[alfa] mystery of the intermittent 164LS directionals

[Pottree@xxxxxxx]

I can hardly believe that I found not a single response to the  brain-teasing 
question I posted around 10 days ago concerning intermittent  operation of 
the directional signals on my 94 164LS.  I guess it just got  lost in the 
ethers, so here it is again if anyone would hazard an opinion (other  than that I'm 
crazy):
 
Most of the time the directionals work exactly as you'd expect.  Now  and 
then, they stop working all together until the car is shut off and left to  rest 
for a while.  A while can be anything between a minute and overnight,  
according to a few tests.
 
So far, I had suggestions that it could be faulty fuses (now changed)  or 
cracked or shorting relays or flasher switches (also all now new).
 
The car can go for days, even weeks, without a problem, but it seems that  
passing certain particular places will cause the directionals to stop working  
every time.  For example, on a frequent trip between LA and San Diego, they  
work fine on the southbound leg, but on returning to LA, usually at night, they  
cut out in the vicinity of the intersection of the 5 and the 405 (so, 
northbound  side only).
 
The alarm system has not worked on this car since I bought it, which is  fine 
with me.  (This also means the remote locking system doesn't work,  also not 
a hardship.)  However, the running lights will flash if I run the  car through 
the neighborhood automatic carwash, in the same place on the line  every 
time.  I've seen a couple of other cars there do this, too.  My  mechanic suggests 
there may be some kind of stray RF signal there that acts on  the 
semi-defunct alarm system, causing the lights to flash.
 
Could it be possible that RF interference in some locations also causes the  
non-operational alarm system to disable the directionals, which are then reset 
 when the electrical is shut down?  Or is this too nutty for words?
 
If it is possible, I wonder if there is a way to bypass the non-operational  
alarm system all together to eliminate the problem with a simple rewiring  fix?
 
Please have pity on me.  I am not an engineer.
 
Charlie
LA, CA, USA
91 Spider
84 GTV6
94 164LS
--
to be removed from alfa, see /bin/digest-subs.cgi
or email "unsubscribe alfa" to majordomo@domain.elided