Vivaro - indicator clicks when I press brake

Hermy

My 05 Vivaro has started giving electrical trouble in the past few days.
As the title says when I press the brake pedal with the side lights turned on the indicator clicks on and the right hand dash indicator light comes on. All goes back off when I take my foot off the pedal.
If the right hand indicator is switched on and I press the brake pedal the indicator clicking noise stops and the dash indicator light flashes rapidly as if a bulb were gone. When I do this the rear drivers-side brake light bulb and indicator bulb are both flashing alternately.
All other bulbs are working okay.
I'm not an expert on electrics but I'm wondering is there anything I can do myself to identify what's wrong before I bring it to the garage?

Thanks for any help you might be able to give.

shamwari

One of two things to check in the right hand rear lamp cluster:

(a) If someone has recently replaced a bulb there then check that they fitted the correct bulb and that it is correctly installed

(b) Failing that, remove the righthand cluster and check the cable connector that plugs into it. Make sure that none of the pins are black / tarninshed or dirty. One in particular might be black, burnt or corroded. Also look for general corrosion on the tracks that connect the bulb holders back to that connector socket

InquiringMind

There is a possibility it could be a blown fuse. I had a car that when I had the lights on and came to a stop, pressed and held the brake, I could turn off the ignition and remove the keys and the car would keep running until I took my foot off the brake. A 50c fuse fixed it. It's worth looking at the fuses and see if any are blown.

Hope this helps

BrianD3

shamwari wrote: »

One of two things to check in the right hand rear lamp cluster:

(a) If someone has recently replaced a bulb there then check that they fitted the correct bulb and that it is correctly installed

(b) Failing that, remove the righthand cluster and check the cable connector that plugs into it. Make sure that none of the pins are black / tarninshed or dirty. One in particular might be black, burnt or corroded. Also look for general corrosion on the tracks that connect the bulb holders back to that connector socket

+1. I have seen the exact symptoms as described in the original post and the cause was (b)

I've also seen this in a light cluster that didn't have any corroded tracks in the bulb holder - however if the wire leading to the cluster was "jiggled" the problem would appear and disappear pointing to a wiring issue in the vicinity of the cluster.

Hermy

shamwari wrote: »

...remove the righthand cluster and check the cable connector that plugs into it...

Cable connector needs replacing.
Thanks again for the replies.