Sidelight problems!

[Burlo]

anybody else have problems with sidelight bulbs? I have 16XSMD sidelight bulbs in my car, i change them ALOT, they seem to only last a week before they start flickering? it never started happening untill I gave somebody a jump start and he put the jump leads on backwads (pos - neg. neg-pos) somebody also said my battery isnt strong enough to power them? but I have HID headlights, LED interior lights, LED boot lights, LED Number plate lights? only my side lights have bother? could it need a new fuse? any help would be appreciated!

 

[molex7]

i would get a multimeter and check the amperage of the battery. If you don't know how to do that don't try though, take it to an auto parts store that sells batteries, they will generally test yours for free. When you connect jumper leads backwards you can seriously harm your battery and electrical system. If the battery checks out my second guess would be the alternator, after the poles being reversed it could have gotten messed up and is no longer producing power correctly.

 

[jasyatz]

Could be as easy as magnetizing ( or zapping) the relay. If a dead short( which is what happens when the poles cross) hits a relay, it can weaken the meld strip and cause it not to ground properly. I'd try swapping the turn signal relay first ( or marker relay depending on how yours is wired) and see if that helps.

Here in the states our relay is built into the bcm so hopefully that circuit isn't fried on yours.

 

[Burlo]

BUMP! I still have this problem!!

 

[flatlander937]

Try plugging in a regular bulb(not the LED) to see if it lights up brightly or not. LEDs don't draw a lot of current so they'll be bright even with a crappy connection. Use an incandescent bulb so it actually loads the circuit. I would start with that myself. Just ohming out the wires is good for checking for open circuits and really high resistance, but doesn't catch everything and using something to load the circuit will more easily show a problem.