[TechArticula]

First off, many thanks to this community. I've been lurking for a bit to try and inform myself on the topic's created and get an idea of what I may be confronting during the lifecycle of my 2002 2WD Manual Sportage.

I bought it used with about 40k miles in good shape with a lot of the hoses and fluids replaced. So far it's served me well despite some of the known issues mentioned here such as the fuel smell.

My biggest issue with this car however is that my turn signals do not work and this is proving very dangerous. Hand signals only go so far and frankly it makes me feel like a tool dangling my arm out the side window to try and indicate a left turn, I cant even bring myself to do the right hand turn salute. I have replaced the fuse several times and this makes the turn signals work for a few minutes and then BAM they are gone again.

I know there is a trend of electrical issues with this model, and I believe that is obviously part of the cause even though my hazard lights work flawlessly. I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to troubleshoot this problem.

 

[DavesSpectra]

Water and electricity don't get along very well...
I would suggest that you inspect and clean the inside of the turn signal lamp sockets.. They can get rusty from water invasion and rust is nothing more than oxidized iron which will conduct electricity and can cause your fuses to blow. check all 4 (2 front and 2 rear). Also check the wiring in the kick panel down by your feet for water invasion.
Does it do it on ONLY ..say...the right or left signal... sacrifice a few fuses and try both... This may give you a smaller area to check/repair.
Dave

 

[aquanaut20]

Or, while testing use a circuit breaker (resets when load is off)... Philip

 

[DavesSpectra]

Yep....Aquanaut20 is correct and they are available at local auto parts stores and are plug compatible with Sportages. Use the same rating though.
Dave

 

[TechArticula]

Thank you for the suggestions! I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

 

[Wry 'Cuda]

"Fuse blows almost immediately" suggests that it's not a dead short, but corrosion as suggested before.

Fusing is usually set to twice the expected current on this sort of circuit. I had a car (Alfetta) which blew the fuse on the brake lights every month or so; circuits checked out OK, but I found that my model had extra bulbs to fill out the longer design of the rear clusters. The generic wiring diagram did not cater for my model, and bumping up the fuse rating fixed the problem. -It was something like 10 Amp up to 15 Amp.

Caution. Only increase fuse rating after careful investigation.