identify the relay? No moisture I the headliner at all. Does this usually self resolve once the moisture is dried?

Little black box, roughly one cubic inch. Part number 81980-60030. The relay has a small metal bracket that holds it in place with one screw. The bracket on my original was straight (or close to), whereas the replacement I got was sort of U shaped. I assume you can swap the brackets if needed, but my relay ended up being fine so I never bothered to try. Removing that one screw is a pain, and putting it back in even more so.

 

[oftpiste]

Thank you. I'm in an area where the car gets a LOT of needles and leaves collecting in the incoming air vents under the wipers, especially in a storm. Wondering if maybe that clog is somehow responsible for the poor drainage.