Land Rover Repair: Flashers/Turn Signals, land rover discovery, electrical relays

Question
I have a 1997 Land Rover Discovery SE7.  Two days ago I was driving in some very snowy, slushy, cold conditions and I noticed my flashers were begining to flash slower and slower and the indicator light (for the flashers) on the dash was getting dimmer and dimmer.  So I turned the flashers off and tried the turn signals and they were doing the same thing.  Very soon after that, neither would work at all and my ABS light on the dash came on...And has stayed on and the flashers or turn signals are still not working.  I can tell the ABS is not working either.  It has been very cold and snowy here and I was thinking that maybe some snow or ice has gotten in a relay or sensor and isn't melting due to the cold.  Is there something in the electrical system that controls these three things?  I was expecting my battery to die and my lights to dim but that has not happened.  It only has disabled these three things.  Any info you could give me would be greatly appreciated...Thanks,

Denny

Answer
Hello Denny,

considering the weather you describe, go quickly to your nearest mechanic and have him test your alternator.  You may have a good battery but if your alternator is beginning to fail, the problems you describe are telltale signs.  You may be driving around on battery 'juice' and just a trickle of alt (if any).  Its also possible that your serpentine belt may need to be changed or you could be having a coil pack problem, so have them inspected too.   

As for frost on your electrical relays...hmmm. I'm unsure about this.  I can attest to the fact that Disco's do not like cold weather.  My doors are difficult to open, locks freeze easily, power windows freeze up too.  I've also replaced 3 alternators in my Disco.  No, ours is a jungle vehicle.   But I digress...

You can check your engine compartment fusebox:  MF6 (40A fuseable link) for your ABS pump relay.  Also in that same fusebox is F5 (fuse) that controls your ABS load relay.  Typically, though, if its a fuse fault...you don't lose it slowly...you lose immediately.  Relays faults are more difficult...you have to listen for an audible click when the unit is engaged.  No click could mean a fault or it could be a power problem. Relay problems are usually ground-fault based.  Fuseable links and fuses usually fail quickly.  So, this sounds like a battery to alt or (remotely) a voltage regulator problem - I suspect the alternator.  I have some experience with failing alts.

As for your flashers and signals, F4 in the engine fusebox controls the Hazard warning switch.  In the car, passenger fusebox F1 fuse is in charge of direction and hazard lights (pardon the pun).

I wish you best of luck, Denny.  Let me know how this 'pans' out for you.  

JohnMc